All roads lead to Canberra for us.

After landing their first contract with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, world-class examination, assessment and certification company, Aspeq set up business in Canberra in March 2001.

Originally from New Zealand, the company is a global leader in high-stakes exams for regulatory and standards organisations. Their small team has thrived in Canberra’s progressive tech space, working out of a busy co-working space in Dickson, not far from the city’s CBD and leading educational institutions.

Brenton Retallack, Aspeq’s business development manager, says Canberra is a passionate tech city. 

“It’s a real up-and-coming city,” he says.

“We can leverage tech partners here to take on contracts we couldn’t take on previously. People younger than me who have lived here in Canberra their whole lives are building start-ups and tech companies. It’s exciting. It’s unique.

Top research institutions are ‘just across the road’

In Canberra, you’re close to an academically-renowned tertiary and research sector. It’s why the city is known as Australia’s ‘knowledge capital’.

“[Canberra’s tertiary institutions] are at the forefront of anything that goes on in Australia,” Brenton explains. “They’re open to different ideas and ways of doing things. They’re very approachable and very well plugged into the industry as a whole. And they’re just across the road.

“I find most people are very, very happy to just have a coffee and talk. It’s not over Zoom. It’s not over Skype. It is very face-to-face. They’re very open with their ideas. And then if there’s a way that we can work together, everyone’s really happy to do that.”

Canberra’s stable economy fuels growth

Naomi Barker recently celebrated her 14th anniversary with Aspeq. She leads Candidate Services across New Zealand and Australia. 

“You’ve got a stable economy in Canberra,” Naomi says. “You’ve got access to Federal Government and the contracts that come out of the work that government does.”

Naomi says it’s easier to get contracts when you can offer government support on the ground in the capital, but that support goes both ways. There’s a strong culture of collaboration and advice from the ACT Government, Canberra Business Chamber and Canberra Innovation Network.

“Gathering information is a lot easier here,” Naomi says.

“There’s a unique interactive approach between businesses in Canberra.

Tap into a strong, highly-educated talent pool

Naomi explains there’s a strong crossover between government and private work in Canberra’s highly-skilled workforce. 

“A lot of people are drawn here initially for government work, they do their contracts and then they’re looking for something new,” she explains.

That makes it much easier to recruit people. 

“They like the lifestyle in Canberra. So even if their government contract ends, they’ve built a lifestyle in Canberra, and they want to stay. We get a lot of people applying for jobs that decide they want to leave the government and go into the private sector, which is fabulous for us.

“Anyone that lives here will tell you it’s a very community-minded place,” Naomi says. “It’s a very vibrant atmosphere. Everything’s so close, everything is within a very small radius within Canberra, it’s very easy to get around, very easy to connect and people are very open.”

Brenton adds: “It’s also nice not having to jump on the M5 for two hours to get to work”.

After living in Canberra as a kid then moving away with his military family, he travelled and worked in other cities. “But all roads lead back to Canberra,” he says. “With the career opportunities here, it made perfect sense.”