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THE proud winner of the 2015 Gold Rhino said it was amazing to think he had gone from working alone in a massive shed in Dubbo just five years ago, to running a team of 30 spread across three locations.
Abraham Damen’s business Kitchen and Renovation Concepts took out the honour at Friday night’s gala award ceremony.
The 29-year-old from Coonabarabran had originally set out on a different career path.
While his family had been involved in importing kitchens from overseas, before his move to Dubbo Mr Damen had worked as an electrical engineer in Sydney for a large consulting firm on projects including the Kurnell Desalination Plant.
“I got a taste of corporate life and decided to try my hand at something else,” he said.
“In Sydney I spent an hour-and-a-half a day travelling to work, so there were no doubt lifestyle benefits to moving to Dubbo, where now I can’t even listen to an entire song on the radio on the way to work because the drive is so short.”
Kitchens were a rapidly-evolving and exciting field, Mr Damen said, with many advances taking place in manufacture and design.
“In fact, we’re working on an Australian first, a virtual reality kitchen where you’ll be able to stand with goggles and see your vision,” he said.
Mr Damen said just because people lived in Dubbo did not mean they could not have the style of state-of-the art kitchen they might see in a capital city.
“You can have the same kitchen in Dubbo as you could in Double Bay, but you won’t pay as much,” he said.
“Last year, for instance, I went to the world’s largest design centre in Milan and brought back a range of trends and styles, things that were new in the European market, where Australia takes its cues from.”
Mr Damen said “constant improvement” was one of his philosophies, and he was continually trying to find better ways to enhance service and products for customers.
Kitchen and Renovation Concepts now employed 25 people at its manufacturing hub in Dubbo, four in Orange and one in Coonabarabran, Mr Damen said.
“We manufacture everything here in Dubbo from Australian products, it’s an unusual manufacturing story, the reverse of the Australian trend,” he said.
Mr Damen described his team as “family” and said he was thrilled to share the win with them.
