NSW top private companies in Top 500 Australia list for 2020
A 12-month investigation into NSW’s top 185 private companies has revealed the best and worst performers and those new rich-listers added to the list in the midst of a global pandemic. READ THE FULL LIST.
The Express
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Express. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Random breath test allegedly uncovers coke baggies and cash
- Man charged after child like sex doll parts found in cargo
- ‘I hope you understand who you are and who I am’: court
A second generation family-owned and operated business has recorded the highest growth of any privately-owned company across the state, outranking heavy hitters like HCF, Meriton and PwC Australia amidst a global pandemic.
Data released as part of the IBISWorld 2020 Top 500 Private Companies report has revealed ASI Solutions had experienced a staggering 73.9 per cent jump in growth (revenue of $150.49 million) in the 12 months to June of this year, followed by Probe Group at 66.2 per cent (revenue of $66.2 million) and Joss Group at 61.3 per cent (revenue of $469 million).
Meanwhile the NSW richlist in terms of total revenue is dominated by big names HCF ($2.97 billion in revenue), Meriton ($2.84 billion) and PwC Australia ($2.6 billion).
Among the newcomers from NSW to make this year’s list are N G P Investments (No 1) Pty Ltd, McDonald Jones Homes Pty Ltd, ARA Group, Eden Brae Homes, ASI Solutions, Claim Central, Beachwood Homes, Allworth Homes, Unispace, Hastings Co-op, Douglas Partners, Tapex, D & R Henderson and GME.
Of the nation’s top performing private companies, a staggering 36.9 per cent of all revenue - and 185 of the 500 most successful companies - comes from NSW.
Botany-based ASI Solutions is one of this year’s biggest success stories. Initially importing PC components to assemble and sell locally, it has evolved over its 35 years in business to provide information technology solutions across education, commercial, healthcare and government sectors.
Demonstrating the fastest revenue growth of any NSW company on the IBISWorld 2020 Top 500 Private Companies report, ASI Solutions recorded a revenue of $150.49 million in the 2019/2020 financial year.
Director Justin Lowe said its strength during the COVID-19 pandemic has been in senior leadership’s “growth mindset” and readiness to support customers navigating new technologies as a result of the pandemic.
“A lot of the opportunity I think is now going to be from people who have deployed all these new technologies,” he said.
“For example, Microsoft Teams is something everyone is using but no one’s actually using it well. So I think that’s where we can come in, and help our customers figure out how to get the most out of the new technology they have invested in.”
Mr Lowe said he didn’t anticipate the business’ growth to flatline anytime soon, instead looking to capitalise on new opportunities created by the pandemic.
Another top performer over the last 12 months is customer service provider Probe Group, which specialises in providing outsourced sales, service and help desk centres.
With a total revenue of $321.9 million in the 12 months to June this year, chief executive officer Andrew Hume said a combination of organic and acquisitive growth – as well as a strongly defined strategy – had been key to the business’s impressive results.
“At the beginning of March, we very quickly moved the business into a work from home footing across three countries,” Mr Hume said.
“Our whole operating infrastructure is sitting up in the cloud – so we’ve got very modern, world-best technology which supported us to do that.
“And because we’d done all that so quickly, we had capacity intellectually and resources to actually help other people who were suffering.”
The firm implemented support to industries disrupted by the global pandemic – airlines, gyms and retailers – which allowed the business to increase their Australian onshore headcount by 1000 people, an achievement Mr Hume is especially proud of.
“We added a lot of people for businesses who experienced what I call channel shift – so they might have been very retail store centric and maybe had between 6 to 8 per cent of their volumes coming through digital channels, and then all of a sudden overnight they’ve got 50 to 70 per cent of their volume through digital channels,” he said. “So we added people to support that shift in behaviour.”
“We have a very defined strategy here of wanting to hold our clients hand and walk them into the future to help them navigate and understand the complexity and the impact on their business of all things digital.”
IBISWorld senior industry analyst Jason Aravanis said NSW was punching well above its weight with almost 37 per cent (185) of companies in the country-wide rich list from the state despite COVID-19 causing a ripple effect in the last quarter.
“ASI operates in a really fast moving space and they’ve also just recently completed two major acquisitions – BEarena and Forward IT,” he said
“That’s enabled them to expand their capacity, particularly in providing computer system design services for the federal government in Canberra, as well as expanding into New Zealand.”
He said private companies in NSW accounted for 36.9 per cent of all revenue in the ‘IBISWorld 2020 Top 500 Private Companies,’ despite the state accounting for 32 per cent of the Australian population.
“NSW is punching above its weight,” Mr Aravanis said. “Sixty-two per cent of the companies on the list actually recorded revenue growth for the year but that was actually down from 78 per cent in the version of the list that we released in 2018/2019.”
“And that has basically been driven by the really bad results in the final quarter, just as we were seeing COVID-19 start to rear its head and affect the economy.”
At the other end of the Top 500 spectrum, Just Cuts NSW experienced the most drastic 12-month decline (-46.6 percentage growth - $117.63 million) followed by Tibra Capital (-28.4 - $232.32 million) and AI Topper (-22.6 - $85.51 million).
Mr Aravanis attributed the lacklustre performance of the Australian hairdressing franchise solely to COVID-19.
“For a significant period around April, Just Cuts basically had to shut down simply due to social distancing requirements,” he said. “And that really just cut into their revenue results for 2019/2020.”
Just Cuts franchise owner Nikki Irwin knows all too well the challenges businesses across the country have faced, admitting this past year has been the hardest in her 42-year professional hairdressing career.
And despite many Just Cuts salons across the country closing for extended periods, a pragmatic approach to the pandemic and her genuine love of the job was what had helped keep her business afloat.
“This time last year Roselands Shopping Centre had just been refurbished and we were doing very well – better than we’d done in my 20 plus years here,” Mrs Irwin said.
“And then COVID-19 hit, unfortunately.”
The business closed for only four days and the salon remained open at the height of the pandemic for five hours a day. Staff adhered to strict hygiene and social distancing measures in order to help maintain the business and service the needs of the local community.
The business has since returned to normal operating hours, with the exception of late night Thursday.
“As a business owner you’ve got to play role model to your staff – it's important to stay positive so they can stay positive,” Mrs Irwin said.
“After 42 years, it’s quite amazing to still love cutting hair and still love my job.
“One thing about Just Cuts is that people love working for the company – it’s a good environment and our clients are amazing – you have that connection and interaction with people so you keep your spirits up.
“I know we’ll ride this out.”