SA Chapter HALL OF FAME

Web: www.jeffriesgroup.com.au

In the 1920s, Fred Jeffries began a modest carting business using trucks from a previous farming activity. The business, carting firewood and manure, was operated from his home at Henley Beach . Given the ready supply of the basic product, Fred was able to earn a living and raise a family during the Depression.

In 1946, following the War, Fred’s son, Fred junior, bought a truck and joined the nursery supply business. Like his father, Fred junior operated the business in a simple manner from home at Henley Beach carting horse manure and other materials. Fred senior worked to the day he died.

When Fred junior’s son, Len, took the reins of the family business in 1975, the business had shown little change from his Grandfather Fred’s modest beginnings. The operation was still home-based at Henley Beach and managed with just one truck and two sub-contractors. For over four decades no substantial growth had occurred.

Len then moved the Company to Athol Park and added screening plants, potting mix machines, fumigation of soil and many other services. He opened another retail outlet in Para Hills and operated this for a couple of years until the business expanded to the current 14-acre site at Wingfield.

Today, Len’s oldest son Lachlan Jeffries heads the organisation as Managing Director. Leah, Lachlan’s wife, joined the business in 2003 as Human Resources Manager and Martin Jeffries, Lachlan ’s brother came on board in 2004 as Information Systems Manager. Len Jeffries remains as a Director and also spends a great deal of hands-on time within operations sharing his invaluable knowledge.

Jeffries is a truly durable family business, one that has been servicing South Australia and many parts of Australia for four generations. The third and fourth generations have shown a talent for growth and development of the family business, adapting to changing market conditions and societal values and adopting a positive role towards the environment by being a major recycler of organic materials.

Within its industry, Jeffries has become a South Australian icon, familiar to businesses, government and the general public. The business has changed from being a supplier of manure to nurseries and sand and gravel to the building industry, to a producer and supplier of quality soils, composts, mulches, soil conditioners and planting mediums, utilising recyclable organics. Jeffries receives and processes in excess of 70,000 tonnes of recyclable organics each year. The Company services a wide range of customers, including home gardeners, landscapers, horticultural and agricultural growers and government organisations throughout the state.

Jeffries Group was inducted into the FBA(SA) Hall of Fame in 2005.