Richard Farrington Email & Phone Number

Sydney, Nsw, Au

Brisbane, Australia

Mega Limited (ML) is an unlisted public company which was established for the sole purpose of importing energy products, primarily diesel, for its wholesale distribution clients within Australia, their customers and their strategic partnerships. Richard was invited to join ML's board as Deputy Chairman in 2016 through an introduction. He demonstrated a great interest in being involved in the start-up phase of the company and it was felt his entrepreneurial background which included two start-ups and his knowledge and contacts in the financial world would be most helpful. In 2017 Richard was made Chairman. To date Richard has contributed in several ways. He has made significant introductions, demonstrated his entrepreneurial flair in his due diligence of ML itself and has rapidly grasped the concepts of the energy importing business. Richard is highly numerate and has been of great assistance in critiquing the various crucial elements of ML's start-up plans and created the Corporate Governance Policy documents.

Sydney, Australia

CML Group Limited (CML) is an ASX-listed public company {ASX: CGR}. CML is primarily involved in Invoice Financing. Richard was appointed to the board as a Non-Executive Director in 2014. The initial contact came through his directorship of Baillie Asset Management Limited.From the outset he went to considerable lengths to learn all about CML, understanding the services provided and the challenges & opportunities. He interviewed the 8 key staff members in Sydney & Brisbane and then gave a written report of the exercise to the Board to demonstrate his ability to form an accurate view on the staff and business in order to become productive quickly. Richard had been a persistently vocal supporter of the transition of CML from Labour Hire & Payroll to Invoice Financing - predominantly through 3 selective acquisitions. He saw the astounding growth of the loan book from $12m to $70m and contributed actively & substantially, bringing years of experience and a fresh pair of eyes to the board at a time of enormous change. He was also a member of the Risk Management, Nomination and Remuneration and Acquisitions Committees. Richard retired from the Board in 2017 to focus on his new demanding role as Chairman of Mega Limited.

Melbourne, Australia

Baillie Asset Management Ltd (BAM) is an unlisted public company which holds an AFSL license. BAM is a funds management business that uses its creativity, integrity, experience & relationships to create & deliver investment opportunities with superior risk adjusted returns. Wholesale investors can access our managed funds and/or access exclusive investment opportunities directly. Richard was approached to join BAM's board in 2014 given his proven business skills, investment knowledge and client network all which added tangible value. BAM's revenue doubled in FY16 as it was in a stronger position to negotiate superior investment opportunities for its funds & clients. He was also a member of the Risk Management Committee.An example of an exclusive opportunity was underwriting 50% of a $10.4m Convertible Note issue by the ASX-listed CML Group Ltd, a position comfortably covered by BAM, largely due to Richard's efforts in marketing the opportunity to invest in the Notes through his personal client network. Richard retired from the Board in 2017 to focus on his new demanding role as Chairman of Mega Limited.

Korora, Australia

After the sale of his second and main business (IPI) in 2003, Richard focused on private consulting work, managing his investment portfolio and travelling the world extensively. He was approached in 2014 to join the board of Baillie Asset Management Limited (BAM).

Sydney & Melbourne, Australia

After 1 yr of intensive research in Sydney, Richard started his 2nd and main business, Investment Publications Information Service P/L or IPI as it became known. Agencies were acquired with many Australian publishers with over 100 investment periodicals and newsletters to sell subscriptions to Corporations, Government & Academia, providing them with a ‘free sampling service’. After some consultation, a few samples of relevant publications were sent to clients to choose from.20 years later the range of publications had expanded to well over 2,000 titles covering nearly every field (from Pharmaceuticals & Banking to Global Warming & Satellites). IPI sold subscriptions into over 100 countries. New global titles were sourced from publishers mainly in the US & UK. Normal publisher’s commission is 15%-40% on subs & 10%-15% on renewals. IPI negotiated 75% & 40% respectively. This acquired skill gave a huge competitive edge & underwrote IPI's financial success.It was normal to sell an esoteric title like “Space Insurance News” at US$2,600pa to a company in China. Over 20 bright BDMs phoned clients & posted (later emailed) samples to make subscription sales supported by an admin staff of 20+. Valuable lessons were learnt from Richard's 1st business so the IPI model was much simpler & easier to run. A key decision was to put emphasis on a more thorough recruiting process seeking intelligent self-starting BDMs who could self-manage. 13 BDMs stayed with IPI for over 5 yrs & another 6 for over 10 yrs!For the first 12 years, Richard led by example, by becoming the top BDM and by doing all the recruiting & training alone, that meant no management team was needed nor the huge associated costs, enabling the BDMs to earn much more. IPI itself had an infinitely higher profit margin than his 1st business. By 2003 the internet was starting to disrupt the majority of the publishing world so he decided it was a good time to exit. IPI was sold and continued for another decade.

Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, Australia

Richard bought a struggling business in Melbourne for next to nothing after what due diligence was possible – it had issues. He named the business Australian Buying Advisory Service P/L or ABAS as it became known. It was a consumer membership organisation where, for an annual fee of only $12, members could phone up and get the lowest price on any consumer item valued at over $50. In hindsight, ABAS seems to have been a forerunner of the recent popular ‘deals’ websites such as the highly successful Groupon Inc.Contacts with 200+ businesses were already established and with the ‘buying power’ of the existing 20,000+ members, ABAS offered a money back guarantee on the membership fee if unable to beat the member’s lowest price on cars, TVs, white and brown goods, building products etc. He took a calculated risk of immediately raising the annual fee from $12 to $25, which had virtually no impact on either new sales or renewals. This single decision paid off handsomely and in one stroke turned the business around making it financially viable as the increase all went straight to the bottom line.A team of 65+ BDMs were recruited, trained & managed through a management team of 8. The staff handling the main Buying Advisory Service grew to over 35 processing hundreds of requests daily for the lowest price on a vast range of consumer goods. Over the next 7 years ABAS opened offices interstate and added numerous ancillary services which provided discounts: 20% off 45+ restaurants and 20% off car rental etc. ABAS also offered advice on Finance, Insurance & Travel.His negotiating skills were tested building this wide range of extra services involving 150+ contracts and the annual fee rose to $48pa for ABAS's then 50,000+ members. In 1980 Richard saw a niche in publishing that was untapped and sold ABAS to focus on developing an innovative new business.

Melbourne, Australia

After an intensive training course Richard sold a range of photocopying equipment to businesses in an area from Melbourne to Albury. After 2+ years of success in sales he was promoted to head up RX’s sales training courses in Victoria.

Melbourne, Australia

Richard was headhunted to join Rank Xerox Australia Ltd before his career at IBM had really had a chance to establish itself.