Turn the clock back four years to March 2020—the news of the day was the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne.
Hundreds of businesses would go on to feel the pain of those extended lockdowns, but for others such as local garden and landscaping company, Daisy’s Garden Supplies, this period was a turning point with huge change on the horizon to meet the demands of busy growers who were investing in their backyards and gardens.
First established in 1975 by Neil and Margaret Mulcahy, Daisy’s is now managed by their son Evan, who holds a record 30-year career in the business after his introduction at the tender age of 10 years old.
Evan explained that at the time of the initial lockdowns, they were supplying garden and landscaping products for residential, commercial and civil projects from three sites in Melbourne.
“We were so busy during that period, it was quite overwhelming,” he remembered.
“When we came out of the end of it, we were very, very frantic.”
It was also crunch time for Evan, who said he was keen to get structures in place to support the massive upturn in business—so he didn’t spend the rest of his life with a phone glued to his ear and weekends spent driving heavy machinery instead of spending time with his wife and two young sons.
“We needed to restructure what we were doing and how we were doing it,” he succinctly summed up.
And restructure, Daisy’s did.
Rapid expansion and restructure
The stars seemed to align when Daisy’s engaged a new accountant, who happened to specialise in family business.
Around the same time, Evan’s brother-in-law joined the company as Commercial Director, bringing with him decades of commercial experience.
With a new team in place, Daisy’s Garden Supplies began a rapid expansion to triple in size within a year.
They made several new acquisitions including complementary businesses that extended the company’s product offering and other local family operations without their own up-and-coming generation willing to take over.
At the end of the expansion phase and as it stands today, they have approximately 175 staff at eight retail sites, two production facilities, three quarries and a sandpit.
“The business has lots and lots of moving parts,” Evan said.
“It’s certainly hard to manage for one person, so you’ve really got to rely on your team around you.
“We’ve been able to get a lot more people—good people—around the table that can help manage the load.”
The addition of more staff – and more hands on deck – has allowed Daisy’s fleet to expand substantially since the days of the COVID outbreak.
Before the pandemic, Daisy’s ran a transport fleet of 50 vehicles.
Now the company has more than 100 vehicles, including 25 Isuzu trucks covering light, medium and heavy-duty categories, decked out in the company’s eye-catching yellow, red, and green signage.
Daisy delivery
Daisy’s models range from light-duty Isuzu Tippers through to the twin-steer heavy-duty FYJ 300-350, with each truck averaging around 50,000 km a year.
The business recently took delivery of two additional Isuzu trucks to assist with increasing demands.
First-up, a brand-new FXY 240-350 with a tipper body. Featuring a GVM of 24,000 kg and a GCM of 45,000 kg, the FXY 240-350 ensures Daisy’s can deliver its heavy payloads of soil, sand, pebbles, mulch, sleepers, pavers and firewood between yards and to customers with ease.
Powered by Isuzu’s six-cylinder 6UZ1-TCN engine, the FXY also has plenty of punch with power at 257 kW (350PS) @ 2,000 rpm and torque of 1,422 Nm @ 1,400 rpm.
The FXY was soon joined by a ‘big brother’, the heavy-duty FYJ 300-350 with a tipper body and a twin-steer front axle, featuring a GVM of 30,000 kg and a GCM of 45,000 kg.
Evan said all Isuzu trucks in Daisy’s fleet were specified with two-pedal transmissions, so they’re not ‘burning out clutches and gearboxes’.
“We have both AMTs and autos in the fleet which are the best and simplest options for our drivers,” Evan said.
“Isuzu is a good product, well-built and reliable… we’ve always had a good run out of the brand, extending to the maintenance which we take care of ourselves at our two workshops.”
Though Evan noted he was lucky enough to inherit a successful operation, he’s proud of the work spearheading his family’s business into its next phase of life.
Daisy’s is now looking forward to the next generation of Mulcahys to take the helm—and if they’re anything like Evan, they’ll get a head start as soon as they can.
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