The Ray White Group has been named as Australia’s inaugural winner of the Family Business Award at the 2015 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards, held at The Star on Thursday 15 October – a milestone for a real estate business to receive this honor.
The Family Business Award is not new to EY internationally, with the award handed out in over 20 countries in 2014, recognising family businesses that have successfully managed to grow and transition the business through multiple generations.
Past winners of the award internationally include companies the likes of LEGO, Sattler and the Messer Group.
The criteria considered for the winner of this award included the business having implemented a successful and sustainable long-term strategy, transparent corporate governance to execute this strategy, good implemented family governance to strengthen the unity of ownership within the family, preservation of the family tradition and values as well as maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit over the generations.
Ray White is in it’s fourth generation of family ownership. Ray White began the business in the small Queensland town of Crows Nest back in 1902 – launching his own auctioneering business in what is affectionately known as ‘The Shed’. There he auctioned off pigs, grains and other agricultural products before his path took him towards real estate.
Tony Johnson, EY Oceania Managing Partner and CEO said family businesses face unique challenges.
“The White family has navigated these challenges with great success for three generations. Ray White Group is a testament to the economic and social value that entrepreneurial families contribute,” he said.
Brian White, joint-Chairman of the Ray White Group said it was an honour for the Ray White Group to receive the award.
“This award has been in existence in Europe for such a long time where family businesses have been so well established, almost for hundreds of years. It was deemed time for Australia to recognise family business, and it is a source of great pride that our family company to be announced as the Australian inaugural winner,” said Brian White, joint-Chairman of the Ray White Group.
“It is also a terrific thrill for us to be able to present this award to our members, because so many of our businesses are family run and we have collectively created this achievement.”
Ray White is proud of their network of over 1000 offices across nine countries, while still maintaining the family values that set it apart from other organisations
An apparent key reason that Principal’s choose to join Ray White is family, with a large number of these businesses within Ray White also being family owned.
As part of the awards each Family Business Award recipient will be featured in the EY global Family Business Yearbook for 2016.
“We are now on the world stage, our company has been acknowledged amongst those that can be introduced anywhere across the business world having achieved great things,” said Brian.
The 2016 book will be launched at a special event in Monte Carlo in June, where all The Family Award winners will be recognised internationally.
