Description
Richard Turner keynote speaker sessions bring the perspective of a serial founder. Richard has built and scaled multiple companies into the hundreds of millions and billions of dollars. He shares hard-won lessons from a career spent starting, growing and eventually selling businesses across manufacturing, distribution and energy.
Richard Turner keynote speaker: three billion-dollar businesses across four decades
Richard’s family business began with Holbrook Meats. It became Holco Ltd and listed publicly in 1986. It later evolved into T&R Pastoral and ultimately Thomas Foods, a company now valued in the billions. In 1987, Richard co-founded Regency Food Services with his brother. That business became Bidfood, reshaping food distribution across Australia. In 2004, Richard founded ZEN Home Energy Systems, which became ZEN Energy, pioneering Australia’s clean energy transition.
Richard was named Australian Entrepreneur of the Year for the Cleantech sector in 2010. He also won South Australian Entrepreneur of the Year twice, in 1996 and 2010, for two different businesses. That body of recognition reflects decades of building enterprises from the ground up.
An educator and mentor to the next generation
Beyond his own companies, Richard founded the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation in South Australia. He served as Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of South Australia from 2019 to 2021, mentoring hundreds of early-stage and scaling business owners. He has also served as a Growth Expert with the Australian Centre for Business Growth and as Board Chair across multiple companies. In 2023, Wiley published his book, The Essential Entrepreneur: What It Takes to Start, Scale and Sell a Successful Business, distilling those decades of experience into practical guidance for founders.
Organisations that book Richard Turner keynote speaker sessions can expect real-world insight and practical tools drawn from building companies from a dining room table to national and global success. Richard is based in Adelaide, Australia. Explore more business keynote speakers represented by Corporate Speakers Global, or connect with Richard on LinkedIn to learn more about his story.
