Gavin banks on our region
BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK’S GAVIN HOLDEN IS DELIGHTED TO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE JOURNEYED FAR AND WIDE TO ARRIVE AT HIS PRESENT LEADERSHIP ROLE IN CAIRNS, WRITES ALICIA NALLY
For Gavin Holden, a boy from inner-city Melbourne, the decision to be based in Cairns after taking on a state leadership role at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was easy. The former Far North Queensland senior business banking manager (above) was a surprise pick, most of all to himself, for the role of Queensland state manager which he took on in March last year. But a lifelong passion for AFL – he is a Collingwood supporter – and a stoic dedication to upholding the sport’s principles of teamwork, trust, high performance and leadership cast a light on why the 45-year-old was entrusted with the job.
FOR Gavin Holden, a boy from inner-city Melbourne, the decision to be based in Cairns after taking on a state leadership role at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank was easy.
The former Far North Queensland senior business banking manager was a surprise pick, most of all to himself, for the role of Queensland state manager which he took on in March last year.
But a lifelong passion for AFL – he is a Collingwood supporter – and a stoic dedication to upholding the sport’s principles of teamwork, trust, high performance and leadership cast a light on why the 45-yearold was entrusted with the job.
What is even more exciting for proponents of the Far North in the oft-resurrected debate of us against them (them being Brisbane), is Mr Holden has chosen to continue to live and carry on most of his professional duties in Cairns.
However, living in one of the massive state’s most remote cities has its cost, with the father-of-three spending 45 per cent of his time in centres outside the region.
Mr Holden has even had to pull out of his AFL coaching commitments. But, he is quick
GAVIN MET WIFE EMMA AT THE CAIRNS AMATEURS 20 YEARS AGO AND THEN DECIDED TO FOLLOW HIS WELSH PARTNER BACK TO THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR EIGHT YEARS to point out Cairns is home to many influential state leaders with technology making living anywhere even more accessible.
Considering himself a Queenslander, despite his early beginnings, Mr Holden’s ties to the area are strong.
After finishing school in South Australia, where he was playing AFL professionally, Mr Holden followed his parents, who had moved north for work, and two brothers to Cairns in the early 1990s.
He met wife Emma at the Cairns Amateurs 20 years ago and then decided to follow his Welsh partner back to the UK for eight years, finishing tertiary qualifications in science and working in energy and IT throughout Europe before heading home.
“I sort of worked out footy wasn’t going to be the way to get ahead,” Mr Holden said.
“It was time to make some life decisions.”
The bank’s Building Active Connected Communities fund has funnelled $1 million back into not-for-profit community groups over the past decade and now almost a quarter of the local population have accounts in one of 16 Far North Bendigo Bank branches.
Many of the customers came over from acquisitions of the First Australian Banking Society and Northern Banking Society but a new mobile lend-
ing officer and small business focus is forging a new direction for the company.
Mr Holden believes it is no accident a bank with its headquarters in regional Victoria is resonating with customers in another non-metropolitan part of this vast country.
“For the population here, we have a fair share for a bank called Bendigo and Adelaide Bank in Queensland,” he said.
“But that also potentially speaks to the nature of the population up here too, being ex-Victorians and South Australians.”
Even with the Financial Services Royal Commission, Mr Holden doesn’t want the public to tar the whole industry with the same corrupt, thieving brush.
“The big challenges for the banking industry at the mo- ment is trust. There are good people across all of the banks,” he said.
“The community has an expectation that banks are doing the right thing by their customers and the community.
“As a bank, we play an important role in the community, particularly in Far North Queensland, and it’s critical that the community continues to trust us.
“A robust banking system is vital to the strength of our country today and for the future.
“As our managing director Mike Hirst (who was in Cairns for the bank’s State Community Bank Conference this week) is fond of saying, ‘we think the role of a bank is to feed into the prosperity of the community, not off it’. I think that message resonates with Queenslanders and it’s certainly part of the solution.
“The main task at hand for me is putting our people at the centre of everything we do.
“That means we can better meet the needs of our customers and continue to ensure we are giving back to the communities that support us.
“At the end of the day, banking is a people business.”
THE BIG CHALLENGES FOR THE BANKING INDUSTRY AT THE MOMENT IS TRUST. THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE ACROSS ALL OF THE BANKS GAVIN HOLDEN