The largest property group in Australasia, Ray White, will return to the site of its rural beginnings next week for an annual meeting of its senior leadership team.
One hundred delegates will be travelling from Australia’s major cities, the North and South island of New Zealand, Indonesia and even Abu Dhabi for the event in regional Queensland, according to Chairman Brian White whose grandfather, Ray White, established the company. “Queensland’s Darling Downs region has huge sentimental significance for us, even 108 years on,” Mr White said. A disused railway siding shed in Crows Nest west of Toowoomba in rural Queensland was the unassuming birthplace of the organisation in 1902 and will host a significant element of the conference.While the majority of the events will be held in the regional hub of Toowoomba, the highlight of the annual meeting – the “Chairman’s Cup Dinner” – will be held at Ray White’s first office in the rural town of Crows Nest. Affectionately referred to as “The Shed”, the building was discovered on a remote property and relocated to the Carbethon Historical Museum in Crows Nest in 1994 where it was restored to its original condition. “We often hold this event in Sydney and the Gold Coast, but this year we’re excited to be hosting the official conference dinner in the very building that was the foundation of the company,” Mr White said. “We have recently refurbished the Ray White history display at the shed and it will be unveiled at the dinner.”
Ray White’s shed has hosted many significant company milestone events including its Centenary celebrations in 2002 which was attended by more than 1300 members of the Group.