Apr 2026 A Conversation with Phil and Jack, Directors of Fifth Season Landscapes
Phil Antcliff and Jack Hayes have operated Fifth Season Landscapes, a premium, successful, multi-award-winning Design/Construction, Pool and Maintenance Business in the North Shore of Sydney for the past 16 years. In this interview, my clients and I had the opportunity to ask Phil and Jack questions about their business.
A condensed version of our 80-minute Zoom meeting is summarised below.
The First 5 Years of Business
Q: How did your partnership begin?
A (Phil/Jack): We came from similar backgrounds. Sporty, outdoors and a strong work ethic and ran small landscape businesses in the same area. We’d meet on Fridays at the Northbridge Hotel in Sydney and started talking about doing a job together. We trialled a job, it worked, and it grew from a handshake.
Q: What worked well from the beginning?
A (Phil): We split roles: I wasn’t on the tools full-time, so I could take calls, meet clients anytime, and quote constantly and I enjoyed running the office. Jack preferred running sites and doing the physical side.
Q: What did you struggle with most?
A (Phil): Costings/overheads. We’d buy vehicles without fully costing the running, maintenance and wear-and-tear into estimates and overheads. We were guesstimating. Also, there was a lack of detail in designs/quotes and missing scope items meant we often paid for gaps. Over time we learned to build in design detail and layered costing, so construction matched the quote and fewer disputes happened.
Q: By the end of the first 5 yrs of operation, what was a big operational challenge?
A (Jack/Phil): Cash flow. We invoiced line items only when complete; items sat at 95% done and we effectively funded the project. That became painful as projects got bigger and multiple jobs ran simultaneously.
Design
Q: How did design get added as a service?
A (Phil): We were doing designs informally (often free) to win work, and clients would shop those designs around. After losing a few jobs that way, we realised we had to charge for design and build the capability properly.
Q (Interviewer): What design systems/software did you use early?
A (Phil): Initially hand-drawn. Then hired someone skilled in Vectorworks + SketchUp. That improved professionalism and presentation.
Q (Interviewer): Did 3D help?
A (Phil): Yes, SketchUp 3D was a great sales tool because many clients can’t easily read plans. 3D clarified levels and intent.
Pricing model – fixed price versus cost-plus, and invoicing
Q: Do you do cost-plus or fixed quotes?
A (Phil): Mostly fixed quote with some provisional items. We prefer fixed price, less paperwork and clearer for clients. Prep/demo/excavation is treated as a higher-risk area and quoted as a provisional/cost-plus style item that we track closely. Everything after (tiling, decking, pools etc.) is fixed price.
Q: How did you fix cash flow issues?
A (Jack/Phil): We have fixed cash-flow issues by weekly invoicing. Each quote has approx. 10 to 12-line items under each scope of works; and we invoice weekly showing the progressive % of each line item. Clients get an updated payment schedule each Friday. It improves cash flow and reduces end-of-job large non-paid issues.
Garden Maintenance
Q: Why was maintenance added as a service?
A (Phil): Clients asked for it, so we hired specifically and built that division. Maintenance also supports long-term client relationships and recurring work.
Q: What garden maintenance app do you use?
A (Phil): Off-the-shelf tools didn’t fit maintenance workflows (many are built for plumbers/electricians). Recurring scheduling was surprisingly poor, so we built our own and automated it to link with Xero.
Pools
Q: Why did you start offering pools?
A (Phil/Jack): Pool builders were disrupting timelines and creating program chaos. We like being head contractor and controlling delivery end-to-end. Phil got the license, we leaned on strong specialist subcontractors, and we now offer pools as part of a coordinated design-build package. The client benefit is one contract, one communication channel, one invoicing system, and clearer warranties.
Non-negotiables and what you’d do differently
Q: What are your non-negotiables?
A (Phil/Jack): Don’t compromise the client outcome, even if it costs us. Reputation matters. Culture matters too, we invest in morale, team cohesion, and retention through recognition and shared values like quality and attention to detail.
Q: Looking back over the past 16 years, if you could redo anything, what would it be?
A (Phil): Learn the numbers earlier, define target market earlier, stop saying yes to everything, and charge what we truly needed with confidence. It would have reduced early financial stress and accelerated the business sooner.
Thank you Phil and Jack for your honest, open, educational and informative answers.