Orbitz Elevators crowned 2019 Telstra Queensland Business of the Year

Jonathan Dwayre started his Gold Coast firm five years ago with a van and a credit card. On Thursday night he won Queensland’s most prestigious business award.

A GOLD Coast elevator company has been crowned 2019 Telstra Queensland Business of the Year.

Orbitz Elevators, which employs more than 100 staff, received the top honour at Thursday night’s Telstra Queensland Business Awards at Howard Smith Wharves.

Managing director Jonathan Dwayre started working for his father’s elevator business in the United ­Kingdom as a teenager after dropping out of school.

“I was 14. I was a dumb arse, just left school and went through an apprenticeship with my father,” Mr Dwayre said.

“Then I got a backpack and went to Australia for 12 months and never went back.”

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With years of experience under his belt, he moved to Queensland and started his own company in 2014 with just a van and a credit card.

Mr Dwayre said he was motivated after seeing the “pain points” in the industry. “I had a passion to go and change it myself,” he said.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would be running a successful multi-million-dollar company which supplies, installs and repairs elevators across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Orbitz Elevators also took home the Telstra Queensland Medium and Making Waves award.

Speaking after his win, Mr Dwayre said he felt “overwhelmed.”

“I’m very proud obviously of all the people. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are. It’s a very proud moment.”

Yet the father-of-two revealed there was a personal cost for him and his hardworking staff.

“People don’t see the rollercoaster ride. They only see the tip of the iceberg. They don’t see underneath what people are going through in their personal lives, he told The Courier-Mail.

“People don’t know that you don’t see your kids and your family. Just to be recognised for this means a lot, not just for me but everybody,” he said.

When asked what he reckons his dad would say, he said he’d be “super proud.”

“I’ve just sent a picture to my dad in the UK now,” he said.

Orbitz Elevators managing director Jonathan Dwayre. Picture: Jerad Williams

He now has big goals to be an industry leader in Australia in the next seven years.

Telstra’s judging panel commended the company’s attention to customer service in a saturated industry. “Orbitz Elevators impressed our judges with its genuine and innovative approach to customer service in a crowded market,” Telstra’s group executive of consumer and small business Michael Ackland said.

“The entire team is not only highly skilled at what they do, but are also all engaged behind a strong vision and business plan, led by Mr Dwayre’s solid leadership skills,” he said.

The other winners on Thursday night were STEM education program provider STEM Punks Ventures, science workshops and stage-show business Street Science and digital health tech firm Community Information Services.

They will all compete in the Telstra Australian Business Awards in Melbourne on November 21.

News Corp, publisher of The Courier-Mail, is the media partner for the awards.

WINNERS

Orbitz Elevators: Telstra Queensland Business of the Year

STEM Punks Ventures: Emerging & Energised Award

Street Science: Small & Succeeding Award

Community Information Services: Social Change Maker Award

Orbitz Elevators: Medium & Making Waves Award.