With over 20 years experience in the construction industry, Alex is the founder and managing director of Backyard Grannys, Smart Footprint Homes and Xbuilt Projects.Since completing a Bachelor of Construction Management degree at the University of Newcastle, Alex started his career in the commercial construction sector. During that time, he was responsible for delivering a diverse range of projects including major club refurbishments, pub renovations, retirement village extensions and nursing home fit outs.Alex founded Backyard Grannys in 2011, identifying a growing market demand for secondary residential dwellings. Having built in excess of 1300 granny flats, Backyard Grannys is now the leading granny flat builder in Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast.In 2014 Alex won the Young Entrepreneur Award with Lake Macquarie Business Excellence Awards and in 2015 received the Hunter Business Chamber Young Business Person of the Year Merit Award.In the last 5 years, Alex has founded two additional businesses. A specialist new home business - Smart Footprint Homes and a commercial construction company Xbuilt Projects.Alex is passionate about the building industry, the local Newcastle community and business in general. He enjoys developing his team and creating an enjoyable work culture, always with the goal to create quality projects and outcomes for his customers.