Sixth generation leads the transformation charge at one of the city’s oldest family businesses
J.R. Rix & Sons, one of Hull’s oldest family companies is focusing on innovation as it looks to the future.
The firm is creating a dedicated space for innovation and plans to fill it with “the brightest digital talent by recruiting for a range of new and exciting roles”.
The process which is being driven by Harry Rix, son of Chairman Tim Rix CBE and the sixth-generation family member to join the firm.
Rix jnr came into the business in 2020 with the plan to create FinTech start-up Expensemate, but with that firmly under his belt, he’s now turning his attention to modernising the rest of the 150-year-old Group.
He described the new innovation centre which is a physical space in the firm’s new headquarters at Two Humber Quays on the city’s marina, as an area where “businesses across the group can collaborate and explore ideas that they wouldn’t get the opportunity to do in their day-to-day roles.”
Its the start of a process that will see all 17 companies in the Rix Group move from traditional ways of working to more efficient digital processes utilising automation and state-of-the-art software.
But the younger Rix believes there is more to the transformation than creating a new space and utilising digital processes.
“It’s very much centred on people”, he explained, “We’re actively looking to recruit and work with digital natives with an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving, such as software developers, digital marketers and business analysts, to help take the business on this journey.”
What’s more he thinks the business’s location in Hull will be key to the transformation because he explains the city “has one of the strongest digital offerings in the north, if not the whole of the UK.”
With work currently underway on the new site the business which acquired the development in February expects to move all operations there from in October.
“Throughout its history, the business has evolved along with Hull, and this is an extension of that,” Rix said.
“From ship building in the 1800s to supplying marine fuel and stevedoring, through to providing farmers and rural households with fuel, to the renewables revolution, we have developed along with Hull and East Yorkshire’s changing economic landscape.
“The creation of Expensemate – the Group’s first fully digital company – and the digital transformation reflects the fantastic tech-based sector that has emerged in the city and is another example of how the Rix Group is adapting to the prevailing times.”
Harry isn’t the only member of the next generation of the family to join the Group, with his brother Robbie, a 3D CAD designer at Victory Leisure Homes – J.R. Rix & Sons’ holiday home and lodge manufacturing business.
Tim Rix CBE, chief executive of the group, said of his son joining the business: “It’s great to see both of them bring new ideas and approaches to the way we do things.
“Harry’s experience at Accenture has really accelerated our thinking around digital, which we realise has growing importance in the modern world.”
Group managing director, Rory Clarke, added: “It is great to see the sixth generation of the family coming into the business and leading innovation. Understanding and making the best use of technology, in all aspects of our organisation, is what will shape our future and keep us competitive and relevant to our customers.”
