The Strength Of Heritage

Representing the third generation of the family to work in the industry, group managing director spencer lowndes believes access hardware’s greatest strength is its people.

- Oliver Featherston

Anything with a long family history immediately becomes that much more valuable – not necessarily financially, but certainly, it would be significant, to say the least. For Group Managing Director Spencer Lowndes, that family history is represented by door hardware supplier Access Hardware. The business was founded by Maurice and Penny Lowndes, Spencer’s parents, in 1975 as Selected Lock & Hardware. Today, it’s a national company but back then it was just one branch in North Melbourne with four employees. They’d recently migrated from the UK and Spencer had been born only the year before. In one way or another, he says, he has been involved in the business his whole life.

But the family’s history in the industry goes back even further; Spencer’s grandfather owned a similar business in Birmingham, England. It’s a third-generation family business now, with Spencer’s cousins operating it today. And it’s why Spencer is in the same industry today in Australia.

Naturally, of course, the legacy of Access Hardware means the company carries a special significance for Spencer. “It’s not just a job,” he explains. “A family business like this, I consider it my first-born child. I’ve nurtured it and seen it grow, and I get a lot of satisfaction out of that. Obviously, you put in a lot of effort. More often than not, you make sacrifices and always do what’s in the best interest of the business.”