About a year ago, my wife and I started considering moving from Melbourne to Brisbane. We were originally from Brisbane and felt like it was time to return home. However, there was one glaring question. What would I do about my career at Fenwick? The answer, of course, was to bring it with me.
We have a firmly established base of clients in south-east Queensland
From a business perspective, geographical expansion, the first in Fenwick’s forty year history, was a great opportunity. Approximately 10% of our existing clients operated out of south-east Queensland, yet interstate distance meant we were unable to provide continuous on-site support. As I am now permanently working out of Brisbane, we can facilitate more frequent site visits without our clients attracting travel costs. We believe offering this face to face assistance is key in any effective working relationship.
The expansion also provides an opportunity to recruit from a new pool of talent. We have a well-established relationship with Swinburne University in Melbourne. This relationship allows us to recruit high performing graduates from one of the most prestigious and industry relevant ICT courses in Australia. We are aiming to establish a similar relationship with the Queensland University of Technology.
Expanding our internal culture of support and camaraderie
The greatest risk of expansion, was the loss of corporate identity a remote office could experience. Fenwick is defined not only by its high quality of service but by its internal culture of support and camaraderie. There was no one who understood and appreciated the culture of Fenwick who was also willing to leave the frosty streets of Melbourne for the sunny climes of Brisbane. Until me.
Fortunately, the technology to support a remote office is well developed. The Fenwick Brisbane Office has a dedicated phone number, (07) 3635 7222, which I access exclusively through Teams. I am on the phone daily with my southern colleagues to ask and answer questions which is not dissimilar if someone were working off-site.
With a firmly established base of clients in south-east Queensland already, the Fenwick Brisbane office is an exciting new opportunity to grow our business and reach new people. It is a whole new world!
