10 HOMEGROWN BUSINESSES MAKING TOWNSVILLE PROUD
RYDWELD A passion to build ‘what the customer wants’ lead brothers Geoff and Steve Ryder to start building tray bodies in their parents’ Julia Creek shed in the early 90s. They had no idea that the ‘Ryder’ trademark would spread across Queensland and over the borders so quickly. “The local Toyota dealers, Darren and June Ginns from Julia Creek Motors, took the punt and backed two local boys,” Steve says. “Our point of difference is that we’re able to fabricate trays, bullbars and accessories designed for the conditions.” The boys moved to Townsville in 2004 and it wasn’t long before they decided to build their own shed in Crocodile Crescent in the Bohle. “We literally sold our tyre and engineering business in two months and just packed up,” Steve recalls. “We took a chance as we knew we had a great product.” The design and quality of the product have continued to improve and, due to the rapid growth of the business, Rydweld recently made a decision to appoint a business mentor to work on a strategic five-year business plan. “We pride ourselves on employing locally and now have 27 staff, all of whom live in Townsville,” Geoff says. “We support as many local dealers as possible and can say with confidence that we spent over $4 million within the local economy last year.” In October 2014 the company made a call to open up dealers around Australia. This has now converted to six dealers, with a vision of signing six more by early 2016. The vision is to streamline the business through lean manufacturing and uniformed products throughout Australia. “We are stamping our product with pride — ‘Built in Townsville’, with the new stamp being rolled out from this month,” Steve says. “Townsville is resilient and so are we. We’ve been through some rough times but through dedication and hard work we got through and recently celebrated our 21st year in business. We stuck it out as a family.” Steve and Geoff’s wives Margie and Vicki have been integral to the success of Rydweld, with Vicki focusing on office management and digital marketing and Margie on HR and finance. Recently, however, Margie has stepped back from the business to run as a candidate for Jenny Hills’ team in Division 1. “Townsville has some strong leaders who already are great ambassadors and proactive in attracting investment,” Margie says. “We just need to all work together and build on this.”
Ryweld 5 Crocodile Crescent, The Bohle 4774 8208 officemanager@rydweld.com www.rydweld.com
96 DUO MAGAZINE JANUARY 2016 duomagazine.com.au
“OUR POINT OF DIFFERENCE IS THAT WE’RE ABLE TO FABRICATE TRAYS, BULLBARS AND ACCESSORIES DESIGNED FOR THE CONDITIONS.”
STEVE RYDER