AFTER 50 years of marriage and 40 years working at Elders together Kev and Bev McColl might be onto something when it comes to sustaining a healthy balance between work and home.
“The secret is to leave work discussions for the office, and all other matters for home,” they said.
Kev and Bev are synonymous with the Elders brand throughout the North with both being intrinsic in the success and expansion of the company in the region.
The pair had one thing in common from the get go, they were both born and bred Charters Towers kids with Kev attending Charters Towers High School while Bev went to Blackheath and Thornburgh College.
They were married in 1964 and moved from Charters to Townsville the same year.
Bev, who was working at Southern Cross Machinery, heard about an opening in the Elders Merchandise division and suggested that Kev try out for the job.
Kev scored the job and started out as the Townsville Merchandise Manager in 1969 when it was at that time called Elders Smith Goldsborough Mort and situated on Woolcock Street. At that point, the livestock division was located elsewhere in town.
It was just Kev, Bev (doing relief work) at the branch and two sales reps back in those days servicing clients in the local area as well as Richmond, Julia Creek and Hughenden.
“We were understaffed to put it politely,” Kev said.
“We were a one stop shop back then. As well as animal health, crop care and horticultural products, we also purchased groceries from Thomas Brown, Vern Phillip, Samuel Allens, and even sold cars,” he said.
The branch moved several times in this period from Perkins Street to Little Perkins Street both in South Townsville.
In 1972, Kev and Bev experienced the happiest moment in their marriage when they welcomed their son Mitch into the world.
And, although home was a happy place, the workplace was tough back in the early years at Elders.
Kev said the business faced one of its toughest periods in its history with the cattle downturn in 1973.
“The graziers were really doing it tough, we had clients that were facing such hardship financially that they had to go on the child endowment scheme to survive.”
In 1974, a building supplies branch was created but it never really got off the ground and was closed down by the end of the decade. The livestock and merchandise divisions also operated from the same premises in Flinders Street West, which marked the first time that the Townsville operation worked together under one roof.
After harsh times in the early to mid 70s, the period that followed up until the mid-80s brought about a bit of a golden age for the Elders brand in the North.
“In the period from about ’75 to ‘85 there was a really strong rapport built between reps and clients, as well as managers and reps which fostered a great sense of purpose and identity within the company,” Kev said.
“I feel it was this quality that got lost later down the track which led to a lot of the problems the business has faced on a national scale, however it’s been great to see that old way start to re-emerge over the past few years,” he said.
In 1982 the divisions were split again with merchandise moving to Ingham Road, and livestock heading to Denham Street.
“The 80s were definitely Elders most profitable period in the North; it was a good time to be in the business.
“We didn’t have as much competition in those days, so our margins didn’t have to be as tight.”
Bev started her career full-time with Elders in November, 1986, in an administration role. She later became Admin Manager before being promoted again to Branch Manager, a position she’s held and excelled at since 2008.
In her role as Admin Manager, Bev oversaw six staff members who she managed very successfully.
She said being a good manager isn’t rocket science, “You just have to communicate well and be honest.”
In 1992 the livestock and merchandise divisions again moved under the same roof to where Elders Townsville presides to this day at 29-31 Bolam Street, Garbutt.
Kev was made the Townsville branch manager at that time, with 15 staff members on premises.
“We also incorporated the insurance division into the fold at that point in time.
“The branch became a real hive of activity, which were great conditions to work in.”
The next big moment for the branch came in 1995 when Elders merged with Primac before taking total control in 1998, which was the same year that Elders started supplying to the cane industry – the last untapped revenue stream for the company at that time.
Kev was promoted again to Regional Merchandising Manager for North Queensland in 1998.
“That was probably the busiest and toughest period for me, I had to cover the most of the North, and it was at a time when the business with the other companies in the North was highly competitive.
“At some stages we were making as little as two per cent profit on our products, it was a real dogfight.”
Son Mitch took up a position in the Townsville Branch in 1996 after finishing his apprenticeship as a boilermaker. He started as a sales rep in Townsville covering Ingham under the employ of Chris Hamilton.
He progressed with the merger of Primac and Elders to become the horticulture rep in the Burdekin, before eventually taking on the position of branch manager at Elders Ayr. After experiencing great success in that role he was promoted to Operational Manager for Elders in North Queensland.
Mitch left Elders in September 2006 and took up his current role at Impact Fertilisers where he is now the Regional Sales Manager for North Queensland.
Kev held his position as Regional Merchandising Manager for North Queensland until he finished up with the company in 2002.
Bev is currently on sick leave from the Elders due to major illness this year after 28 years of service to the company.
“It was nice to leave my position knowing that the branch was again running at a profit after some very rough years due to the global financial crisis among other things,” Bev said.
Townville was in fact the top performing branch in the Northern region at the time of Bev leaving.
Kev and Bev said during their time spent with the company they had a chance to work with some great people many of who are now long-time friends including Wayne Fisher, Jack Smart, Peter Dixon, John Guilfoyle, Geoff Roberts, Brian Cannon, Charlie Crossley and Rodney Kent.
As well as forging great bonds with clients such as Billy Carter, Neil Richards, Paul and Maria Frasson, Geoff and Linda Fry, Malcolm McClymont, Max and Robyn Kelso and the Penna family.
“We’d also like to say a special thankyou to Stan and Delma Hazelton who were clients since the early 80s and also own the Bolam Street premises,” they said.
Kev and Bev agreed that over the last decade Elders has really started to build up its reputation again with much of the loyalty between managers to reps and reps to clients that made the business so strong in the first place being forged anew.
Today, Kev and Bev are relaxed at home while enlightening The North Queensland Register with their many eventful tales of their time spent at Elders, time spent, that helped pave the way for the company to flourish and sustain success in the North.
After all their hard work, they are looking forward to spending time with their son Mitch, his wife Tasha and grandkids Layton and Connor.
Kev said with a beaming smile creasing his face that the kids are like polar opposites “Layton you can’t get to talk, and Connor you can’t get to stop”.