RADcentre takes top prize

FITNESS centre and gym RADcentre was named this year’s Business of the Year at the Federation University Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards.

The accolades brings their total number of awards on the night to three for the first-time entrants, having won in two categories in the leadup to the big reveal.

Founder and director Chris Radford said he was “absolutely blown away” to receive the top prize.

“We’re inspired by everyone in the room. For us to get some recognition for what we’re chipping away at, it’s pretty cool,” he said.

“We think we’re a couple of small dogs just chewing away, having a little crack, but the team we’ve got around us and the magic we’re creating is certainly exciting.

“Just to get through the last couple years is a credit and to be recognised in this room is really something special.”

Established in 2015, RADcentre grew out from a single-car garage behind Mr Radford’s home into their current facility at Selkirk Stadium in Wendouree.

All but two of the business’s twelve-person team studied at Federation University, including Mr Radford when he moved to Ballarat from Horsham.

He said the awards process from their application to the winning night reinforced the importance of his team as “the special sauce” to RADcentre’s success.

“I’m only one person but I’ve got an awesome team of people around us,” he said.

“Being able to have a great group of people to strive towards a common goal and have some fun along the way is really important.

“Some of the guys were joking before that we’ll have to get a trophy cabinet installed or a special room, but they’ll go in the gym also as a nice thank you for our clients and customers.”

 

Nevetts Lawyers

Manufacturing Business Award

Luv-A-Duck

“Luv-A-Duck is new to the Ballarat area but we’re a 54-year-old family business that’s really passionate about manufacturing and manufacturing in Victoria, and making high-quality duck products to sell to all of our customers.

“The family roots come all the way back to Ballarat from the 1890s when one of the shoppies was mayor of Ballarat.

“All of our processing prior to that was done up at Nhill in the Wimirra and Ballarat just really made sense to come back to the roots of the family and build our new production facility.”

Mark Shandley, senior manager, Luv-a-Duck

 

 

Power FM

SME Business Award

RADcentre 

“[I’d like to thank] my wife individually, but there’s a whole team, we’ve got a team of twelve of us now, which is pretty crazy from the little garage.

“Really, we’re just trying to provide the opportunity for regional athletes to get the same services and opportunities as the guys down in the big smoke.

“We’re just trying to get involved with as many different organisations as we can.

“[We’re] showing them what we can do, I suppose. We’re scratching the surface of what we can do, so it’s exciting times.”

Chris Radford, owner and director, RADcentre

 

 

Federation University Technology Park

Innovation Award

James Vac Solutions (JVS) 

“The award basically says that yeah, we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve at being, not the best in our game, but we’re here in Ballarat, we’re here to work.

“We do a lot of NDD work, which is non-destructive digging. Basically, we’re street sweeper vac trucks.

“We look for services, locate them, keep customers happy so no more electrical strikes, no more gas strikes. It’s all about safety.

“Everyone needs to get on board. We’re all about safety, and I’d just love to thank the rest of the team.”

Deane Bird, site supervisor, James Vac Solutions (JVS)

 

 

City of Ballarat

Creative Industries Business Award

Volta

“Obviously the last two years, or two-and-a-half years with COVID it’s been really tough on the live music industry.”

“For the last twelve months, we’ve really strived to bring live music back or to a certain standard and aspect for Ballarat.

“We feel like the acts we’re bringing in international and national now are up to a really good standard and the tickets are selling. We’re really happy and just excited.

“It’s always a pleasure to win some things and a bit of recognition for some of the work you do but it was amazing to just be shortlisted in general.

“It’s the best feeling ever [to be back] and I just love live music and I can’t wait to see everyone at a gig.”

Lachy Anderson, venue programmer, Volta

 

 

Central Highlands Water

Ballarat Roadworthy Centre

Trade Business Award

“It’s very surprising to win. We’re shocked.

“We’ve only been in business for two years, so coming into COVID, we were like ‘this is how it’s going to happen, this is how we do it,’ and we made it work.

“Our team’s been really good, and we’ve made it work. Who we’ve got, they’ve been so supportive and it’s happened. It’s worked.

“[I’d like to thank] my wife, Louise. But everyone has been so adaptive and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without everyone on the team right now.”

James Walker, director, Ballarat Roadworthy Centre

 

 

Bartlett Manufacturing

Family Business Award

The Little Cupcake

“Family is key, really, to our business. It’s founded on family. Family work in the business. Family run the business.

“There’s so many great businesses here as finalists, but it’s sad in a way there has to be a winner because I think all of them deserve to be winners.

“The last twelve months have been tricky, just not knowing whether we’re coming forwards, backwards, up, down, whatever.

“Thankfully, our business has managed to cope really well with COVID.

“Part of that is luck. Part of that is making the most of an opportunity because of the sort of thing we provide. We provide happiness for people, and joy.”

Madeleine Witham, director, The Little Cupcake

 

 

Ballarat Regional Development Australia Grampians

New Product Award

Carboni’s Next Door – Deli & Pasta

“We found this new way of doing business, and it’s been rewarded so I’m super, super happy.

“It’s been fantastic. It’s been an incredible year, very challenging. We decided, due to COVID, to reinvent a side of our businesses and do things in different ways to bring money in and keep everybody employed.

“[I’d love to thank] the team, first of all, then entire organisation who put all this up and to celebrate, my wife that is still coping, my entire family. I can go on and on.

“I’m on a roll [after winning last year]. I can’t complain.”

Donatello Pietrantuono, owner, Carboni’s Next Door – Deli & Pasta

 

 

Vitrafy Life Sciences

Health and Wellbeing Business Award

RADcentre

“It’s very exciting to win again. We’re blown away.

“Through the lockdowns, we’d often load my car up with equipment and go to footy oval grandstands and set up there just to keep some momentum going.

“Now we’re back going fully operational, we just keep growing month by month which is super exciting.

“[For the next twelve we’ll be] just trying to help as many people as we can to keep improving their performance, whether that’s getting bigger, faster, stronger or rehabilitating from an injury.

“We just want to keep helping as many people as we can.”

Chris Radford, owner and director, RADcentre

 

 

nbn Local

Professional Services Business Award

BGT Jobs + Training Ballarat

“I mentioned putting people on in employment services but our business is much broader than that. We run Barkly Square, we’ve got a training division, we’ve got a community services support division.

“It’s a huge honour to win this. It’s great recognition for the team. We’ve done a lot of work to reshape the organisation in the last few years, and to be recognised tonight, we’re stoked, absolutely stoked.

“Just the machinations of issues we had to navigate through, were the likes of which we’ve probably never seen before.

“We’ve got 36 staff in the team. Each and every one of them contributes every day to make Ballarat a better community.”

Graham McMahon, CEO, BGT Jobs + Training Ballarat

 

 

The WIN Network

Customer Service Award

Community Bank Buninyong

“Customer service is something that every business strives to do so to get recognised for that and the hard work of the staff is just fantastic. We had a lot of great competition in that.

“On top of our customer service, we obviously focus on the customer in everything that we do but the greater community is our customer as well.

“So, we turn most of our profits back into community grants and scholarships and sponsorships. Last year, we gave almost $300,000 back into the community.

“I just want to thank all the staff and all the board for all their hard work. We really have a culture of working collaboratively together towards these.”

Randall Dreger, branch manager, Community Bank Buninyong

 

 

Runway HQ

Newcomer Business Award

Tim’s Toasties 

“It’s amazing, as a newbie to the Ballarat hospitality industry, it’s amazing to be recognised and take away with a win.

“I’d just love to thank Federation University, Commerce Ballarat, my sponsors Runway HQ, and also my beautiful wife, Abbey Bone. None of this would be possible without Abbey, so it means a lot.

“In coping with COVID, the big word was ‘pivot.’ I was doing toasties deliveries, anything that I could to keep my business going.

“Obviously, I’m predominantly focused on the farmer’s market and pop-up events and all of those got cancelled so anything I could do to keep my business afloat, I was going to do.

“I would doorknock, whatever it took, to sell my toasties.”

Tim Bone, owner, Tim’s Toasties

 

 

Mercure Ballarat Hotel and Convention Centre

Franchise/Buying Group Business Award

Schnitz Ballarat

“I knew from the very first moment we were going to win it because we’re so confident about it.

“Our team works hard all days of the year, so I was confident about it, that we’re going to win it, so I was very, very excited about it.

“Whenever you come into Schnitz, you’re not sure what you’re going to get, so we’re always going to recommend Swiss.

“We have such a positive vibe. If you ever come into Schnitz Ballarat you will get the same type of vibe and confidence and positive vibes around the team.

“Our signature thing is we always say Swiss. Because it’s a healthy meal, go for avocado or sweet chili mayo.”

Preet Sandhu, store manager and business partner, Schnitz.

 

Cafs

Social Change Maker Award

Community Bank Buninyong

“Our purpose is to build community. We do that by investing into projects that are community-led. Those community projects create transformational change within their community so that’s what it’s all about.

“We’re an organisation that’s run by community volunteers so non-remunerated directors who have the courage to run a commercial enterprise and make courageous decisions around community projects.

“Whether it be sport, whether it be infrastructure, whether it be social programs, things like that, schools, that’s what we do.

“These awards are a fantastic showcase and Commerce Ballarat deserves a whole lot of recognition for running this time and time again.

Ian Corcoran, chair, Community Bank Buninyong

 

 

Ballarat Times News Group

Micro/Home Based Business Award

Wonder Inns

“It’s an enormous buzz to win after being only residents of Ballarat for a short time. We’re just thrilled at how we’ve been accepted, and our business has been accepted in Ballarat. So proud.

“We opened two weeks before the first Victorian COVID lockdown, so we closed our doors.

“We started with one property, a little church out in Lexton, and we’ve since expanded to another property to a second property in Mount Helen.

“We have a third on the go in Sturt Street.

“I love the hospitality scene up here. It’s one of the big reasons we made the move up here. I think there’s so much to offer the history of the town.”

Annie Brereton, owner, Wonder Inns

 

 

Hip Pocket Workwear & Safety

Retail Business Award

Dej’s Packaging

“Back at the start of COVID, we purchased the business and we’ve grown quite successfully since then.

“We actually added some new products to our category going into COVID and we diversified food packaging, which is the core of our business.

“That obviously took off. We made sure we had plenty of stock on standby and all of our restaurants and cafes and pubs and clubs could keep trading as the lockdowns were in place.

“Our business would not be our business without our team so without the team coming to work every day bringing their A-game we just wouldn’t be the business we are today.”

Alastair Stewart, director, Dej’s Packaging

 

 

Federation University

Restaurants, Cafes and Pubs Business Award

Eclectic Tastes

“It’s a credit to the team that we were able to operate during those times and I think at times we were giddy to be pivoting.

“I think we managed to get there and I’m very grateful for the support we received from the Ballarat community and particularly our loyal customers.

“I think we’ve got a team of professional people. There’s a high skill set there that they’re able to bring to the table every day and a service that people want and need and love.

“I’d like to thank the whole entire team but more importantly to the executive chef Leigh Murphy.

Jane Miller, owner, Eclectic Tastes