Allan Rich
Board director
An entrepreneur, Allan is a founding investor of Lightning Broadband and Board Director. His extensive experience and insights into what makes a better business are highly valued by the team.
Allan studied Law and Economics at Monash University, then took over a family business after graduating. Under his stewardship, that business was awarded the Governor of Victoria Export award, Anderson (Accenture) Award for strategic relationship development and Melbourne Water environmental award for best environmental practices in Victoria.
Allan was also President of the peak body for the sector, sat on several Government advisory boards and attended Senate committee hearings in that capacity.
After selling the company to a multinational firm in early 2005, he purchased a small struggling cake business, turning it around and acquiring several industrial bakeries; creating Australia’s largest packaged cake producer by tonnage.
The firm was sold in late 2017, but Allan keeps very busy managing various investments, sitting on boards and sharing his accumulated business wisdom with Lightning’s executive team.
“Almost every Melbournian has passed through the big mouth at Luna park at least once in their life.”
3 questions with Alan
WHY DID YOU JOIN LIGHTNING BROADBAND?
As a founding investor, I was attracted to the vision of the founders, and the path they had chosen. While Lightning Broadband has a proactive and driven culture, team harmony underpinned everything it did and does– and that’s one of the company’s secrets to success.
WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF WORKING AT LIGHTNING BROADBAND?
It’s a great team making great decisions. Worth noting is just about all the original key staff are still with Lightning Broadband. Their functions have evolved into far more expansive and complex roles, and it has been a fulfilling experience watching their growth.
WHERE’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE IN MELBOURNE?
Big Mouth Luna Park. Almost every Melbournian has passed through the big mouth at Luna Park at least once in their life. We all share that connection. Connections are what matter, and you could draw a parallel between Luna Park and Lightning Broadband – made in Melbourne and connecting us all.
