ALBANY butcher Reeves & Co Quality Butcher has been named Western Australia’s regional business of the year, one of several award winners from the southern town
It was also named WA’s best regional business with five to 10 employers.
For the first time at the awards, an inductee was named for the Regional Small Business Hall of Fame.
That honour went to Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Rolf Stene.
Small Business Development Corporation managing director George Etrelezis said Mr Stene certainly met the award’s criteria of contributing to the cause of small business over the years.
The former property developer – probably his largest creation was Australind Village – helped form first the South West Regional Chamber and, from that, the Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“He helped put a lot of focus onto regional small business issues,” Mr Etrelezis said.
Other awards winners were:
- The South West’s Hidden Valley Forest Retreat in the home-based business category;
- Elliott’s Small Engines, also from the South West, in the micro business category;
- Albany’s Wilson Machinery in the 10 to 20 employee category; and
- Bay Merchants, also from Albany, in the Business Enterprise Centre achiever category.
The awards are organised by the SBDC and sponsors included WA Business News.
Albany’s Reeves and Co is owned by Mark and Tamara Bradley.
They bought the business 10 years ago and, after two years of working out how the business operated, decided to change it to a boutique butcher and fresh provisions operation.
That has resulted in a 10-fold increase in customers over the past decade.
When the Bradleys bought the business there were about 150 customers coming through a week. These days it is about 1,000.
Its turnover has also increased from about $600,000 a year to $1.4 million.
Mr Bradley said under its previous owners the business had concentrated on wholesale and food service business.
The company was predominantly supplying aged care homes and restaurants.
“The trouble with wholesale is your customers are always after the best price so your margins are a bit lower,” Mr Bradley said.
“You also have a lot of credit issues. Your suppliers want seven-day trading terms and your customers want 30-day trading terms.
“These days the bulk of our trade is walk in business.”
The Bradleys opted to keep the business name because it was linked to the Reeves family, who were third generation butchers in the region.
However, in some ways that is about as far as their link with butcher shop tradition has stayed.
Over the few years they have converted the traditional butchers operation to include a continental delicatessen, a yoghurt bar – featuring the Athena brand of Greek yoghurt – and fruit and vegetables sourced from the region.
Mr Bradley said he and his wife had decided to go down the broader offering route as a way of competing with local supermarkets.
“People have less time these days so you have to make it as convenient as possible for them to buy from you,” Mr Bradley said.
