People, program & culture | 20 December 2021

Millar Merrigan’s Year In Review: 8 Things That 2021 Taught Us

The boundaries of ‘community’ were tested and redefined, through challenges like remote working and maintaining a social culture despite the distance and decreased spontaneity.

Throughout it all, Millar Merrigan have remained motivated to do the work we do to inspire better living within our community. In fact, we made ‘nurturing more communities’ our priority for 2021, and asked ourselves the question: how can we best serve – our people, through our projects, and by participating in the industry?

So, this year, that’s what we’re recognising as milestones. Our review of 2021 considers the people we’ve helped and who have helped others on our behalf, the projects we’ve delivered value to and through, and the ways we’ve connected and engaged beyond this – all with the goal of nurturing communities in a time that really needed it.

Here are 8 milestones to recap what we achieved this year:

1. Our commitment to inspiring better living was recognised. 

Millar Merrigan was awarded the Employer of Choice Award for 2021 by the Australian Business Awards.

Our culture at Millar Merrigan is unique and has been built on the strong relationships we have with each other. We strive every day to create an environment for our team to thrive and unlock their full potential, so they can do their best work.

This work, in turn, helps to build better lives for our clients, our team’s commitment to this mission and their drive for excellence is what inspires us to keep improving as a business.

2. We embarked on 800+ new journeys and successfully completed 400+ more.

A total of 867 new projects were created, 461 projects were completed, and 214 planning permits were issued.

Additionally, 188 Statements of Compliance were issued, which led to the creation of 843 lots.

Considering the challenges of COVID, we’re incredibly proud of our staff for driving these numbers.

3. Our people were at the forefront of driving change in the industry.

Providing strategic solutions that lead to sustainable and more liveable outcomes is our expertise.

This year, Jennifer Stone, Millar Merrigan’s Landscape Manager was invited to speak at the 2021 National Sports Convention for The Layered Landscape – Sustainable Masterplanning for Active Communities workshop. Her insights contributed to discussions around the development of master plans for future sporting precincts.

And to add to the excitement, Millar Merrigan’s recent recruit, Sehon Pellew, who is our General Manager of Operations, was appointed as the president of the Association of Land Development Engineers (ALDE). He also shared his industry knowledge to mentor young talent by collaborating with the Faculty of Engineering at Monash University, and the Water Engineering Unit at Swinburne University of Technology.

4. A special project brought us an exceptional victory.

Eleven years after the commencement of the Linley Grove Estate project, in April 2021, it went to auction.

This special residential community was subject to no pre-sales, and still sold out all 27 lots the very same day. And across urban design and market positioning roles, a total of 42 Millar Merrigan employees worked on this project, with one deciding to call it ‘home’!

If community-building was our goal, this is certainly one way of achieving it.

5. Loyalty towards our mission was felt deeply, and there were a few final ‘hurrah’s.

Millar Merrigan is what it is because of our people, and we love to recognise their successes.

This year, we celebrated many work anniversaries, including 3 five-years, 5 ten-years, 2 fifteen-years, and 1 twenty-years! Our Head of Major Projects, Scott McJanett completed a decade since he joined Millar Merrigan, and Licensed Surveyor, Leah Simmons celebrated 15 years with us!

This year we also celebrated the achievements of 4 while sending them off into a happy retirement, and recognised the stalwart support of Mike Jordan and Jamie Kenyon for their contributions towards Millar Merrigan’s success.

Whether we’re celebrating them coming, staying or going, our staff will always remain a part of the Millar Merrigan family.

6. Excitement brewed for some of our oldest and newest projects.

One of our oldest projects in the books, The Gateway Estate Lilydale, began 30 years ago and has now reached its final stages of completion.

While on the opposite end of the spectrum, one of our newest projects, The North Quarter within the Lake Narracan PSP, has kicked-off as a 310 lots project!

7. We welcomed new members to the Millar Merrigan family.

 We hired a whopping 21 talented members of the industry this year, so they can help us inspire better living. Among these included Sehon Pellew, the new General Manager Operations at Millar Merrigan.

“I enjoy the challenge that comes with adapting to the different phases of growth. I am attracted to the opportunity of having an impact on the company as a whole and helping shape its future strategy.” – Sehon Pellew, Millar Merrigan General Manager Operations.

Also part of the Millar Merrigan family, we said hello to 3 new babies, 1 new marital partner, 1 expecting parent, and celebrated a new Australian citizen!

8. Our future is looking bright.

 Millar Merrigan is looking forward to a rich variety of projects and discussions in the new year, like The Chalk’s interview with Surveyor-General of Victoria, Craig Sandy, on the future of land surveying.

It was good to learn that while much of our work today relies on mobile computing and the internet of things, the skilled professional is the one constant. And it will become more important than ever for them to provide appropriate advice for making decisions about the quality, suitability and application of data captured; to “educate” the machines.

In fact, our team are both proud and humbled to share that our advice and recommendations were included by the Victorian Government in Melbourne’s Future Planning Framework, which aims to guide the city’s growth and development in a more sustainable, productive, and liveable direction.

At Millar Merrigan, we’re excited by the opportunities the future presents, and the ways we can continue to refine our consulting offer.

As we wrap up this year, filled with old and new connections, more challenges and opportunities than ever, and fluctuations that ultimately led to positive change and growth, Millar Merrigan is delighted to reflect on the communities we nurtured, and the trust our customers put in us year after year.

We wish our all readers a very happy holiday, and we can’t wait to share about the new horizons we’ll touch next year.

Would you like to work for Millar Merrigan or become a partner? Get in touch!

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