ALMOST 200 corporate staff from Ray White and Loan Market descended on Toowoomba yesterday from all over Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia for their annual planning conference called Crows Nest 2018.
Australasia’s biggest property group, Ray White, can pinpoint its very humble beginnings to a tin shed at Crows Nest, some 45kms west of Toowoomba.
“The Shed at Crows Nest is probably the most valuable real estate that my family actually owns,” said Ray White joint chairman Brian White.
“The Shed has, over time, become the iconic reference to the culture of the entire Ray White organisation.
“It reflects our history, continued family ownership and the humble start in what has led to now be a significant group. Very few companies have a birthplace.”
The theme of the four-day conference was “if you want to go faster, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.”
Ray White Group director Dan White said there was no doubt the business had grown to more than 1000 offices by attracting ambitious and effective leaders.
“But a big company is not just a big version of a small company,” Dan White said.
“There is now much more complexity in our industry and our business. The magic happens when we move as a unit but avoid unhelpful bureaucracy.”
Ray White and Loan Market saw a 30 per cent rise in corporate staff in the last year to a workforce of almost 500 employees that are “mostly specialists” who have helped propel market share growth in both businesses.
“We hope that the culture that started in Crows Nest all those years ago is still alive. We talk a lot about personal leadership and humility, and retaining the underdog mentality despite our market leading position,” Dan White said.
Combined revenue for the White family businesses has recorded an enviable 18 years of consecutive growth.
