K2 Australia was established in 2015, following the merger of a key UK client with an Australian business.
An example of K2’s proactive and agile response to meeting clients’ needs, the new office not only enabled us to offer the in-country client support required, but also facilitated the company’s growth in the APAC market.
Once the need for expansion had been identified, a member of the K2 UK team was seconded to Sydney and tasked with getting the new office off the ground. This secondment not only provided the employee in question with a fantastic opportunity for professional development, by bringing across an existing member of the K2 Family to lead on setting the K2 Australia business up, it also ensured that K2’s unique culture and ‘because it’s personal’ ethos were instilled in the Australia office from the get-go.
There were challenges, as there are with any new business set-up, and it quickly became clear that the existing business model would have to be adapted in response to cultural differences and market nuances. The rest of K2’s global offices leaned in, ensuring that K2 Australia were fully supported in their infancy, and weren’t impacted by the fiscal pressures that young businesses can face. This approach helped to bolster their success and has subsequently been replicated across other office openings.
The team’s focus since then has been supporting moves in and out of the Oceania region for our global clients, providing the personalised service that K2 prides itself on, alongside building and maintaining strong relationships with partners in the region via our Global Accredited Partner Programme (GAPP).
Based on Market Street in Sydney, in the heart of the CBD, our office has now grown to be a team of seven, having increased by more than 50% since 2020. Damon Hughes was the first employee in the Australia office in March of 2015, with Blake Young joining a couple of months later. Impressively both Damon and Blake remain part of the team, nine and a half years on, and over that time have progressed to become Australasian Operations Manager and regional Client Account Manager respectively.
Paul Barrett, Managing Director for APAC, comments:
“To have retained K2 Australia’s first two employees for nearly a decade is a wonderful achievement. Damon and Blake will be joining the ranks of X Annos later in 2024, our ever-growing group of highly-valued employees who have been with the business for ten years or more.
We’re also delighted to have been in the positive position to recruit two new team members this year, welcoming Relocation Manager, Felizitas Senfft, alongside our new Head of Strategic Alliances and Client Development, Kim Thomas.
This talent retention and team growth are testament to the K2 Culture, and the way in which the company strives to ensure that all employees, wherever they are in the world, feel like they are part of one global team.”
Despite the distance between them, the team in Sydney stay connected with their APAC colleagues in Singapore and are virtually involved in the majority of their activities, from weekly team huddles through to social and charitable events. Paul travels down from Singapore to Sydney several times a year, and three of the K2 Australia team recently joined the K2 Singapore team in person for a leadership training session delivered by the Matt Hampson Foundation.
Even taking their recent growth into account, K2 Australia are still one of K2’s smaller global offices.
On the challenges and benefits that being part of a small team can present, Paul adds:
“One of the challenges for smaller teams is the need for our team members to wear multiple hats. That said, this is actually a real advantage, as it allows people to gain exposure to a much broader range of activities and tasks, helping them to build a comprehensive understanding of how our business works much more quickly.”
So, what’s next for K2 Australia? Paul continues:
“The last two years have seen the business grow significantly and client activity continues to increase, which is great to see. Coupled with the work we’re doing to raise our company profile and build our partnership network, through the introduction of Kim in the Head of Strategic Alliances and Client Development role, makes us confident we can maintain this momentum, promising another fantastic year of growth and evolution. With this in mind, we are planning to expand the team further, and are currently recruiting for an Operational Lead to support Damon in the day-to-day management of our Client Services team.”
Kim Thomas comments:
“It has been great to join K2 Australia during such an exciting period of growth. Having first met K2’s business owners, Nick Plummer and Richard Rutledge, nearly twenty years ago, I was already familiar with the company’s delivery style and commitment to service excellence, something that I really admired.
Since then, I have watched K2’s journey with interest from afar: hearing first-hand during the interview process how the business has successfully achieved growth without compromising its values or culture made coming on board a hugely attractive prospect. I have had a fantastic first six months, and look forward to continuing to support and drive growth in the APAC market.”
