Brad Acheson runs Stroud Homes Dubbo. He started out leaving school at 16, came up through TAFE and on-site training, and held a full builder's licence at 20.

He spent two decades building his own company to around 35 homes a year before joining the Stroud network three and a half years ago to systemise the business and buy back his time.

He's now among the top builders in Dubbo by volume, and still does the green ribbon at every handover himself.