Bowhill Named Finalist In AFR Best Places To Work Awards 2026

Bowhill Engineering has been named a finalist in the 2026 Financial Review BOSS Best Places to Work Awards. Out of hundreds of businesses across Australia, we made the cut in the Manufacturing & Consumer Goods category.

We travelled to Sydney for the awards ceremony. A regional structural steel fabricator from the Murraylands, competing alongside some of the biggest manufacturers. It’s recognition we’re proud of. Not because we’re chasing awards, but because it reflects what we’ve been building here for years.

The Financial Review BOSS Best Places to Work Awards assess businesses across Australia on workplace culture. They partner with Bendelta, a workplace consultancy that digs deep into what actually makes a workplace the best place to work.

They use a BEING framework, which looks at five dimensions of workplace culture – Belonging, Energising, Integrating, Nurturing, and Generating. They assess whether people feel valued, whether they’re engaged with the work, and whether there’s genuine investment in their growth.

InfraBuild took out the win – well deserved. We didn’t take home the trophy, but being there as a finalist already made the point. A regional structural steel fabrication business can compete nationally on workplace culture, not just on the quality of the wor

We specialise in heavy and complex structural steel fabrication. Our work shows up in major infrastructure projects across Australia. Bridge girders. Transport infrastructure. Rail projects. Architectural steelwork. The kind of structures that need to be right because they’ll be standing for decades, and people’s safety depends on them.

We currently have 70 people on the team, including Boilermakers, welders, project managers, machinists, robotic welding specialists, and apprentices at various stages of their trade.

More than 56 people have undertaken our apprenticeship programme over the years. Several have moved into leadership and supervisory roles here. Others have taken their skills into new industries across Australia. That’s what our “Grow Our Own” approach looks like in practice.

We invest in people because that’s how this business has always worked. Our apprentices don’t just shadow experienced tradespeople. They work alongside them on real infrastructure projects. 

The Oaklands Railway Station. Torrens to Darlington. Inland Rail. Not practice pieces – actual infrastructure that matters. There’s something about learning your trade on work that’ll be around for generations that changes how you approach it.

Workplace culture isn’t built through policies. It’s built through how you treat people day to day.

Whether you give someone a fair go when they’re learning. Whether experienced tradespeople pass on their knowledge instead of hoarding it. Whether people feel valued enough to bring up problems before they become disasters. That’s what culture looks like on a workshop floor.

For us, it means an apprentice gets proper mentorship, not just a task list. It means experienced boilermaker welders whose decades of knowledge get passed on, not lost when they retire. It means a team that communicates well, solves problems together, and takes genuine pride in what rolls out of the workshop. The recognition from AFR isn’t just about what we’ve built as a business. It’s about the people who built it.

Being based in the Murraylands isn’t a limitation – it’s part of who we are. Regional businesses face unique challenges. Attracting skilled workers when you’re not in a capital city. Retaining talent, building capability without the infrastructure advantages of metropolitan areas.

But there are advantages too. Lower cost of living for our team. A genuine sense of community. The ability to build long-term relationships instead of transactional ones. People who choose to work here often do so because they want something different from the city grind.

Together We Thrive! This achievement belongs to everyone at Bowhill Engineering. From our long-serving tradespeople who’ve seen this business evolve over decades, to the apprentices who are just finding their feet in the trade.

To our clients who trust us with complex projects. To our suppliers and partners who support our growth. To the Murraylands community that’s been home to this business since the beginning.

We will continue doing our best, taking on complex fabrication scopes. There’s always more work to do. More apprentices to train. More projects to deliver. More ways to support our team’s growth and wellbeing. The goal is to keep building a workplace where skilled people want to stay and grow.

The recognition matters because it validates the approach we’ve taken. Want to be part of a nationally recognised team? Visit boweng.com.au/our-vacancies to see current opportunities at Bowhill Engineering.

You can read more about the 2026 Financial Review BOSS Best Places to Work Awards at afr.com.