The Brumbies have appointed Michael Jones as the club’s Chief Executive Officer for the next three years.
Jones returns to his hometown Canberra to tackle the role with the Brumbies having most recently held the Chief Executive’s position with investment banking and corporate advisory firm, Canterbury Hill Advisory in Sydney.
Jones said it was exciting to be back in Canberra working with an organisation he has followed closely his entire life.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity, there is a lot of work to get the Brumbies and community rugby to where I want it, but I’m excited by the challenge,” Jones said.
“Our Board and financial issues have been very public and well publicised. I’m happy the Board is now unified and focused and that we have plans to reverse our commercial trend.
“Some of that work will take a while, but one of the biggest areas we need to work on is getting Canberra behind us. Buying memberships and coming to our home games is the most tangible way that people and businesses can support us and ensure our success.
“The brand of the Brumbies and the quality of the playing group are the strengths of this organisation and are essential elements as we seek to turn this organisation around.”
Jones has enjoyed a diverse and highly successful business and high-performance sport-governance career both here in Canberra and throughout Australia.
He was the founder and inaugural Director of the Australian Olympic Sailing team which achieved huge success in both Beijing and London. In his role with the Australian Sailing Team he was nominated for the Australian Sports Administrator of the Year and won the ASC Program of the Year.
His brother Geoff Jones was the Brumbies first Assistant Coach in 1996 and Michael Jones himself played rugby at an elite level, representing the ACT U21s in 1981 out of the RMC.
Prior to his time with Canterbury Hill Advisory, Jones headed up a range of different organisations as Chief Executive including The Aerospace Group, Raytheon and Rex Airlines.
Michael graduated into Army Aviation in 1982 from the Royal Military College Duntroon. He was selected as the Army’s first test pilot and was Dux of the Empire Test Pilot School in the UK in 1989.
Michael founded The Aerospace Group of companies in 1993. Specialising in high-end aeronautical and systems engineering, the companies had four offices in Australia and subsidiaries in the USA and Europe. This business was acquired by Raytheon in 1998 and Michael stayed with Raytheon as Managing Director establishing its corporate headquarters in Canberra.
Immediately following the collapse of Ansett in 2001, Michael was asked by the staff to head up the 17,000 employees in an aborted attempt to relaunch the failed airline. Michael acquired the Ansett subsidiaries Kendall and Hazelton airlines, recapitalised and relaunched as Regional Express (REX).
The new Brumbies Chairman, Robert Kennedy, was pleased to welcome Jones on board.
“Michael’s appointment is the cornerstone of us ushering in a new era for the Brumbies,” Kennedy said.
“Michael will not only provide the stability needed for 2015 but his commercial acumen and strategic leadership will put us on a good path moving forward.”
Jones will commence the role with the Brumbies effective immediately.
(Brumbies Media Release)
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