OLD GUILDFORDIANS
Golden future for ‘First Amongst Equals’
Raleigh Finlayson (Sc 1989-1995)
Having been identified as an exceptional
business talent, Raleigh Finlayson received
the coveted accolade of being named ‘First
Amongst Equals’ at the Business News 2018
40under40 Awards. Celebrating Western
Australia’s 40 leading business entrepreneurs
under the age of 40, the Awards collectively
highlight personal determination, commercial
drive and the philanthropic pursuits that
balance professional achievements. Out
of the 40 winners, Raleigh won the Large
Business category, but it was the significant
depth to his achievements that saw him
selected as the ‘First Amongst Equals’ out
of an extremely strong contingent of young
professionals. Raleigh also joins an elite
group of Old Guildfordians, with property
developer Paul Blackburne (St 1986-1993)
and ophthalmologist Dr Angus Turner (He
1988-1994) being named ‘First Amongst
Equals’ in 2016 and 2015 respectively.
Raleigh attended Guildford Grammar School
as a boarder having grown up on a sheep
station near the town of Kookynie, two
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elements of his upbringing that provided
a solid foundation for his future career.
Growing up on a sheep station, where the
margins are tight, he experienced the hard
and long hours that are demanded by a life
in agriculture. This taught Raleigh early on
that a good work ethic is critical to being
successful and the level of effort needed
to achieve results. He also recognises the
edge of independence that he gained from
boarding school has been beneficial to him,
especially for a young man at the early stage
of his career.
Coming from a mine surveyor and
engineering background, Raleigh has 20
years of technical and operational experience.
After attending Guildford Grammar School,
he went on to develop his skills at the
Western Australian School of Mines. Later
he gained further experience by working
for some of the “bigger mining names”
in Kalgoorlie, occupying various mining
engineering roles before doing a brief stint at
a mine on the South Island of New Zealand.
Raleigh Finlayson has received the highest
honour at the 2018 40under40 Awards.
Photographs courtesy of Attila Csaszar,
Business News.