He worked as a gardener and then a station hand in the country until returning to Brisbane for employment as a carter in an aerated waters factory.

[1] Marchant then opened a factory in Bower Street, Spring Hill, Brisbane and his soft-drink business eventually became the largest in Australia, with other plants in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Newcastle.

Marchant chaired meetings which raised funds for striking workers and women in his employ were paid more than the average in the food industry.

With his wife, Mary Jane Dwyer, Marchant was the benefactor of many charitable causes, including providing land in Ann St for the New Jerusalem Church and in Chermside, where he donated his horse paddock to the Kedron Shire Council as a park.

In September 1932, Marchant donated his home Montrose and its 5 acres of gardens at Taringa to the society to establish an institution for the care and treatment of the children.