Winner: William Gallagher (Bill)
Profits and fun are what business is all about for Bill Gallagher, the inspirational Chief Executive of Gallagher Group Ltd and the winner of the Outstanding International Business Leader Award in the New Zealand International Business Awards 2009.
The excitement of pursuing international opportunities hasn’t diminished since Bill joined the Hamilton family firm more almost half a century ago.
“When I started fulltime with the business in the early 1960s I thought if we could grow from ten to 40 staff we’d be pretty big,” recalls Bill. Today Gallagher Group, which has its roots in agriculture, employs 600 people in New Zealand and many hundreds more at the next tier of distribution internationally.
Bill became chief executive in 1975 and chairman in 1984. Under his leadership annual sales have grown from less than $2 million to about $160 million. He has spearheaded the Group’s expansion into a multi-national manufacturing and marketing company, specialising in animal control and agricultural fencing systems, integrated security systems and specialised plastic products.
Bill was personally responsible for setting up many of the 100 distribution partnerships that sell the Group’s products across the globe.
“These are long-term multi-generational relationships with integrity on both sides,” he explains. “That’s very important. Without honesty everything will fall over fairly quickly.”
A born entrepreneur who was manufacturing and selling scuba dive gear and operating a salvage business while still at school, Bill still spends up to 150 days of the year travelling the world, meeting with distributors, attending field days and trade fairs, and cultivating relationships to help break into new markets – this year his sights are set on Russia.
He is skilled at communicating across language and social barriers and his first question to business partners is always ‘what can we do better?’
“It shows we care and we get a better product and a better organisation.”
The same ethics and integrity Bill brings to his business partnerships extend to all his relationships.
With his staff, he has a disdain of what he calls the “control technique” of hierarchical management, favouring the coach approach. “Once you’ve learned the skills of leadership and how to delegate and manage people as a coach manager, you don’t need to be there. In my observation, one-man bands that make all the decisions with a lot of yes men around them blow to bits when the company gets to around 50 or so people.”
Bill has created a work environment that encourages personal empowerment, independent thinking and controlled risk taking.
“Staff won’t get fired for making mistakes, this isn’t the public service,” he laughs. “He who never makes a mistake never makes anything. As long as they don’t make the same mistake twice! I also encourage staff to learn from others’ mistakes – especially our competitors’.”
Staff share in the profits – a tradition started by Bill’s father. It engenders loyalty and is a great incentive, as reflected in the Group’s outstanding results. “We’ve just had our all-time record for profit and turnover and our two major competitors have both had serious losses. I thought we were doing pretty well, but that makes me feel even prouder of what we’ve achieved.”
Bill also has a strong and active commitment to the environment he lives and works in and is a major sponsor of many civic and community organisations.
And he may be nearing 70, but Bill is not planning on slowing down any time soon as he works to double the Group’s annual turnover in the next six years.
“I’m in business for fun and profit. If you’re not getting either, then get out. The good news is I’m getting both!”
For further information
Bill Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Gallagher Group Ltd, 07 838 9800, bill.gallagher@gallagher.co, www.gallagher.co
Ann Clifford, Corporate Communications Manager, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, 04 816 8321, 027 283 3858, ann.clifford@nzte.govt.nz
