Three generations of the same family, in the same postcodes

Frank Halloran was a maintenance plumber who got tired of being sent back to fix work he had warned people about. In 1987 he started on his own, out of a garage in Highett, on the basis that if you do the part behind the wall properly you do not get called back.

Peter joined him in 1990 and took over in 1996. The firm grew slowly and deliberately — we have never wanted to be the biggest plumbing company in Melbourne, because the moment you cannot personally vouch for every person on a site, the standard slips.

Today we run 8 vans across bayside and inner-east Melbourne. Most of our work is renovation plumbing in period homes, which is unforgiving work — the houses are old, the access is bad, and nothing is square. It suits us.

Danny, Frank's grandson, runs scheduling and the apprentice program. We take on one or two apprentices a year and we keep them, which is why a firm this size can still put a licensed plumber who was trained here on every job.