Rebecca Frizelle in Hall of Fame, SEE Group gets top gong in Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards
A formidable business and sport leader is now in the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards Hall of Famer while a successful family operation has won the top gong. See the full winners list
Business
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Formidable business and sporting leader Rebecca Frizelle OAM has been named in the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards Hall of Fame.
The Gold Coast Titans co-owner is the second woman – and second Frizelle – to receive the honour, bestowed before a crowd of 600 at The Star Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Helensvale civil construction and engineering powerhouse SEE Group took out the evening’s other major award, named Gold Coast Business of the Year for 2024.
In an epic speech which drew a standing ovation, Ms Frizelle thanked her late parents, stepmother and high-achieving siblings for instilling values of hard work, courage, gratitude and appreciation.
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Ms Frizelle’s father-in-law James Frizelle was inducted in 2020, while late great bikini entrepreneur Paula Stafford – a former neighbour of Ms Frizelle – was honoured in 2009.
She moved to the Gold Coast with her dynamo mother Diana and three siblings in 1976.
Ms Frizelle, herself a mother of three, joined the automotive industry as a receptionist for
James Frizelle Mazda car dealership at Southport in 1990 and moved quickly through the ranks – eventually becoming the group’s chief operating officer as it ballooned into one of Australia’s largest privately-owned automotive groups.
“Success is never just about one person,” she said.
“I’ve been fortunate to develop and grow alongside the best, James Frizelle, who encouraged me, taught me the value of listening, asking questions, seeking alternate opinions and taking calculated risks – sometimes not that calculated.”
As well as finding a successful career in the motoring industry, Ms Frizelle found her husband Brett Frizelle, who she described as her “safe place and sounding board”.
“Your advice, support and sensitive guidance has been invaluable,” she said.
But motoring has not been Ms Frizelle’s only mission, and she became chair of the Gold Coast Titans in 2014, the first woman ever to chair an NRL club.
Ms Frizelle was integral to Frizelle group’s merger with Peter Warren Automotive and stepped away from the business after laying the foundation for its subsequent $1.5bn ASX listing in 2017.
The same year, she and Mr Frizelle teamed with trucking magnate Darryl Kelly to buy the then-struggling Titans, which they had sponsored since 2006. The couple remains 50 per cent shareholders.
“Being the first female to hold such a role in a national team was not about me smashing through any glass ceiling,” she told the crowd.
“Let me tell you, this is about me making sure the roof didn’t cave in.”
Ms Frizelle also served as an independent director of ASX listed Sunland Development Group from January 2018 until June 2022.
As well as an ongoing role on the board of the Titans, Ms Frizelle serves on the boards of Racing Queensland, Paralympics Australia, the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games Organising Committee, LifeFlight Australia and Experience Gold Coast.
She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2020 and appointed Deputy Chancellor of Griffith University in October 2022.
“These opportunities would not have been possible if I hadn’t said yes more than no regularly,” she said.
“Even right now, I am filled with self doubt, a fear of failure and a very healthy dose of impostor syndrome.
“But you know what? These are the big moments when you go to step up and go for it, be brave, and hopefully it’ll work out.”
Family business takes top gong
A Helensvale-headquartered company founded in 1988 has been named the Gold Coast’s business of the year.
SEE Group, established by brothers Brian and Bruce Turner, was named the winner before 600 business and political leaders at the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards gala at The Star Gold Coast on Saturday.
The company, now owned by a second generation of the Turner family and has six family members working in the different arms of the operation, also took Family Business category.
Executive director Peta Newton, who accepted the award, said the company, which started life as an earthmoving firm, now employs more than 450 across three main divisions: civil engineering, quarrying and fleet management.
It was the fourth year in a row SEE Group has won a Gold Coast Business Excellence Award, but it is the first time the company has been named Business of the Year.
Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards president Adam Twemlow said the quality of entrants in 2024 had been terrific.
“Our judging panel certainly had a challenging task choosing the winners in the different categories and the overall winner,’’ Mr Twemlow said.
“The incredible diversity of the businesses entering the awards reveals how quickly the city is maturing into a serious business location.
“It is not surprising to me in any way that the Gold Coast now has the fastest growing economy of all cities in Australia.”
Other winners of the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards:
* Emerging & Micro Business: Joe’s Deli
* Manufacturing: iCoolsport Australia
* Mayor’s Innovation Award: AAC ID Solutions
* Retail, Wholesale and Distribution: JSW Powersports
* Construction and Trades: TEW Solutions
* IT & Digital Business: TechConnect IT Solutions
* Professions & Services: Burchills Engineering Solutions
* Health & Wellbeing: Macro Mike
* Tourism, Hospitality & Events: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
* Education, Training & Employment: Langports
* Encouragement Award: Natures Farmer Sea
* Champion of Accessibility Award: GC Aqua Park
The awards, in their 29th year, aim to foster pride in the city’s business community and highlight its important as a business hub. Some of the city’s best known companies can claim to have been winners.
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