THE HEIGHT OF AMBITION

A family business has been delivering rooftop service to Aussie homeowners for nearly three decades.

Gutter-Vac, a family business for 30 years.

You know those ideas that seem so obvious once someone else has thought of it? Well, 26 years ago, cleaning gutters was neither safe nor efficient. Then Warren Ballantyne had a moment of inspiration.

“We had a need in our plumbing business to clean gutters, and it became more and more a part of what we did. So we decided the solution was vacuuming to make it more efficient, and safer. We searched and we found vacuuming equipment, and literally started the business a month after we thought about it,” Warren explains.

The proprietary Gutter-Vac system, which now operates from a closed trailer, van or truck, was a revelation and today it remains one of the franchise’s unique selling points: it’s convenient and safe, allowing even height-averse operators to clean roofs.

But back when Warren and his wife Anne began the business in 1995 paying to have your gutters cleaned just wasn’t done.

“They just got the kid next door to get up and clean it. So, when we started charging $80 to clean their gutters, people used to laugh at me and say, ‘people will never pay that’. Well guess what – they do! And today that same size house would be $400,” Warren says.

Safety has always been a priority at the Queensland-based business. Warren and his brother, Trevor began Ballantyne Safety to offer working from heights equipment and an RTO nationally accredited training course, which would later be rolled out to Gutter-Vac’s franchisees.

Gutter-Vac began franchising in 2001, and as it grew, Warren and Anne relocated to Brisbane, although all the trailers and tools are still made locally in Bundaberg.

The business now boasts a network of 51 franchisees operating across 90 territories around Australia, and still growing. Nationally the brand has seen year-on-year growth, including a 30 per cent rise from 2019 to 2020 and a respectable 17 per cent lift during the 2020 pandemic.

Not only has the business survived and thrived, earning itself a 5-star franchise rating, so too have the founders, who are still enmeshed in the business.

Married for 46 years and working together for about 36 of those years, Anne and Warren have perfected a solid relationship and base their strong working partnership on clear roles: Anne as GutterVac’s management consultant, and Warren heading up the business as managing director.

Together, they’ve been proud to grow a network of franchisees who share a love of attaining best practice in their businesses.

“Our franchisees love to go to conference where they can sit down and share stories about gutter cleaning and how they can improve,” Anne reveals.

“Or if one of our franchisees gets sick, the other surrounding franchisees will put their hand up and do the work for them so they can survive – that’s the best thing about our franchisees, they want to help each other.”

So what are Warren and Anne most proud of in their 21 years of business? It’s about helping people, says Anne.

“We’ve been able to give so many people a lifestyle, to help them out, take just an ordinary man from the street and turn him into a businessman with a profitable business, to be able to buy a house and go on overseas holidays.”