Philanthropist to speak
Businessman gives back
HIS story is one of rags to riches, growing up in housing commission homes, to now living in a six-storey mansion and playing a major role in giving back to where he came from.
Brad Webb, one of the wealthiest businessmen in North Queensland, is renowned for his charitable contributions, a trait that he attributes to his upbringing.
And now Mr Webb will be a keynote speaker at Together Townsville on November 12, where a panel of prominent local figures, including Dr Jo Lukins and Kellie Stephenson will discuss the importance of mixing business with community.
Being part of and giving back to the community is ingrained in Mr Webb and his successes have been shared with those in need across North Queensland.
“I think success is being the best at whatever you do, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you give back,” Mr Webb said.
“If you were a kid like me who wasn’t gifted academically or in sport, the schools had no idea what to do with me.
“They thought I had a problem, well I don’t — I could buy the school, but that’s not the point.”
Mr Webb left school in Year 10 as an apprentice diesel fitter before being promptly fired and working his way through numerous manual labour jobs. He’s now the man behind the BM Webb Group.
In 2014, he sold the quarrying, concrete and transport units of the business for $30m but retained the source of most of his fortune — a massive landholding at Bohle, Townsville, where he developed an industrial park and built a mega mansion which has 360-degree views overlooking the park, airport and ocean.
Mr Webb established Foodbank Townsville in 2002 with Ann Bunnell, which went on to become Food Relief NQ and provides food to those in need throughout the region.
Mr Webb has also donated millions of dollars in cash and kind to a range of community causes including TOTTS — a transport scheme for the elderly, disabled and other disadvantaged people — and the restoration and maintenance of Sacred Heart Cathedral.
“My mother would always say I’d rather be poor and happy than rich and unhappy and I thought, ‘stuff that I’m going to be rich and make others happy’,” he said.
“Food is a basic need to survive and then there is shelter and being needed.
“With those three things you can be part of that social fabric, all of a sudden you feel of self-worth.”
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