As reported in Appliance Retailer earlier this week, the Harvey Norman 2015 Conference and Expo gave executive director David Ackery and chairman Gerry Harvey, the opportunity to publicly express their appreciation for the efforts of the Harvey Norman ‘family’ in boosting the company’s half year net profit to 27.4%.
When it came to the 2015 awards, (se below for full list of Winners) it was a matter of strong acknowledgement for the veteran Harvey Norman franchisees such as Steve Cavalier from Bundall, Queensland who picked up the Australian Franchisee of the Year as well as the Queensland state Award.
Harvey Norman Franchisee of the Year Award Winner, Steve Cavalier
In awarding the National Award to Cavalier, Ackery said, “If I was a franchisee, this would be the one I would treasure and want to win. The franchisee that has won this deserves it.”
“I don’t know of anyone with more energy in the business and we certainly have a lot of energy in our franchisees. I don’t know of a guy that comes up with more ideas as to how to squeeze the most out of every opportunity that he is given.”
“I don’t know a guy that challenges myself, Haydon and Rob more about decisions and strategies. I don’t know a guy who supports strategies and actions and puts them into place not only in business but also in the men and women that he leads.
“This is extremely deserving,” he added.
Cavalier was genuinely surprised to receive the awards, “I wasn’t expecting this, I’m really proud to work for HN for… too long. It’s an amazing company, I have been with the company for the ride all the way through and the opportunities it has given me and a lot of people in this room today who have worked for the company for such a long time,” he said.”
“I cannot think of any other company in the world that gives the opportunity to so many people. I’ve got lots of franchisees out there now that I am extremely proud of who have worked for me and worked for the company and they are all doing an outstanding job.”
“The whole of Bundall is an amazing operation, we have built it from nothing since 1988 and I am proud to say that we have held number one spot for a bloody long time.”
“Thank you to the team at Flemington, David, Haydon, Rob and Helen.”
Working for Harvey a “tremendous journey”
Steve Attard from Moore Park, NSW another long term Harvey Franchisee garnered the Australian Franchisee Award for NSW/ACT . Attard has worked for Gerry Harvey for 35 years, beginning from the time he arrived in Australia in 1980.
“ I have worked for Gerry Harvey all those years and it has been a tremendous journey for me. I never dreamt as a kid in Malta that I would come here and achieve this and be privileged to be in front of this great audience. I spent 25 years as a franchisee in Warrawong and the GFC came and we hit the wall. David and the team pulled me aside and gave me another shot.
“ I went to Moore Park, loved it and managed to get this award. I would like to dedicate this award to all those franchisees who strive every day to get up, go to work and work hard and think they have a chance to get there and don’t quite get there. Your time will come, you can work really hard and you will get there,” Attard told the 900 strong audience.
“I want to thank all of the suppliers for their hard work to grow this company to what it is and it’s unbelievable the support we get and I would like to acknowledge it. I would like to thank Gerry Harvey personally for giving me a chance many moons ago. I was shaking when I went up and said I wanted a franchisee. That was a long time ago, but he gave me a go and here we are. I would also like to thank the Flemington team,” he added.
Ackery wrapped up the evening when he said, “We’ve had a great week and set some clear goals, targets and objectives and laid out how we are going to achieve those. I’m sure everyone is on board with those numbers and targets. If you’re not you can come and talk to me!”
“It’s going to be a great couple of years ahead and I’m sure you know that. We are so focused with where we want to be,” he concluded.
ELECTRICAL CONFERENCE 2015 AWARDS
Gold Awards
| Winners | ||
| John Hollings | Brian Nicholson | Wally Martyr |
| Sam Thompson | George Habib | Nick Gjokmarkovic |
| Bev Connor | Simon Day | Jayson Hynes |
| Craig Smithson | Darrin Pamplin | Rod Ayache |
| Bob Negroh | Peter Hearn | Cara Sherman |
| Darrin Harrison | Sean Dixon | Lincoln Will |
| Barry Smith | Adam Qemal | Ryan Freestone |
| Luke Paloff | Mark Churcher | Geoff Cussen |
| Ryan Maxwell | Nick Davey |
Australian Franchisee of the Year by State 14/15
| Region | Winner |
| NSW/ACT | Steve Attard |
| QLD | Steve Cavalier |
| SA/NT | Nick Karasoulos |
| VIC | Troy Stanton |
| TAS | Matthew Locke |
| WA | Hayley Hooper |
Australian Store of the Year Customer Service – Metro 14/15
| Winner |
| City West |
Australian Store of the Year Customer Service – Regional 14/15
| Winner |
| Gladstone |
Joyce Mayne/Domayne Franchisee of the Year 14/15
| Winner |
| Greg Chapple |
Australian Rookie of the Year 14/15
| Winner |
| Ashley Collins |
Australian Franchisee of the Year 14/15
| Winner |
| Steve Cavalier |