Time flies when you’re having fun….

12-Dec-2016 | Press

Oh what a year! This year ECF celebrated 25 years in business. In 1991 when we opened our first office which was located at 235 Swan Street Richmond, we were excited about our new venture and the future that lay ahead, but could we have anticipated that 25 years on, the excitement would be just as great and that the team would have grown from 2 to 25? As this year draws to a close, let’s look back on 2016, a year of celebration and many great highlights.  

Our People

The year commenced with us welcoming Heather McWhinney to our leadership team in the role of General Manager. Other new faces to join the team throughout the year were Aaron Dixon, Andrea Cisneros, Anthony Maddaluno, Damion Brown and John Raftopoulos. This new talent complements our fabulous existing team which celebrated several significant milestones during 2016 including, HFA Team Leader, Kathryn Harding’s 15 Years Anniversary with the company and the birth of Prerna Sharma’s first child, beautiful baby Opal.

Our Products

We launched international product ranges which included Sedus and Martela, to complement our extensive Australian – made furniture range. Our showroom at Abbotsford was redesigned to incorporate a selection of these products for our clients to experience.

Our Projects

We have delivered many exciting projects throughout Australia during the year, across both our commercial and healthcare divisions. Working closely with our clients, we have delivered creative yet practical, cost effective solutions for their projects. Some of these projects include Gold Coast Private Hospital, Bendigo Hospital, CEVA, Cotton On Group, JLT Melbourne, Arcare, ACSAG and various BUPA projects.

Our Participation

2016 saw us participate in events both at home and overseas. In May we participated in Equinox by providing furniture for the education hub. We explored the evolution of colour in collaboration with Clarke Hopkins Clarke’s designers, Mridula Bhatia and Han Chua at Melbourne Indesign, where we exhibited many of our new international products. This was the seventh time we have been involved in MID and it was great to see many of our existing clients visit us and also have the opportunity to introduce ECF/HFA to others. Visits to Orgatec and Medica in October and November provided the opportunity to keep abreast of what is happening in the industry and see products that may be of interest to our clients.

Commitment to Quality and Environmental Management Systems

Our commitment to providing quality products and service continued throughout the year. Our Quality and Environmental Management systems were recertified and we achieved certification to the new standards of ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015. We also achieved recertification from GECA for our Engage and Edge workstation systems and renewal of AFRDI certification on several products.

Corporate and Social Responsibility

During the year our team contributed to several charities through donations from activities such as casual Friday and selling raffle tickets. Our sponsorship also included Team Swinburne’s electric vehicle that participated in the Formulae SAE competition. This is our fifth year sponsoring this project that involves Swinburne University’s engineering students. Our participation in the Greenfleet biodiverse program contributed to the planting of 161 native trees.

As we look forward to 2017, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the ECF/HFA team to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the year and wish you all a safe and happy festive season.

Simon Bilalis

Managing Director