When Keith Purtill purchased his first school bus in 1951, little did he realise it would be the start of one of the Southern Riverina’s largest companies.
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It would also create a multi-generational involvement in the transport industry which now spans a few different corners of the country.
The local legacy forged by the Purtill family is now also gaining national attention, with four members of the family now inducted in the Shell Rimula Transport Wall of Fame.
After accepting his induction last year, Brian Purtill has been joined on the Wall of Fame by his brothers Geoffrey and Ian.
Their father Keith Purtill was also formally inducted at the Australian Festival of Transport in late August.
Keith’s long-held dream was to be a truck owner/operator, even before he made his way to Deniliquin in the 1940s.
He’d gone as far as putting a Bedford truck on order, but post-World War II there was a lengthy wait on delivery.
He wanted the truck to cart stock, but his employer Lindsay McCleary at Mac’s Motors pointed him in a different direction.
“Why don’t you buy a school bus? The Blighty run is up for grabs,” Lindsay told Keith, before offering to lend him the money to buy it.
Even in those early years, Keith realised one bus run was not enough for a successful business.
Before long he acquired the Mayrung run, followed by Tuppal and Moonee Swamp.
In the late 1960s a significant development in the business saw Purtills provide a charter bus service, and in the early to mid 1970s the Finley/Warranooke and Conargo school runs were added to the Purtills’ routes.
Soon after purchasing the Conargo bus run, Keith Purtill made two significant decisions – a move to new premises and his first venture into diversification.
By this stage he and Pat’s oldest son, Norm, was approaching his 18th birthday and before long there would be six boys - with Ian, George, Neville, Geoff and Brian to follow - looking for various jobs in the business.
Keith bought the former Grimison site at the corner of Wood and Edwardes Streets, Deniliquin which provided more space than the Wood St back yard.
It was the first of a number of moves and expansions.
The company’s first of many future diversifications was into the fuel industry.
Keith saw synergies with his existing business - it would allow drivers to be behind the wheel of a school bus in the morning and afternoon, and be gainfully employed throughout the rest of the day delivering fuel.
As a bonus, the customer base was primarily farmers with whom there was already contact, as their children were the daily bus passengers.
In 1976 the first new fuel truck was purchased – an International Acco 1830 which was a far cry from the $700 Bedford which had first been used to supply the region’s farms.
Throughout the 1980s Purtills took full advantage of prosperous times, taking many thousands of passengers from one end of Australia to the other.
This included passenger and tour services, primarily under the guidance of Ian and Geoff.
Ian had developed an interest in cooking, which had been kindled out of necessity by his father and after a stint away returned to Deniliquin as a qualified chef. He had the ideal background to take on the role of charter tour overseer, driver and cook.
While the coach business was expanding in the 1980s, so was another arm of the Purtill company.
Early in the decade they branched out into retail fuel sales with the purchase of the North Deniliquin Service Station – now a Shell Coles Express.
From that point the Purtill interest in retail fuel sales and associated food and convenience stores has continued to be a major part of the enterprise. The company now runs two Caltex service station outlets in Deniliquin, plus others in Hay, Mathoura and Jerilderie, and also operates in Griffith.
As the coach and retail fuel sides of the business grew, there was a further development which has had a lasting impact on the region’s transport industry with the establishment by Purtills of Deniliquin Freighters.
It was started in 1977 with two trucks and run by Norm Purtill and Bill Hall.
Meanwhile, the Purtill company continued its diversification and growth, regularly taking on new challenges.
The six Purtill brothers all had a role to play – whether it was looking after buses, finance, fuel or other parts of the operation including the regular construction jobs, which was George’s area of expertise.
They ventured into tyres by purchasing the local Goodyear dealership, became the local franchisee for Autopro spare parts and even sold barbecues and gas heaters as part of their gas delivery distributorship as the region’s Speed-E-Gas agent.
Many of these arms were sold following Keith’s death in 1988.
After Norm, Ian and George decided they wanted a lifestyle change in the new millennium, it left the three youngest siblings - Neville, Geoff and Brian – to continue operating what had become Purtills Bros Nominees Pty Ltd.
Geoff was in charge of the fuel distributorship, Brian ran the bus business and Neville, who had been looking after the finances for about 15 years, became general manager.
Geoff and Brain also moved on over the coming years, but not before Neville and Brain bought out Husseys Buses in 2004.
With that expansion, it was decided to continue narrowing the focus and concentrate primarily on fuel – both wholesale and retail – and the bus business.
The scope of the company narrowed again in 2019 when Purtills sold the bus and coach division to Dysons - one of the biggest business deals in Deniliquin’s history.
Purtills Group moved its headquarters to the roadhouse in Hardinge St, where they again changed their focus by developing Cruizin* Diner and The Depot Historic Vehicle and Memorabilia Collection museum.
Vehicle hire is also a main arm of the business.
Outside of his work with Purtills, Geoff worked for Landmark, Dysons and Brits touring around Australia doing both accommodated tours and campers which he loved.
After a stint back home in Deniliquin in the 1990s, back with the family business, he went back to Dysons until 2006.
He then moved to Moama to fulfil his dream of owning and running his own coach business with wife Julie, stating with contracting to CountryLink, now NSW TrainLink.
Geoff’s son Brenton is following in his footsteps driving trucks and buses.
Ian left the family business in 1999, and with wife Mary started his own - Timed Right Pty Ltd, based in Albury.
Having become a licensed driver-trainer in 1996, he also contracted his skills to Wodonga TAFE to provide bus, truck, car and 4WD driver training.
He also began the training and assessment of bus drivers working in hazardous snow areas.
In 2000 he trained drivers associated with the Sydney Olympics, and offered similar assistance to the Commonwealth Games in Queensland in 2008.
Since 2006 he has been training drivers working in the Kosciuszko National Park.
In 2018 Ian became the human resources manager for Martin’s Albury Pty Ltd - a school charter and touring bus firm - and drives a school bus as needed.
Almost all the family made the trip to Alice Springs for the National Transport Hall of Fame hosted event.
Ian was joined by his sons Tim and David, and Geoff was accompanied by wife Julie, children Nikki and Brenton, and Brenton’s fiancee Maddison.
Brian also made the trip with his children Jordan and Ben, and brother Norm attended with wife Bev and daughter Melissa.
Current Purtill Group general manager Neville Purtill and his family were unable to attend, due to sponsorship commitments at the Deniliquin Business Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards held the same weekend.