Australian Mining sat down with Genus managing director David Riches to discuss the company’s rapid growth trajectory.
A specialist power and communications solutions provider is taking on and beating the industry’s biggest names to secure landmark national projects, having carved out a niche in the market through its authentic and personable approach.
While Genus has worked with the likes of Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Roy Hill, BHP and Northern Star Resources to design, construct and maintain the crucial infrastructure that keeps their mine sites running, the company isn’t getting ahead of itself.
“We’ve come a long way from being the ‘powerlines guys’, and I’m proud of where we find ourselves,” Genus managing director David Riches told Australian Mining.
Image: Genus
“We’ve rapidly diversified and scaled our offering and now operate across three divisions covering everything from transmission lines and substations to communications solutions and renewable energy. But there’s always room for improvement, which is what drives us each day to become Australia’s contractor of choice.
“As we grow, it’s really important for us to maintain our culture, continue that can-do attitude and ensure that we don’t stop until we finish our jobs – something we’ve always prided ourselves on.”
Unlike competitors that outsource extensively, Genus has nearly 1400 directly employed professionals ensuring quality and consistency across every job from start to finish.
Riches said Genus employees are experts at what they do.
“When it comes to renewables, power lines, substations or anything to do with energy and engineering of energy facilities or assets, we’re not confused in any way, shape or form,” he said.
“We’re doers rather than talkers, and our clients understand that we deliver projects as promised. If a client’s got a problem, we work through that issue quickly – we always prioritise transparency and communication.”
This approach enables Genus to pull through when the going gets tough.
“Whether it’s a difficult, remote project or navigating COVID or whatever gets thrown at us, we’ll find a way to get the job done,” Riches said. “We’ll find a way of innovating that project and making it happen.
“We’ve built a culture of mateship, so we understand we’ve got to help each other on both the good days and bad days. There are days where it’s challenging to deliver the desired outcome, meaning we’ve got to work together and think outside the box.
“This comes from me as well. I’m certainly a managing director that doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty and assisting projects and our management team where required so we can all achieve our goals.”
By investing time into its employees, Genus has become an attractive workplace destination for professionals in power, communications and, by connection, mining industries.
This allows Genus to not only lure talent but also retain talent, creating a culture of excellence and establishing the company as a leader in its field.
“Some of our general managers (GMs) are the first GMs of their respective units and have remained in these roles as the company has grown,” Riches said. “We also have a strong retention rate in our blue-collar roles, which is really important for us to maintain our standards across the business.”
Image: Genus
Genus commenced working with Rio Tinto in 2010.
“We started on a small job for Rio Tinto in Tom Price, and we’ve effectively never left,” Riches said. “We’ve always done regular work for the iron ore miners since then.
“But we don’t discriminate on size. Alongside our Tier 1 client base, we’ve also worked with a lot of Tier 2 and 3 miners across Australia in a range of commodities, including mineral sands, gold and copper.”
Complementing Genus’ longstanding relationship with Rio Tinto, delivering Fortescue’s Pilbara Generation Project was a landmark achievement for the company.
“Fortescue contracted us to build four substations and a 220-kilometre-long power grid at 220 kilovolts as part of stage one of the Pilbara Generation Project,” he said. “A few other utilities and miners would have been looking to see how we were going to go with this big project.
“We delivered this project through COVID and our order book has ballooned ever since.”
In addition to WA, Genus has established a national footprint with a strong presence in the Queensland mining industry, while the company plans to grow into New South Wales by leveraging the success of energy infrastructure projects such as HumeLink East for TransGrid and its partnership with AusGrid on EnergyCo’s Hunter–Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone.
Contract after contract, Genus is solidifying its status as a Tier 1 power and communications solutions provider, with renewable energy becoming another key growth area for the company.
“While we have our core capabilities, we’re also trying new things all the time,” Riches said. “This might involve an acquisition or rebuilding a company out of administration.
Image: Genus
“We’re always learning new skill sets as well, which is how our renewables arm came into play. We acquired electrical business EC&M and created it into a multi-function renewables business, doing batteries, solar, and now even looking at wind.
“We’ve already built two major solar farms – one for Rio and one for Fortescue – so we’re starting to really establish ourselves in the renewables space.”
As Genus expands through organic growth and acquisitions, backed by a strong balance sheet and record-breaking half-year revenue, the company isn’t losing sight of its DNA and what got the business to where it is today.
“When you start a company, and it’s a tiny little tree in a pot plant and then you grow the company into a big tree, it’s critical you don’t lose your identity,” Riches said.
“To preserve this, we’re focused on building internal relationships within the business, between both our senior leadership and project management levels, as well as with our blue-collar roles.
“We’re also focused on promoting from within. We’ve established a great mix of people who want to work for an ambitious, growth-minded company.”
This feature appeared in the April 2025 issue of Australian Mining.