ORGANISATION
Kell & Rigby Holdings
ESTABLISHED
1910
LOCATION
Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle and Brisbane (Australia)
SPECIALISING IN
Building
EMPLOYEES
220
MARKETS
Domestic 100%
HIGHLIGHTS
The 2009 NSW/ACT Family Business Australia Deloitte Growth Award. The award recognises the fastest growing private enterprises
in NSW and ACT.
www.kellrigby.com
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‘INNOVATION HAPPENS IN A GARAGE…IN A CAFE’
James Kell, Chief Executive Officer, Kell & Rigby
A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY
All the way through school James Kell dreamed of becoming a vet. He took a year off from study before starting university to work in the family firm. He loved it, changed his plans and is now CEO of Kell & Rigby, a major national construction company co-founded in 1910 by his great grandfather, a carpenter from Bathurst.
‘We are builders’ James says, ‘that sounds like a simplistic thing to say but it’s important because it focuses our people on what it is we do. We’re not architects, we’re not fund managers, we’re not developers. When you focus on a particular thing it opens up a world of opportunity with regards to innovation.’ Innovation, James believes, ‘happens in a garage, it happens in a cafe.’
THE BIGGEST ROADBLOCKS
James, who has travelled and worked overseas, particularly in China, believes that ‘of all the developed countries, Australia is the one to be in’ but its cautious approach to innovation frustrates him. ‘One of the biggest roadblocks to innovation is this whole “no one has done it before” or “oh, but it can’t work in our industry” or “it can’t work in Australia” and most of the time it’s just rubbish.’
‘I think we ought to make sure that what we call innovation truly is innovation. A clever solution, in my definition, is something that’s good for a particular problem. An innovation is something that outlasts a particular problem.’
James Kell, Chief Executive Officer, Kell & Rigby
OPEN TO INNOVATION
At Kell & Rigby examples of successful innovation, including the ‘scratchie’ scheme for rewarding onsite safe work practices, are a product of what James calls ‘a culture that is open to innovation.’ Is creating such a culture difficult in a one hundred year old company? ‘It really isn’t’ according to James, ‘it’s how it’s led.’
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about Industry Innovation Councils:
WEB www.innovation.gov.au/industryinnovationcouncils
EMAIL innovationcouncils@innovation.gov.au
PHONE +61 2 6213 7221
Manager
Industry Innovation Councils Team
Department of Innovation,
Industry, Science and Research
GPO Box 9839
Canberra ACT 2601