Jayco caravan magnate Gerry Ryan says supply chain issues and low migration hurting business

Aussies holidaying at home have only added to rich-lister Gerry Ryan’s success story. But things could be even better if he could find some more workers.

Gerry Ryan in his Dandenong Jayco factory. Picture: Aaron Francis

With people unable to travel overseas, business is booming for Gerry Ryan’s Jayco caravans business as holiday-makers hit the road around Australia.

But it could be a lot better.

Ryan says there’s still pent-up demand from customers from when Jayco was forced to close its large factory in Melbourne last year during the height of the state government-mandated lockdown, as supply chain problems and a lack of skilled workers have an impact.

“We’ve got a great book of orders at Jayco, but the supply chain has been difficult,” Ryan tells The Australian. “We’re talking about getting components here from overseas and our suppliers have had issues getting their parts as well. It all adds up. People want to travel but we can’t get them the product.”

COVID-19 has affected supply chains across many industries, with lockdowns and other measures slowing the movements of raw materials and finished goods. For a specialised business such as Jayco, which turns over about $450m in revenue annually, it means it can’t fulfil customer ­orders as quickly as it would want — at a time when demand for domestic tourism is strong given international restrictions.

Gerry Ryan

• Age: 70
• Lives: Melbourne
• Estimated wealth: $702m
• Source: Manufacturing, tourism
• Secrets of success: Building Jayco into a caravan powerhouse by focussing on the Australian market.

Then there is a labour shortage that hits several parts of Ryan’s business empire, which spans Jayco to the Mitchelton winery and hotel resort in regional Victoria to several pubs in Melbourne and property development holdings and other technology-related investments.

Ryan is not crying poor, but provides a cautionary tale amid talk of the economy surviving relatively well during the global pandemic. He says the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the federal government’s caution in opening up borders will slow growth.

“It was a great federal budget [last week] but there’s an issue with finding staff and there’s an issue with migration, which is going backwards, and that has a knock-on effect,” he says.

“We’re having an issue in finding skilled workers across all our businesses. It is not just a Jayco issue, but there’s hospitality as well. So there certainly needs to be more of a focus on immigration.”

Ryan says his hospitality interests, which include the Mitchelton winery and its hotel and other tourism facilities, and pubs in Melbourne and elsewhere, are constrained by not being able to attract more staff given immigration restrictions.

“We’ve got 94 per cent occupancy at our hotels, which is great. But we’ve got a distillery up there in Nagambie [about two hours out of Melbourne] that we only open from Thursday to half a day on Sunday,” he says. “We could open up more, there’s demand for it. But we just can’t find enough people. We know of people who have moved to regional areas but are happy to work three or four days a week. That is fine, but it is hard for us to find more workers. I know there are issues for example on the Sunshine Coast as well. You’ve got places that can only open at 60 per cent of demand because they can’t find enough people to make beds, or waitresses and chefs.

“It is like that all the way down to the beaches down Sorrento way in Victoria as well.”

Ryan also has property development interests and says the cost of timber has also risen sharply, which is another issue to deal with. “There’s a shortage of pine and the worry is that will cause inflation like back in the day,” he says.

Ryan’s wealth is underpinned by one of Australia’s best manufacturing success stories in Jayco, which he started in 1975 with a borrowed $10,000. Jayco dominates the nation’s caravan industry and has allowed Ryan to invest in several other industries and pursue his passion of sport.

He has a stake in NRL defending premier Melbourne Storm and owns the Southside Flyers team in the Women’s National Basketball League. Ryan also had a share in last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment and professional cycling outfit Team Bike­Exchange, currently competing in the Giro d’Italia.

The team takes its name from the ASX-listed BikeExchange, which floated in February. Ryan has a large shareholding in the company, whose shares are up about 2 per cent since listing.

BikeExchange is one of the largest online cycling market­places in the world and has a market capitalisation of about $32m.

Originally published as Jayco caravan magnate Gerry Ryan says supply chain issues and low migration hurting business