RICHARDSON & WRENCH - OUR HISTORY

Richardson & Wrench is 150 years old on 1st January 2008. Founded in 1858 when there were only a modest number of people living in Sydney; before Stanley found Dr Livingston in Darkest Africa, before Bell invented the telephone, before Gold was discovered in Kalgoorlie, before the Bourke and Wills expedition, before Queensland and New South Wales became separate states, and before the discovery of Ayers Rock, and in the year Emperor Franz Josef ruled over the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bismark over an emerging Germany and Queen Victoria of the British Empire granted Florence Nightingale her first royal audience, this remarkable enterprise has lived through most of Australia's history.

The growth of Richardson & Wrench reflects the growth of our nation. The Company has long been a household name in New South Wales and, like Broken Hill Proprietary or Grace Brothers, requires no further identification. It has survived recessions, depressions, droughts, urban fires as well as bush fires, world wars and unwanted takeover bids. It has prospered as Australia has prospered, because of hard work, vision and faith.

The firm's founders, Robert Richardson and Edward Wrench, were men brought up in the Victorian tradition of idealism and morality. Throughout their lives, they achieved the highest standards of professional ethics and their reputation for integrity was second to none. Their business values and style of operation remain to this day, one hundred and fifty years later, the Company's greatest single asset.

TAKES SAIL FOR SYDNEY
Robert Richardson was born in Liverpool, England in 1827, the son of David Richardson, a successful wool merchant. Both his father and his mother, Isabella, hoped that he would join the family business. However, word was reaching England that the new colony of New South Wales was expanding rapidly and that fortunes were being made there by young men with vision and enterprise, prepared to sacrifice the normal comforts of middle class Victorian living and 'have-a-go'. So young Richardson in 1850, at the age of 23, took sail for Sydney.

Richardson's inspired decision, soon after arriving in Sydney to pursue a career in Real Estate, is the first example of his remarkable judgement. He soon saw that the steady flow of new settlers would create an increasing demand for homes, farms, commercial and retail premises and, above all, land. Furthermore, specialists would be required to handle the buying and selling transactions.

To gain local knowledge and experience he joined Mort and Company, a well established firm of auctioneers and wool brokers. He proved a reliable and efficient employee and was soon promoted to the position of sales representative. In 1855 he was appointed Land Sales Manager. In the same year he married Violet Alston and so began a long and happy marriage which produced nine children, three sons and six daughters.

OWN BUSINESS
The introduction in the 1850's of the stream train and the tram made public transport easier and faster within the city of Sydney and its suburbs and ensured a brighter future for real estate sales. This undoubtedly influenced Richardson to go out on his own.

In 1857 Richardson resigned from Mort and Company and set up in business on his own as a Real Estate Agent, shortly moving into a small office on the first floor of 235 George Street. It was here that he laid the foundation of his business and made his decision to act only as a commission agent and not as a speculator. This remains to this day one of Richardson & Wrench's most deeply held business ethics.

Richardson started with John Little as his clerk and Alec Gregg as his office boy, both of whom attained high positions in the firm and in the business world of Sydney.

Edward Wrench was born in London in 1828, the son of a mathematical instrument maker. At the age of 23 he married 18 year old Marianne and together in 1852, two years after Robert Richardson, they sailed for New South Wales, undoubtedly for the very same reasons as his future partner.

Wrench joined the Australian Joint Stock Bank and very soon became General Manager.

PARTNERSHIP
Richardson and Wrench had already become good friends so that the announcement of their partnership did not come as a surprise to Sydney's business community. In the early 1860's their advertisements dominated the Real Estate columns of the Sydney Mail. The partnership soon prospered and in the first year their sales turnover was £152,000.

The George Street Office became too small so they moved to a two storey building at what was then known as 142 Pitt Street, the site today occupied by the ANZ Bank building on the north eastern corner of Pitt and Martin Place. They also opened a warehouse at Circular Quay to handle a profitable division dealing in hides, skins and similar produce.

Richardson quickly established himself as an outstanding Real Estate Salesman and Wrench, the banker, as an exceptional administrator. Turnover increased each year as the firm showed itself capable of handling all types of transactions. By 1865 Richardson & Wrench had become the State's leading Real Estate Agent.

THE EARLY YEARS
In the early years there were some fascinating sales. In 1860 the salvage rights to a load of coal lying in a sunken ship at the bottom of Sydney Harbour was sold for an undisclosed price. A small cottage in Castlereagh Street fetched £1,500. In 1862, 30 acres of bushland at Ashfield, fetched £1,005 at auction; the yacht 'eclipse' fell under the hammer for £40 and a dinghy with paddles for £5. In 1863 a pair of houses in Bridge Street realised £1,600 and 11 acres of Greenwich bushland, £200. The following year Richardson sold a flock of pure Alpacas, Vicunas and Llamas, the last to be imported from Bolivia, for an unrecorded sum.

In 1875 Richardson retired and the former clerk, John Little, took his place as partner with Wrench. Although active as wool and stockbrokers, Real Estate sales by auction soon became the firm's specialty and it was not long before Richardson & Wrench monopolised Sydney's Real Estate auction market. The sale of city and suburban property accounted for most of the firm's turnover although country sales in all parts of the colony were also common.

In 1881 Richardson, bored with retirement, aged only 54, returned to the firm. The following year Alec Gregg, the former office boy became a partner. In 1885 John Little, after 27 years of devoted service to the firm, retired.

1885 was also the year that the new Government telephone service allocated phone No.1 to Richardson & Wrench: a prestigious honour with which the firm took the fullest advantage in its sales promotion and advertising in the years immediately following.

PUBLICATION FLOTATION
In 1889, the partners, Robert Richardson, Edward Wrench, Alec Gregg and James Gregg (Alec's brother), decided to convert the firm to a public company. At the Union Club, in the presence of many of the city's leading citizens, the required capital of £60,000 was raised. A Board of Directors was formed with Wrench as chairman and the addition of two well-known solicitors, E.P. Simpson and Alfred Cape. Although a major shareholder, Richardson declined to sit on the Board.

The 'naughty 90's' started badly for the new public Company. One of the city's worst fires badly damaged the firm's offices in George Street. Two years later, in 1892 there was a serious depression which drastically slowed down business and almost brought Sydney's waterfront activity to a standstill. It was at this time that the Riot Act was read in public for the last time in Sydney at Circular Quay. Then in October of that year Edward Wrench died at his home in Woollahra.

Alec Gregg became Managing Director and successfully steered the firm through and out of the depression. In 1900 Robert Richardson, aged 73, died in Drummoyne. The Sydney Morning Herald in its obituary with masterful inadequacy: 'his character was marked by sagacity and promptness' as if getting to the office on time was all there was to it.

MOVE TO 92 PITT STREET
Shortly after the fire, the firm moved to a larger office building known as Elson Chambers, later to be numbered 92 Pitt Street. This building was destined to become the new hub of Sydney's Real Estate and was the site of Richardson & Wrench House.

In 1910 the Real Estate Auctioneers' Association was formed, to be renames in 1921, the Real Estate Institution of N.S.W.. Alec Gregg became Foundation President and held the position until his death in 1915.

The First World War was a bleak period for business in general and little is recorded of the firm's activities at this time beyond the raising of the Issued Capital to £70,000 and the appointment in 1917 of Charles Henry Crammond to the position of Managing Director.

Crammond had established himself as the new bright star in Sydney's Real Estate scene and his appointment began a successful and expansion period in the Company's history. There were many prominent and interesting auction sales. In 1923, the Inglis Milk Cow Sales yards at Darling Harbour were sold for £14,000. In the same year, on instructions from the City Council, the William Street Resumption Scheme was sold, twenty four lots realising £30,000 - an average of £70 per foot. However, the sale which greatly added to the Company's prestige during these years was the auction by Crammond of 40,000 Australian Gas Light Comapany shares for £300,000.

FIRST EVER AUCTION IN THE A.C.T.
Then in 1924 the Federal Government invited Richardson & Wrench to conduct Canberra's first land auction. This historic event took place on a hill behind the provincial Parliament Building. Crammond, addressing a crowd of 300, forecast that in ten years the city would be as large as Bathurst or Goulburn. One hundred and four business sites and two hundred and eighty nine residential blocks were sold under the hammer that day to a select group of visionaries.

H.R. Crammond, soon to take over his father's place as the best known and most respected auctioneer in the State, sold the then Fish Markets at Woolloomooloo for £25,000. By 1928 the firm's turnover had reached £1,368,344.

Two years later this turnover had crashed to £380,528. The Great Depression had hit Australia and inflicted on the firm the worst trading year in its history. This state of affairs continued until in 1932 the Company, acting under instruction from the Transport Commission, carried out one of the city's largest sales, a site on the corner of Pitt and Liverpool Streets, sold to Woolworths for £171,000.

This year also saw the opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge, an event which led the way to the establishment of the Northern Suburbs as a popular residential and commercial area. Richardson & Wrench were, in the years following, to play a leading part in this historic development.

STEADY GROWTH THROUGH THE THIRTIES
In 1934 the firm, in association with other leading city Real Estate Agents, sold by auction valuable land in what is now Martin Place for £700 per foot. The Rural Bank, one of the purchasers, was to build its art deco headquarters on a part of this site, the subject of much controversy today. Later that year a site on the corner of King and York Streets was sold for £50,000 to the Australian Catholic Assurance Company. The following year property on the south east corner of Pitt and King Streets fetched £180,000. In 1939 the Company auctioned the Trust Building on the corner of King and Castlereagh Streets, which had changed hands four years previously for £100,000, to the Bank of N.S.W. for £273,000.

The years took their toll of the Company's business. 1938 saw sales of £1,393,912. A year later these had fallen by £500,000. The Government's Land Sales Control and Rent Control legislation seriously restricted profitable trading.

THE POST WAR YEARS
However, by the year 1946 the firm was back on top again with two of the city's largest sales: The Kembla Building in Margaret Street auctioned for £258,000 and Broughton House on the corner of King and Clarence Streets for £145,000. It was also in this year that the firm purchased its own freehold, Eldon Chambers from the Fairfax Estate.

In 1948 the Company's chairman, Archibold Beatty, retired after a record fifty years of distinguished service. C.H. Crammond remained as Deputy Chairman and his two sons were joint Managing directors. The lifting of Land Sales Control and the retention of rent controls led, in the early 1950's to a land boom which raised the Company's turnover to a record £4,385,667. However, the following year brought a recession in property and turnover dropped by £1,000,000.

In 1956 the Company sold the old 'Farmers and Graziers' building at Circular Quay for £1,000,000, later to be demolished to make way for the A.M.P. Building.

The following year saw the lifting of rent control on new commercial buildings and the beginning of Sydney's commercial development boom which almost overnight changed the city's skyline. In 1958, the Company began its long and successful association with Lend Lease Corporation Limited as a Real Estate consultant. 1958 was also Centenary year for the Company and the occasion was marked by a 27 ½% dividend. The following year there was a bonus issue of thirty five thousand 15/- ordinary shares on the basis of one for every two held on the 8th September 1959. At the same time the company's nominal capital was increased to £125,000.

HOOKER V LEND LEASE V A.N. OTHER
This marked the beginning of what was to turn into one of Australia's most celebrated takeover battles. On August 10th 1959, exactly one week after the announcement of the bonus issued, a takeover offer was received by the board of 90/- for every 15/- from a bidder who refused to reveal his identity and indeed never did reveal it. The Board declined to consider the offer unless the name was disclosed, a position strongly supported by the Sydney Morning Herald. A week later the mystery offer was increased to 95/-. On August 20th an offer of 105/- was received from the L.J Hooker Investment Corporation which was later increased to 115/-. The Board decided to fight off the Hooker offer who retaliated by approaching the Richardson & Wrench shareholders direct.

The company countered this by announcing an improved bonus issue of one for one instead of one for two to be effective on September 8th, two days before the shareholders meeting to discuss the Hooker offer, which offer was dependent on the bonus issued not being made. Hooker replied to this by upping its offer to 136½% and reassuring shareholders that the respected name Richardson & Wrench would remain.

On September 10th the Lend Lease Corporation put in an offer of 147/- and the battle entered its final phase. This drastic news was announced at a shareholder's meeting to discuss the Hookers offer. H.R. Crammond, standing in for Chairman, E.T. Simpson who was ill, recommended rejection of the Hooker offer and acceptance of the Lend Lease one. On September 16th 1959 the Board announced that by an overwhelming majority the shareholders had rejected the Hooker offer and had expressed their entire confidence in the Board's decision to accept the Lend Lease offer. G.J. Dusseldorp of Lend Lease joined the Board, and the Company began a new era of expansion.

In 1960 the Company's original Contract Book No.1 was presented to the Mitchell Library. The book provides a unique record of the early growth and development of the State. In that year too H.R. Crammond sold an acre and a half of Darling Point for £191,000. The Crammond brothers retired and F.P. Cook was appointed Managing Director.

In the early 60's branch offices were established at Crows Nest and Double Bay. In 1962 the Lend Lease Corporation acquired the whole of the Company's shares. E.T. Simpson retired as Chairman and G.L. Dusseldorp took his place. During the following years the Company's services were expanded by opening further branch offices throughout the Sydney metropolitan area. Affiliate and associated agents were also set up throughout Australia

In October 1982 the whole of the share capital of the Company was acquired by Mr Neil Collins, and so a new era in Richardson & Wrench's remarkable history began.

The Company began franchising in 1983, (prior to this date it had operated a system of Company owned and affiliated office), and by May 1988 had offices in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, Canberra and the Northern Territory.

Franchisees were selected to join the Richardson & Wrench network on their credibility, business ethics and performance.

In May 1988 Mr Neil Collins sold the whole of the share capital of the Company to the W.T.K Group of Companies, an international company of many years standing.

There is no doubt that the Company through the years has adopted a very open and attentive attitude to the variety of innovations continually coming forward from different aspects of marketing procedures. Radio and television have been used to good advantage by reaching further afield in improving the Richardson & Wrench image of professional standing and personal service.

In 1988 the Company was purchased by W.T.K. Group of Companies and has affiliations with the Asia Pacific region.

A key ingredient in future goals is to be the best in first class professional service rather than the biggest Real Estate network in terms of numbers of offices throughout Australia.

In New South Wales the Group introduced a flat franchise fee (as opposed to charging a percentage of gross commission) in October 1993 and initiated a quality expansion programme.

As we move through the early years of the new millennium our industry is changing as quickly as the world and as dramatically as our region. Our future will be built on our past but will not follow it. New times demand that we constantly reassess the way we do business, the services we offer and the objectives we set ourselves.