The Shimlochs

Both John and Matt are still highly active in the business, with their focus on management and ensuring that the quality of work that they have built their reputations on, is maintained.

With many years in the business, they can share their knowledge with the other tradespeople and pass on their skills and knowledge to the younger generation, with the hope that one day their children will be able to carry on the family business.

Staff Member	Details
	Matt Shimloch Matt is part owner of Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens along with his brother. He is a master craftsman, honing his carpentry and cabinet making skills, and his love of fine timber, into high quality kitchen benches, cabinets, and shelving. Matt's main focus now is finalising kitchen designs and plans, to ensure that they are functional as well as looking great.
	Sue Shimloch Sue Shimloch looks after the administration side of Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens. In the past, Sue has been able to keep an active interest in running the business, while also raising their 3 children. As the organisation has expanded, she has recruited administration and accounts personnel to take care of the day to day running of the business, while she concentrates on their clients and marketing. She retains the title of Office Manager. She is also the work experience and Trainee coordinator, ensuring that all the required paperwork is lodged and that a full induction and appropriate WHS training is provided for the areas that they will be working in.
	John Shimloch John, cabinet maker and part owner, is the supervisor for the apprentices and any factory work experience people. He wants to be seen as a mentor to the young apprentices and hopes that his own 2 sons, who he has joint custody of, will soon join the business.
Factory - Supervisor
	Richard Jones (Rick) Rick is the factory supervisor and has worked with the Matt and John since mid 2007. He is a much-trusted employee and has the same values and work ethic as the Shimloch brothers. His role involves the day-to-day operations of the factory and is responsible for scheduling and ensuring that materials are available when required. He is also responsible for apprentices and work experience staff within the factory when John is not available. At 64 years of age, he still enjoys working on the tools when he can.
Factory - Apprentices
	James Shimloch James is now in the final year of his apprenticeship. He has shown that he has some of his father's gifts and has demonstrated a creative bent and an eye for detail. He hopes to be able to do more design work once his apprenticeship is complete. James is Sue and Matt's oldest son.
	Patrick Greyson (SBAT) Patrick is in year 11 and doing his Intermediate VCAL at the local secondary school. As part of his VCAL studies, Patrick has taken on a School Based Apprenticeship at Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens. He is currently working at the factory 2 days a week and is very enthusiastic. There have been some challenges, as Patrick is classified as having High functioning ASD, but overall, he is doing quite well.
	Ayeesha Bul Has just completed her white card course and is ready to start her apprenticeship at Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens. She is very keen and enthusiastic and will be a terrific addition to the apprenticeship team. She has only been in Australia for a couple of years after her family migrated as refugees from Sudan. She is still taking some advanced English classes to improve her literacy and writing skills
Factory - Carpenters and Cabinet makers
	Michael Blackwood Michael is a cabinet maker who loves working with high quality timber and finishings. He has worked for the Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens, and its predecessor, since mid 2014 and appreciates the high-quality finish of the products that they create. He mostly specialises in benchtops and cabinets as he enjoys the fine precision required for this type of work.
	Stefan Rakovic Stefan is a cabinet maker who also enjoys working with high quality raw materials. He is highly creative and loves the challenge of producing quality cabinets in a factory environment, where there is a reliance on meeting precise measurements with a fast turnaround. He joined the business in February 2012. He has recently been diagnosed with moderate work-related hearing loss and now spends 2 days a week in the office taking care of customer service enquiries.
	Jake Adamson Jake works on the larger items in the factory, such as frames for benchtops, cupboards, and supports for various kitchen appliances. He also helps with installations, providing support and training to the builders and tradespeople who will be doing the final installs. Part of his role is to provide support to our interstate customers. He joined the business in 2009.
	Georgia Stanopolous Georgia completed a cabinet making apprenticeship a couple of years ago and started at Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens in October 2020. She has developed a love for recycled timber, in particular the Victorian ash that was used in homes during the mid 1900s. She has been a great fit for the organisation and is continually nurturing her skills in bringing old timber to life and utilising it in both cabinetry and kitchen benchtops. She has been experimenting with resin as a filler that can provide unique decorative highlights and give the timber a rustic look that shows off the natural colour variations in the renewed timber.
	Fauzia Raad Fauzia had some previous experience in furniture making in her native Afghanistan, before coming to Australia in 2019. She has found the change easy to adapt to, has reasonable English language skills, and gets on well with the other cabinet makers. She is learning a lot about the different timbers and building materials as well as some of the standards and practices that are different in Australia.
	Vincent Quinn Vincent is a fully qualified cabinet maker and started at Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens in November 2022. He has known Matt and John for a couple of years, as they all met at a Sustainable Victoria conference in 2017, and has kept in touch since. He has recently recovered from an injury in his previous workplace and is enjoying the work in the factory environment rather than working on a building site,
Office Staff - Finance/Accounts
	Jennifer Wu (Jenny) Jenny recently completed her Diploma of Accounting, but has previous experience in a similar role. This is her first senior position since attaining her qualification at the end of 2022. She oversees the operation of the accounts department, does the end of month routines for both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, and prepares the banking when needed. She is also responsible for liaising with Sue Shimloch when there are any account defaults, or where anything Accounts related needs escalating.
	Darsh Chabra Darsh has the position of Accounts Payable Officer. He reports to Jenny but has lots of input in how he performs his role. He has held similar positions within the building industry and has experience in negotiating great payment terms for his previous employers. He is currently reviewing the Accounts Payable (Creditors) policies and procedures so they can be updated in line with the financial growth of Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens. He is studying a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) part time at Monash University.
	Margaret Nichols Margaret takes care of the Accounts Receivable for Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens. She also reports to Jenny and has had only a small amount of previous accounts receivable experience, but is a quick learner and has sound knowledge of the building industry. She enjoys the flexibility of working part time and currently works 2 days a week on site and has a day where she is able to work from home (WFH).
Office Staff - General
	Pamela Sharp (Pam) Pam is the main receptionist at Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens. She responds to all incoming calls, takes messages, directs any customers to the showroom or to the appropriate staff member, keeps track of the comings and goings of staff, and keeps the main reception area clean and clutter free. She has had many years of experience in frontline and joined SSK January 2019. She reports directly to Sue Shimloch.
	Mohammad Ghosh Mohammad is an administration officer and helps out where needed in the office. He works mostly with Sue as her assistant doing data entry, correspondence, organises meeting and events, writes up purchase orders, and helps out when needed. He is also backup receptionist when Pamela is on a break or on leave.
	Evelynne Saunders (Evie) Evie recently joined Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens via a Transition To Work program through a local disability support group. She is completing a Certificate II in Work Education and hopes to follow that up with a Certificate II in business. Her ambition is to work in an office environment full time. Sue has been very supportive of Evie's ambitions and initially sat down with Evie and the disability support group to map out a plan for Evie to gain the skills required.
Other Staff
	Jamie Brown (they/them) - Showroom Jamie takes care of the showroom located on the ground floor of the factory building. The showroom is where non-trade customers can view the products, get information about products and timelines, and make an appointment with a kitchen designer. Most of the people that come into the showroom are small custom builders as well as registered owner builders. They are also the Client Liaison officer, and as such, becomes the point of contact for non-trade customers
	Justin Rigby - Sales Rep Justin is the sales rep and spends much of his time on the road visiting building sites etc.
	Corey Cunningham - Wollongong Corey is based at the Wollongong Distribution centre.
	Simon Jones Simon also is based at Wollongong Distribution centre
	Jesus Diego - Ipswich Distribution Based at the Ipswich Distribution Centre
	Andy Kerwin - Ipswich Andy is also based at the Ipswich Distribution Centre
	Power couple Maree and Sean O'Connor They share the role of Distribution and Logistics from our warehouse located a few factories up from our Melbourne (Pakenham) factory and Showroom.
	Gerald (Gerry) Granger and Philip Jordan Fresh out of university, where they both studied a Bachelor of Media and Communications, they joined forces to start their own Digital Marketing firm (GP Media). They have a 6 month contract to update Shimloch's marketing material and set up a social media marketing plan. The aim is for them to have an ongoing relationship with Shimloch Sustainable Kitchens after the 6 months is up. All decisions regarding marketing will need final approval of Matt and John, with input from Sue and senior frontline staff members Stefan, Justin, Jamie and Rick.