Solomon Islands. New machinery improves bottom line at Prosol limited
Focused on construction in the industrial infrastructure sector in Honiara, Prosol Limited handles all facets of construction, including project management and procurement. Owner Colin Preece prides himself in offering clients quality, efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness.
A dual citizen of Australia and the Solomon Islands, Colin has lived in the Solomons for 12 years now. Starting a business on his own account nine years ago, 2021 was the busiest year Prosol had experienced largely due to a big contract with Solomon Water. Add to that, the riots late last year created significant repair work and a need for strengthening security measures for some existing clients.
With his contract to the local water authority, Colin needed good supplies of prefabricated super-heavy duty fencing. Manufacturing this fencing manually with the tools to hand was noisy and very hard on machinery – and on the men working it. The best solution was to purchase a rather expensive hydraulic steel-cutting machine.
Colin had frequently seen Business Link Pacific’s Adaptation Grant advertised in a local paper.
I didn’t take much notice to be honest. I just assumed we wouldn’t qualify.” He could see no other way to purchase the necessary equipment, however, so he thought “he may as well give it a go”. With most of the information readily available through good recordkeeping, he set about writing an adaptation plan and submitted his application.
Having received the grant, Colin reports,
Everything is so much more efficient, and the new machine has been a great addition to the manufacturing process. It’s quicker and more cost effective which means jobs are more profitable. The flow on effect is that with more money in the pocket I can afford to keep the boys on in the quiet times. With the transient workforce in the Solomons, it is a huge benefit to the company to be able to start new jobs without looking for new labour.
When working full strength, Prosol has a labour pool of up to 15, plus subcontractors. Having recently completed the large Solomon Water project, they have a small lull in business and numbers are down – at least until the next contract is signed, hopefully in a week or two.
We are so grateful to BLP for the grant. We could never have afforded this new equipment without it, and we are able to use it on jobs where we hadn’t anticipated its value beforehand.
The Finance Facility enables access to capital for stabilisation, recovery and growth of viable but financially distressed businesses in the Pacific Islands due to the impact of COVID-19 on the regional economy.
The Facility opened applications to Business Adaptation Grants across eight Pacific Island countries in January and June 2021. Adaptation Grants have benefitted over 200 businesses to date, and Business Link Pacific is currently processing a similar number of grants to be disbursed before the end of the year.
To further support recovery and growth, Business Link Pacific is negotiating key partnerships with Financial Institutions to offer concessionary lending to small businesses in the region and will soon make information available on accessing those products. The Finance Facility also offers curated information about financial products for businesses on its free online tool, the Finance Finder; visit https://businesslinkpacific.com today to find out what is available to your business right now.