$45m, 350 staff: Warwick‘s richest business bosses named - list

The leaders behind some of Warwick’s biggest businesses are also the richest in the region, with one group earning almost $45 million and employing 350 people. It comes as the list of the bosses and their pay packets are revealed. Full list.

Warwick is the big business hub of the Southern Downs, with major companies across a variety of industries and sectors generating massive job numbers and often even bigger revenue.

The leaders behind some of the region’s most prominent businesses have revealed a few of their secrets to success and their experiences at the helm of the biggest employers in Warwick and its surrounds.

An in-depth search of publicly-available data by the Daily News has also lent further insight into just how much major private businesses are raking in each year.

See the full list and details below:

Frasers Livestock Transport

FRASERS principals Ross, Peter and Les Fraser have welcomed third-generation Warwick Fraser (front) to the family livestock transport operation.

The Warwick-based transport giant is one of the biggest employers across the region and southeast Queensland, with hundreds of jobs in the Rose City and its surrounds alone.

Frasers Livestock Transport currently hauls about 4 million of livestock across 7 million km each year, with managing director Ross Fraser joined by brother Les at the helm.

Mr Fraser is an icon of the trucking industry and has received a stack of prestigious awards throughout his career spanning more than 50 years, beginning as a truckie and mechanic before moving into the management side of the business.

Ross Fraser

At the time of being inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame in October last year, Mr Fraser credited the company’s success to his team and genuine belief in Warwick’s future as a thriving business hub. 

“I’ve worked with a lot of people and good staff we’ve been fortunate to have over all those years, and in some cases it’s third-generation,” he told the Daily News.

“If we do it properly, in a manner that attracts business to Warwick, I think the future of Warwick is assured.

“Business that not only fits in with the rural background of Warwick, but there are opportunities for manufacturing businesses to come to Warwick, and we need to welcome them with open arms and be positive about the future.”

John Dee

LIFE'S WORK: Bob Hart looks back on 70 years of progress at Warwick's John Dee - Australia's oldest single-family owned meat processor.

The Warwick meat processing facility is one of the area’s largest job and revenue generators, with modelling reports from Dun and Bradstreet putting the factory’s annual turnover at $86.54 million.

The Rosehill Rd factory also provides an estimated 600 jobs to residents within Warwick and the wider Southern Downs.

Similar reports indicate the John Dee packing and exports base at Spring Hill turned over a collective $44.93 million a year and employs about another 350 people.

The Hart family have owned and operated the massive family business for generations, with Bob Hart eventually stepping back from his role as company director in 2017 to pass the torch to his nephew John and chief executive Warren Stiff.

Warwick Credit Union

Headed up by chief executive officer Lewis von Stieglitz, commercial data revealed the Warwick Credit Union generated $13.28 million in the 2020-21 financial year.

The Warwick Gympie Dalby Credit Union group has a customer base of more than 14,000 and directly employs almost 50 staff.

Mr von Stieglitz is one of the town’s resident experts on all things business and finance and is rarely missed at a community event.

Wickham Freight Lines / Wickham Farms

Darren Eather and Haydn Lamb from Wickham Freight Lines.

Warwick is home to more than one trucking and transport giant, with Wickham Freight Lines also one of the town’s biggest employers and revenue generators.

Commercial data compiler Dun and Bradstreet puts the business’s annual turnover at a whopping $82.85 million and its local employment numbers at 240.

Wickham Freight Lines is headed up by leadership team Graham and Donna Keogh, Darren and Lynelle Eather, and Haydn and Kerri-Ann Lamb.

The group also owns and operates Killarney-based Wickham Farms, which according to modelling drives another $23.11 million each year and more than 100 regional jobs.

Cassels Automotive

David Cassels of Cassels Automotive.

Cassels Automotive is one of the biggest car dealerships in the region and reportedly attracts the revenue to match, with Dun and Bradstreet modelling putting the business’s annual turnover at $21.12 million.

David Cassels has been the dealership principal for more than a decade, taking over from highly regarded businessman and Parmalat owner Graeme Collins in 2008.

Mr Cassels and his thriving business are known for attracting

Carey Bros Meats

Greg Carey

Dun and Bradstreet data from 2021 estimates the annual revenue from the Yangan meat processing facility to be $20.72 million.

Greg Carey is the man behind the major employer, and in 2020 secured massive State Government funding that enabled a significant expansion and a further boost to job numbers.

Gross Meats

Nancy and Bill Gross from Risdon Park Feedlot in Warwick

Another business demonstrating the strength of Warwick’s farming and agricultural endeavour is Gross Meats, which reportedly brings in $3.89 million each year.

Started by Warwick cattle farming icons Bill and Nancy Gross in the 1980s, the couple have since brought their sons Howard and Angus into management.

The business has since become one of the largest industry networks in southeast Queensland, and the powerhouse family are also behind the massive Risdon Feedlot just outside Warwick.