Wavell Heights, Brisbane, Queensland
Blaze Business & Legal is based in Wavell Heights in Brisbane, Queensland and advises construction businesses around Australia. We bring together legal, Financial Management, commercial, governance, compliance and operational advisory in one business.
About Blaze Business & Legal
Most construction businesses that come to Blaze Business & Legal look stable from the outside. Work is coming in. Projects are moving. Staff are being paid. But underneath, the structure, contracts, cash flow, pricing or governance are putting pressure on the business.
The contract terms they are signing quietly push risk back onto them. The structure that once worked no longer matches the size or direction of the business. The owner becomes the bottleneck. Cash flow is tight even when jobs look profitable on paper. Scope growth, cost increases and weak visibility across projects start eating margin.
That is where Rachelle Hare and Shannon Drew come in.
Both have lived and worked experience inside the construction industry. Both understand what it takes to run a business in the real world. Their advice looks at the legal, commercial, Financial Management, governance, compliance and operational aspects of a problem together, because in construction those issues rarely stay separate for long.
A law firm can give technically sound legal advice on a contract. It usually does not tell you whether the payment terms are likely to create a cash flow problem partway through the job.
An accounting firm can produce accurate financial statements. It usually does not tell you whether a missed notice has weakened a claim, or whether the contract position is exposing your business on a live project.
Blaze Business & Legal was created to bring those views together.
Rachelle Hare and Shannon Drew, Blaze Business & Legal
Our Advisers
Construction Lawyer, Commercial Manager and Business Adviser
Rachelle has more than 25 years of experience across McCullough Robertson, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Thiess, Laing O'Rourke, Acciona, UGL, Golding and government roles including Acting General Counsel at DHA. She also spent more than six years full time as a senior Commercial Manager on major construction and infrastructure projects after establishing Blaze Business & Legal.
Her practice covers Construction Law, Commercial Law, contracts, procurement, Security of Payment, risk, compliance, governance, Construction Business Structuring, shareholder and director issues, government and defence, and strategic business advisory.
Full profile: Rachelle Hare →
Management Accountant and Fractional CFO
Shannon has more than 25 years of construction Financial Management experience across residential, commercial, civil and infrastructure businesses. His practice covers Management Accounting, Fractional CFO services, Financial Management, cash flow forecasting, project financial modelling, pricing strategy, cost analysis, operational advisory and financial restructuring.
The problems he sees are consistent across growing construction businesses: weak project-level visibility, stale overhead recovery, optimistic cash flow assumptions, pricing that does not reflect true delivery cost, and poor reporting discipline across active jobs.
Full profile: Shannon Drew →
Where a matter spans legal and Financial Management issues, the advice is coordinated so your business gets one joined-up view.
With your permission, Rachelle and Shannon work together on the same matter where that will improve the advice, sharpen decisions and reduce the risk of issues being looked at in isolation.
Services
Between Rachelle and Shannon, Blaze Business & Legal covers legal, Financial Management, commercial, governance, compliance and operational advisory for construction businesses.
Legal, commercial, governance and business advisory
Construction and Commercial Contracts
Major Projects and Procurement
Government, Defence and Commercial Law
Business Structuring, Governance and Advisory
Financial Management, operational and business advisory
Management Accounting and Systems
Fractional CFO and Cash Flow
Pricing, Restructuring and Operational Advisory
Who We Work With
The core client base is construction, civil and infrastructure businesses turning over $5 million to $100 million. Blaze Business & Legal also advises clients outside this range and works with businesses in other industries from time to time.
This includes head contractors, principal contractors, subcontractors, trade contractors, project developers and government entities dealing with procurement, contracts, commercial management, governance, compliance and Financial Management issues.
Rachelle and Shannon are often engaged at decision points that materially affect the business, including growth, restructures, contract risk, project performance, cash flow pressure, governance issues and major commercial commitments.
For some businesses it starts with a contract, claim, dispute risk or procurement issue. For others it starts with cash flow pressure, margin erosion, weak reporting across active projects, governance gaps or a structure that no longer suits the business.
Once the immediate issue is understood, the advice often expands into the connected legal, commercial, Financial Management and operational issues that are affecting performance across the business.
How to Start
Whether you need legal advice, Financial Management support or broader commercial advisory, there are straightforward ways to get started.
The Strategy Session is designed for advisory matters where you need to work through a problem, assess risk and get clear on the right next steps. It is $550 to $750 plus GST for 60 minutes, depending on complexity. It is also useful for legal matters where an early diagnosis will save time and cost later.
For clearly scoped legal work, Rachelle can often provide a fixed-fee quote by email without a Strategy Session. If you already know what you need, you can get in touch directly.
Where a matter benefits from both legal and Financial Management input, the work is coordinated so you receive advice that reflects the full commercial position of your business.
Not sure where to start? Call (07) 3063 3373 or email enquiry@blazebusinessandlegal.com.au and we will point you in the right direction.
Why We Created BBL
Rachelle Hare and Shannon Drew created Blaze Business & Legal in 2021 because the advice construction businesses need rarely sits neatly inside one discipline. Legal issues affect cash flow. Pricing affects risk. Governance affects project delivery. Contract terms affect commercial decisions long after the contract is signed.
They created Blaze Business & Legal to give construction businesses access to legal, Financial Management, commercial, governance, compliance and operational advisory in one place, from advisers who understand how construction businesses actually work.
Blaze Business & Legal is based in Wavell Heights in Brisbane, Queensland and advises construction businesses around Australia.
Construction businesses do not experience problems in isolated categories. A contract issue can become a cash flow issue. Weak reporting can hide a pricing problem. Governance gaps can increase personal and business risk at the same time.
That was the reason for creating Blaze Business & Legal. To give construction business owners advice that reflects how risk, money, contracts, decision-making and operations actually interact inside a live business.
That joined-up view is the value of Blaze Business & Legal.
Common Questions
Common questions about Blaze Business & Legal and how to engage.
Work With Blaze Business & Legal
$550 to $750 plus GST for 60 minutes, depending on complexity. Fixed-fee legal quotes may be available by email.
Contracts, procurement, Commercial Law, compliance, governance, Security of Payment, Construction Business Structuring, External General Counsel, risk and business advisory.
Book a Strategy Session →
Financial Management, cash flow, project financial modelling, Management Accounting, pricing strategy, Fractional CFO services, ATO advisory and operational advisory.
Book a Strategy Session →