An Interview With St Andrew's Society Melbourne

Nick, you moved from Glasgow to Melbourne back in 2008, what led you to Australia and in particular Melbourne?

I never actually planned to move to Melbourne. After leaving my Land Buying job in Scotland working for a Housebuilder due to the recession, I took a year off to travel to New Zealand and to work a Ski Season in Queenstown, which I did and loved. I had a flight booked to go back home via Melbourne and Los Angeles as my younger brother was out there, and I was going to try and land a job in the USA. I stopped off in Melbourne for three days and I got a call from a recruiter about a job that I had applied for from New Zealand and was asked to come for an interview within those three days and was offered the job the days after.

I was so lucky as the Managing Director who interviewed me had a Scottish Father and I think he saw a bit of charm in the Glasgow accent and allowed me to stay in Melbourne and work for a top-tier property advisory firm. I didn’t even know who the company was, but they were very well respected and did some amazing Urban Planning, Valuations and Property Advisory. I phoned home to my parents at home and told them I was going to give it another year and then head back to Scotland...I’m still here in 2024 settled and with 2 boys.

You founded the St Andrew’s Society of Melbourne in 2020, what led you to founding the society and is this something you’d always envisioned on arrival in Melbourne?

To be honest, the society was something I thought about very seriously for the last 5 years as after a decade in Property, I had transitioned my career into Executive Search with a specialisation in Property. I was very fortunate that my career in executive recruitment allowed me to meet lots of people and I am paid to place people into senior positions and build long-term relationships, which I love. I have met so many successful Scots all over Australia and the Asia Pacific region, but in Melbourne nothing was bringing them together that was business-related at an Executive/Business leadership level, hence my motivation to start the Society.

I sat on the idea for about 4 years as I was stifled with self-doubt and worried no one would back me or want to get involved. I couldn’t have been more wrong as I have been blown away by the success and interest shown, with over 160 members after four years and new Scots people getting in touch about the society every week. We have had keen interest from other Scots in Business and Leadership from other Australian states, so we might take the Melbourne model and expand into Sydney.

There has been a real trend in the last few years for exploring your roots and therefore more interest in Scottish heritage. Did this play a part in the timing of your founding the society?

For me the society wasn’t about connecting with my Scottish roots, I have never felt that need, nor have I ever felt that detached from home. The society was about joining the dots and connecting all the brilliant Scots that I knew and had met over the last 13 + years in Melbourne. The crazy thing has been that a lot of people, when you strip it all back, are already connected by one or two degrees of separation and the society has allowed them to re-establish that connection. For me, the society was also about building something that I could give back to the city and business community of Melbourne, which has been very welcoming and supportive of me since arriving in this amazing City and Country.

How did you get started? I imagine it’s no easy task.

In the beginning, we had no money and no members, so it was me, and my partner Emma, who is a fellow Scot, sitting in our house talking about it. We had a vision but no real means to make it come alive. A big personal supporter, and Melbourne businessman, Alan Findlater (Big Al) said he would help and offer his support. Alan is an Aberdonian who has travelled all over the world for business and runs a very successful project management and advisory firm in Melbourne. Alan is now part of the St Andrew’s Society Committee and has been instrumental in the success.

The fourth person to get involved was Raymond Capaldi, a well known Scottish Chef who has worked all over the world and runs several successful businesses in Melbourne. Ray got behind the society and has been a big supporter since day one and is now a good friend as well as catering for our annual Burns Supper.

For any Scots living abroad and thinking of founding a St Andrew’s Society in their city, what would your advice be?

Strap yourself in and be prepared for a lot of hard work and don’t be afraid to give it a go. Any ego you have must be put to the side as you will need the support of businesses and you will have to rely on the generosity of people both with their time and commercially. You can’t be afraid to ask for help.

Lots of business has been done through the society and we are focused on ensuring our members maximise this and leverage the very powerful Scottish/Australian business relationships. We have established a committee and have some great people on it like Sarah Anne Munro, Alan Findlater, Innes Kirkwood, Stuart Allison, Cameron Gray and my partner Emma McDonald who heads up Comms and Partnerships.

We also have been very fortunate to have sponsorship and support from some great businesses like Alchemy Construct, Gala Estate Wines, Aggreko, Bendigo Bank, Resolve XO, Tall Boy & Moose Brewery and the Bellarine Distillery. I get enquiries from businesses coming through every week asking how they can get involved. It occasionally takes up a bit of time, but we are getting into the swing of things now and we all have dedicated roles and responsibilities which make a difference; many hands make light(er) work.

Can you tell us about some of the events the Society has hosted since 2020 and anything exciting you have coming up?

We seem to be getting into a pattern of holding four key events a year: two small and intimate ones, and two larger ones (Burns in July and St Andrew's Day Long Lunch in November). Our Burns Supper held in July 2023 was our very first supper and it was a fantastic night, a great way to introduce Scottish Culture and Heritage to our Australian guests. Hearing the pipes play down the Melbourne laneways with live projection art on the side of the building was an incredible view. Something I am very proud of and still gets talked about in town!

How do people join the society and what can they do to get involved?

Good question, the society is by invitation only and positioned at Scottish Born and Executive and Business Leader level. There are many Scots in Victoria networks which have been running way longer than the society, so we wanted to position ourselves a little differently. And it works well. At the moment new members reach out to me. We will soon be launching a formal membership process this year which we are very excited about, opening up further value and opportunities for existing members.

One of the society's Charity partners is the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, a cause very close to our heart having designed Doddie’5 Tartan with the Scottish Rugby Legend himself. Does this mean you are a rugby fan yourself?

I am a massive rugby fan and played at the club level and through school. I played in the front row (prop forward to be exact) which I loved, but my love of going out on a Friday and Saturday night didn’t put me in the best shape to turn up and perform at a high level on game day.

These days there is nothing better than visiting Scotland and going to a Scotland game at Murrayfield, the sound of the pipes, the City of Edinburgh backdrop, and the cold pints of Tenants, you can’t have a better day than that especially if the Scots get a win!

Are there any unique Australian Scottish cultural traditions you’ve come across or perhaps even created?

Oh maybe, we now run the society Burns Supper in July, slightly against the tradition of January 25^th Burns Day celebration. We do this because January is smack bang in the middle of the school summer holidays and most people are away and wearing Tweed and Tartan and eating Haggis in 35+ degree heat isn’t overly appealing. We did a bit of digging and found out the first Burns suppers took place in July (it’s also his death anniversary on July 25^th) so perhaps we are setting a new trend versus following a tradition.

How do you feel living in Australia compared to Scotland and is there anything you really miss from back home?

I love Australia, it’s a young country with so much opportunity and the coffee and cuisine are world-class. Nothing beats a swim after work, or a cold can while cooking a steak over charcoal in the back garden. What I do miss about home is a decent fish supper, Tenants on tap and of course the people.

I always feel the longer I'm away from Scotland, the more Scottish I feel. Have you celebrated your Scottish Roots from a young age, or did you only start to embrace this since moving to Australia?

I think once I passed a decade in Australia, I started to think about home a bit more as people got older and I started to miss certain foods. I am a proud Glaswegian and love being Scottish and I think people gravitate towards you as they love the accent and history, and they always have a connection to someone else who is Scottish who moved over here as a ‘ten-pound pom’, etc. I think as a country Scotland has one of, if not the best, histories and cultures in the world: kilts, tartan, pipes, the food, Scottish music – what’s not to love? Each time I visit home I make sure a bring a little piece of Scottish culture back with me. I have many tartan trews hanging in my wardrobe.

The first Scottish settlers arrived in Australia in 1788 so it’s safe to say there’s a long history of Scots heading Down Under. Had any of your ancestors headed to Australia before you or are you the first in the family?

I’m the first one. My family are all Scottish, Italian, and English and my great-grandfather was Northern Irish from Belfast.

Do you have a link to a Scottish Clan? We of course have to ask everyone this: what’s your favourite tartan?

My favourite Tartan is the Doddie Weir Tartan. It's so unique with so much meaning and purpose. I have the Doddie snood on my golf bag and lots of people stop and ask where it is from, and I love telling them all about it. For our Burns Supper in Melbourne, we gave over 100 of our guests the Doddie Snood as a thank you and to raise the awareness of the Foundation. Now and then you see a bit of the Doddie tartan floating about Melbourne from someone who has been to our Burns Supper – this catches me off guard, a bit of a lump in the throat moment! My second favourite Tartan is Black Watch, I just love it and have a few pairs of Trews in that Tartan as well as some house décor!

Image Sources:

Banner photo of Melbourne - Image by Julian Hacker from Pixabay

Nick Broadley - St Andrews Society Melbourne

Ray Capaldi - St Andrews Society Melbourne

Alan Findlater - St Andrews Society Melbourne

Burns Night - St Andrews Society Melbourne