Ten years ago, after a 20-year career in the banking industry, Steve Villios opened a RAMS (Registered Australian Mortgage Securities) franchise. He began as a sole operator working from home, but the business quickly grew and he opened two offices in Unley and Mount Barker, expanded the company to a team of 15 employees and became the biggest volume RAMS office for South Australia/Northern Territories/Western Australia every year.

In 1995, husband and wife team Mark and Amanda Jensen moved from Adelaide to Mount Gambier to manage a Bakers Delight Store.  After a few years and still only in their 20’s they purchased the store, built a second store and had a child – all in the same year! After buying and selling a couple more bakeries in Darwin, the couple is now back to owning one store in Mount Gambier, which they relocated last year to a commercial property on Compton Street that was purchased in partnership with another fresh food retailer. At the time, the relocation was risky and costly, but they’ve continued to grow and delight their customers with everything from hearty breads to sweet buns, savoury bites, pizzas and much more.

Good Physio was established in 2015, when husband and wife team Tristan and Natalie Chai took the leap and left their full-time jobs to start a new physiotherapy business from scratch. Based in Glenelg, the clinic offers physiotherapy, sports/remedial massage, acupuncture, rehabilitation and exercise therapy – and has seen revenue grow by approximately 30% per year since 2017.

Yates Electrical Services (YES) founder Mark Yates started out in 2004 as an independent electrical contractor. Now specialising in the renewable energy sector, the company won its biggest contract earlier this year – worth $36m! It’s been quite a journey.

Five years ago, Alex Apostolakos had finished a university degree in Construction Management and was working for Telstra . . . but he knew he wanted to do something different and began looking for business ideas. With his Greek heritage, he knew people always enjoyed Greek food and so he decided to open a shop creating Lukoumades: traditional Greek donuts.

Based in Flinders Park, LS Design Construct is an architectural construction company specialising in residential architecture and building. After operating for over 10 years, they now have a team of eight staff members and established partnerships with over 50 contractors.

Pink Carat is a boutique jeweller in Unley specialising in custom-made jewellery, as well as jewellery inspections, repairs and remodelling. Owner Bevan Jones initially founded the business in early 2014, with just one part-time employee and himself as the only jeweller.

Not long ago, there were over 100 brick manufacturers around Australia, but many have since been taken over by competitors or have simply gone out of business. Oreon Partners’ client Littlehampton Bricks and Pavers, on the other hand, has not only stayed in business as a privately owned family firm, but has expanded and gone from strength to strength. Their growth and endurance show the value of having a well-respected and trusted brand, which owner Mark Fiora and his family have worked very hard to establish over their 120+ year history.

Birkenstock in the Hills originally opened in July 2003 in the historic German settlement town of Hahndorf.  Phil and Jackie Daniel have owned the store now for nine years and have been growing it steadily – in fact, sales have more than doubled in the past five years.

Head for the Hills was founded in 2015 by director Tyson Schmidt, an elite level mountain bike racer. Originally working in the entertainment industry, Tyson decided to take the risk and invest in his dream of running his own business.

AM Cranes & Rigging, (AMC) based in Darwin, provides crane hire throughout remote locations in the Northern Territory and Queensland.  Headed by Adam Murrihy, a long-term client of Chris Gebhardt of Oreon Partners, it has been in operation for 11 years and has seen extensive growth taking part in major construction projects around Darwin and Katherine.  AMC is now a major business in Darwin, holding cranes with capacities ranging from 15 tonnes to 400 tonnes.

Proactive Property is run by Richard Shoesmith, who is a long-term client of Oreon. Richard came to Jarrad Dunn at Oreon Partners in 2005 when Richard was seeking funding for a development in Thebarton, South Australia.

The art of tiling is inherent in this family business, with the founder Walter Gesuato emigrating from Northern Italy over 50 years ago with his younger brother.  G & G Tiling has gone from strength to strength and now includes a large team including project managers, estimators, leading hands and…

Oreon Partners has worked with Vertex Power & Process since October 2017. A uniquely diverse company, the business was originally founded in 2014 and has two separate branches of service: Vertex Power & Process, which provides powerline services and industrial power solutions across western New South Wales and South Australia;…

Judy and Len Case from Kimbolton Wines weren’t sure how best to create a structure that recognised the role of their son and daughter in passing the business, operations and assets down to them.  So, they contacted Oreon Partners to help. Find out how we assisted them in creating an effective succession plan.

Think you’re too old to start your own business? Think again. After retiring from full careers in other industries, Oreon clients Frank and Ruth Anderson both decided to pursue their dreams of running their own businesses. Today, those businesses provide additional income during retirement while keeping them healthy and active. Read their story and how Oreon played a role in making this happen.