LOCAL COMPANY MAKING MILLIONS FOR ITS STAFF

THIS ASX-listed Gold Coast technology company is on track to become Australia’s next billion-dollar baby – and its staff are sharing the riches.

PWR Holdings makes cooling equipment for race cars, aeroplanes and defence applications, and its share price is this week more than five times the $1.50 it floated for in 2015.

Staff who bought in as founding shareholders have not only made capital gains for their hard work, but have also reaped frequent generous dividends.

The share price of this Ormeau juggernaut started 2021 at $4.40 and has been on a steady climb since, breaking its all-time price high 30 times and touching $10.31 during the year to date.

The gains have propelled the motor racing and aerospace innovation group from a market capitalisation of $44.8m to above $840m.

“We’re very strong and it doesn’t surprise me,” says managing director Kees Weel of the rising value.

“The good part about that is that when we floated in 2015, there were a lot of staff that bought shares at $1.50.

“To have them be part of the journey and to have that uptick in their investment is special.”

When Covid hit in 2020, the company retained and retrained its people, upskilling them in anticipation of the hopeful recovery.

With a skill shortage now plaguing basically every industry, the move has already paid off.

PWR employs about 300 people at its Gold Coast base, and another 100 in the United States.

By the end of 2023, Mr Weel said its local workforce would be closer to 500.

“Since February this year we have been putting on people – about 60 so far this year,” he said.

“We have put on close to 20 school leavers in December, and we have 12 starting on January 4. “We also have about 30 apprentices, and if we could sign up another 30 this year, we’ll be very happy.

“They’re our future, we put a lot of time into them.

“We all know skilled staff are difficult to get, and you often pay through the nose to get them, so we’re putting the work into training our own – we need them.”

PWR has ploughed time, money and real estate into its research and development facilities, focusing and experimenting in emerging technologies like micro matrix electronic cooling and 3D printing. “We have more work than we can handle and our pipeline is very strong – particularly in the aerospace sector,” Mr Weel said. “Motorsport is always going to be a big contributor, but things are moving forward quickly in aerospace and defence, and also in the local aftermarket sector. “Manufacturing something that no one else can manufacture in the world gets us excited. “Getting into aerospace and defence, there’s so much happening around the world in that space and we have got contracts with people in America and Europe, as well as here in Australia.

“We’re really 100miles-an-hour everywhere.”