Next-generation takes over family business Grocon

The third-generation of Australia’s Grollo family is set to take over the management of the family business, as second-generation and family patriarch Bruno Grollo is retiring from the development and construction company his father founded 60 years ago.

The company, which is still 100% owned by the founding family and intends to remain private, is best known for building some of Melbourne’s tallest buildings including the Eureka Tower and Rialto Towers.

Bruno’s youngest son Daniel, who joined the family business in the late 1980s as a carpentry apprentice and worked his way up through to become chief executive in 2006, will run Grocon, the group’s construction arm.

His brother Adam and his sister Leeanna will run the family’s property investment business, which includes a 50% stake in Melbourne’s commercial complex the QV Centre.

"I would be lying to say there was no emotion," Daniel told Australian newspaper the Herald Sun about his father retiring.

"I think it is always a good model to do [succession planning] early. The best planning ... happens when the patriarch is there to pick up the pieces and deal with whatever pain the emotion causes," he added. Bruno is 69.

Luigi Grollo established Grocon in the 1950s as a small concrete business that built suburban swimming pools and community facilities. Under the leadership of Luigi’s sons Rino and Bruno, the company grew to become Australia's largest private construction and property investment group.

In 2010, Grocon posted revenues of Aus $767.3 million (€593.7 million).