Western Australian magnate Len Buckeridge has died of a heart attack at his home at the age of 77 – leaving one of the nation’s biggest construction and building materials businesses in the hands of his children.
Western Australian magnate Len Buckeridge has died of a heart attack at his home at the age of 77 – leaving one of the nation’s biggest construction and building materials businesses in the hands of his children.
The founder of BGC, which was the nation’s biggest home builder according to the Housing Industry Association's 2012-13 financial year rankings, has battled health issues for many years but remained at the helm of the business.
He leaves a major empire which has more than 5,000 employees Australia-wide (about 4,200 in WA), built nearly 3,500 residential dwellings last year, and generated revenue of $2.53 billion from residential building, major construction projects, manufacturing of bricks, cement and other building materials, and mining and civil contracting.
BGC also has an extensive property portfolio, including the BGC Centre in the CBD, two buildings in Mount Street, and offices in West Perth, East Perth and Osborne Park (3).
One of his most recent high-profile contracts was construction of Perth Arena, the indoor stadium and entertainment venue that Mr Buckeridge famously described as looking like a squashed beer can.
His son Sam Buckeridge and step-son, Julian Ambrose, are thought likely to continue running the manufacturing and construction arms of the business. In a statement released on the day of the businessman's death, the company confirmed that it "has a strong board and management team, and, as Mr Buckeridge would have wanted, is continuing with ‘business as usual’."
BGC Contracting, which was established in 1992 and employs more than 2,400 people in its own right, is run by Greg Heylen. It recently won a two-year $420 million civil construction contact on the Roy Hill iron ore project and holds large mining contracts in South Australia.
Another key indivdual in the BGC business is finance director Andrew Teo, who has been with the group for 30 years. Mr Teo was recently appointed non-executive chairman of Medusa Mining.
Mr Buckeridge got his start in business after studying architecture and becoming an expert in the design of affordable housing, setting up a practice of his own in 1963 and registering LW Buckeridge & Asscoiates in 1966. Like many additions to his building empire, he decided he was better off doing things for himself rather than relying on others. He went into the building business and Perth is dotted with many blocks of flats that he both designed amd constructed to house immigrants who came to WA in the 1960s and 1970s.
The building entrepreneur was unafraid of breaking convention, upsetting unions, suppliers, rivals and governments of all persuasions during his life, which was colourful yet far from flamboyant and seemingly unmotivated by the trappings of wealth.
When BGC was building a new factory on land near the Perth Airport, Mr Buckeridge was known to sleep in his vehicle overnight to keep a close eye on construction.
He was honoured with various business awards including EY's WA Master Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003. Last year, Gina Rinehart-founded group ANDEV (Australians for Northern Development and Economic Vision) recognised Mr Buckeridge as its inaugural Mining and Related Industries award.
Mourning the loss of her fellow magnate, Mrs Rinehart told Business News that it was typical of Mr Buckeridge to deflect her concerns about his health when they chatted privately on weekends, telling her: "now you don't worry about my health, you just worry about your company and what it does for Australia."
In 2004, at an early Business News Success & Leadership event, Mr Buckeridge entertained the audience with this no-nonsense approach to business.
Who could forget such anecdotes as the building of his first house on Fremantle Road, Gosnells where, in a portent of the future, he caused controversy by using a cement slab on the floor instead of wood.
Mr Buckeridge said his cement slab was opposed by the local authorities because “the lady of the house would get sore legs from walking on concrete”.
He went ahead with construction regardless and, as he pointed out 10 years ago, most houses use concrete these days.
In another demonstration of his approach to business Mr Buckeridge told the audience that, when building unions threatened to halt construction on one of his sites by stopping concrete supply in the 1960s, he started his own cement works.
This stubborn approach to business continued during the past 10 years with long-running battles against Liberal and Labor state governments as well as local councils with regard to the development of several factories, the cost of Perth Arena, and his backing of a private port in Kwinana.
Ever since completing his thesis on 'The Economical House' as an architectural student, his motivation had been to provide affordable housing, a path that frequently led to obstacles he felt ought to be overcome.
“If you can do it – you are obligated to do it,” Mr Buckeridge told our 2004 breakfast audience, highlighting the problem of housing affordability before it became a major political issue.
“If you keep acquiescing then the only people left are thugs or bureaucrats.
“Lower income families are being screwed out of housing by the selfish generation. It can only get worse. Somewhere like Sydney it [home ownership] is an impossible dream for most people.
“The amount of landowners has dropped since I first came into the game and this is a terrible problem for society.”
Master Builders Association WA executive director Michael McLean said Mr Buckeridge would be remembered as a legend of the local building industry.
"The building industry and home buyers owe him a great gratitude for his contribution in making housing more affordable and in continually reminding people about the importance of home ownership," Mr McLean told Business News.
"He also contributed greatly in creating a more flexible industrial relations regime in WA and the productive commercial industry that we enjoy owes a lot to Len Buckeridge’s resolve from the early 1990s.
"To contribute to the formation of BGC and for it to be recognised as the largest builder in Australia, where WA normally only has 10 per cent of the market, is an amazing achievement."
Premier Colin Barnett described Mr Buckeridge as "one of the great characters of WA business".
"He never shied away from a fight, and certainly never shied away from contentious issues," Mr Barnett said in a statement.
"Len lived in my electorate and I would often see him around the area - he always had some advice to give me, regardless of whether I necessarily wanted to hear it.
"While he was often seen as a hard man in business, he was extraordinarily generous in the community and was always willing to help out local groups and sporting clubs."
It is also notable that Mr Buckeridge’s individual streak set him apart from other WA entrepreneurs in the 1980s when many became entangled with the grubby politics and favouritism of disgraced former premier Brian Burke’s corrupt approach to government, dubbed WA Inc.
Mr Buckeridge was never associated with the scandals of that era.
“He was utterly courageous,” said Hotchkin Hanly partner Michael Hotchkin, Mr Buckeridge’s lawyer for the past 26 years.
“He never cared about the consequences of whatever fight he picked.”
“If he thought something was wrong he would take it on.
"His establishment of a large manufacturing business, against intense competition and bureaucratic opposition, was incredible.
"If he had flinched in the face of it, the state would be so much poorer, because there would have been less jobs, and more costly housing."
On a personal note, Mr Hotchkin said that there was a softer side to Mr Buckeridge.
"As a bloke, though, I loved his complex character, when his fierce determination to get an outcome gave way suddenly to unexpected warmth for his family or friends," he said.
"He made my professional life more fun that I could imagine it would ever have been.
"We shared a lot about how things affected us over the years.
"He was an extraordinary bloke who loved being ordinary."
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While Len Buckeridge was not known as a high-profile philanthropist he did quietly commit to numerous work in kind arrangements that amounted to significant donations - including the Ear Science Institute Australia building in Subiaco, which is part of the George Jones Family Centre.
Mr Buckeridge’s family have requested that, instead of flowers, donations be sent to the Royal Perth Hospital MRF – Electrophysiology Research Fund.
