Nic Holdgate

Managing Director

Nic founded SAF Australia in 2006 to supply licensed microwave network solutions to the Australian market. With an Electrical Engineering degree and an MBA, he works to provide increasingly reliable solutions to a market riddled with congestion and interference.

Nic spent 11 years as a Weapons Electrical Officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy before working the following 11 years in Telecommunications. He excelled in various management roles working across mobile radio, paging, cellular and fixed-line networks. Before making his way to SAF Australia, Nic managed various technology businesses, including PacSat, an Australian designer and manufacturer of microwave antennas.

Nic is keen on the outdoors and likes to get out paragliding, snowboarding and mountain biking whenever he can.  He and his wife, Anna, are the proud parents of four children.  Nic loves the challenge of working with evolving technologies and finding ways to do things better.

Working at SAF is great.  I get to travel all over the country, often with the opportunity to admire the stunning views from towers, get to meet and work with a lot of fantastic people and provide a service that makes a real difference to organisations.

Gavin West

Logistics Manager

Gavin (Gav) has been an integral part of SAF Australia since joining the Albury team in 2014…and made up half of the SAF Australia field staff at that time.

Gav came on board with an IT background, and managed various aspects of technical work with radio configuration and installation. He has worked across every aspect of the business through our growth and is now our Logistics Manager.

Considering that we send and receive often large, heavy, customised equipment, Gav is a gun at ensuring that our shipping and warehousing methods are efficient, reliable and cost effective.

He also has a bit to do with our operational safety…which is good, because he’s pretty handy with a bow and arrow as we found out after a team planning session.

Brandt Johnson

Marketing Manager

Brandt joined the SAF Australia team in July 2019. He brings international education and experience in PR & Communications comprising Marketing, Public Relations, Professional Writing and Audio-Visual Media creation.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Brandt moved to Australia in 2009. He worked as a Sales and Project Manager for DORMA Movable Walls before applying his Communications skills in the Community Sector.

After redeveloping the Carers ACT website and working as the Program & Communications Manager for Mission Australia ACT, Brandt moved to Albury-Wodonga with his wife and two daughters. He managed one of the area’s largest successful grassroots engagement campaigns as Cleanaway and four Local Area Councils rolled out the Organics “Green Bin” service to over 55,000 residents.

Brandt’s now a full-fledged Australian Citizen (2013) and an accomplished golfer.

I’m very happy to come on board with SAF Australia. The attitude toward innovation and progress isn’t just lip service. These folks are serious about the quest to be better tomorrow than we were today.

Mitch Botting

Technician

Mitch recently came on board as an Apprentice Technician in July 2019 and has truly hit the ground running. He’s an enthusiastic academic with interests in I.T, physics and chemistry – recently completing an Advanced Diploma in Engineering at Wodonga TAFE.

He’s passionate about learning and enjoys being part of a technical team. Since Mitch is young, his work experience at onboarding was limited. However; he demonstrated leadership, patience, intuition, responsibility and a genuine interest in the industry…all highly-regarded traits of a great team member.

Prior to SAF Australia, Mitch worked hard for two years at Moonya Pizza & Pasta as an expert pizzaiolo. Mitch took on management duties in supervision, operations, quality control and monetary handling. Importantly, he learned excellent customer service skills which is key in his current position.

Mitch is also an impressive soccer player, winning three consecutive league championships. He volunteers his time to the community by helping run youth soccer clinics, participating in local reforestation efforts and donating his time to Care Van.

Mel Leathem

Accounts Administrator

Mel joined SAF Australia in 2018 as an expert Administrator with over 10 years’ experience. Her administrative skill is practised in a range of industries and activities.

She spent five years with Woolworths as a Maintenance Administrator looking after stock levels, accounts and the data entry involved. Mel then made the move to Toyota Material Handling. She handled Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable along with forklift orders. The business also benefitted from Mel’s involvement in first aid, OH&S and parts procurement.

In 2013, Mel then made the move to VK Logic Electrical and Pneumatics where she gained proficiency in XERO accounting software and simPRO service and management software. She also took on daily staff rostering in addition to her other administration activities.

Mel returned to her administration role at Toyota Material Handling for a couple years, where she learned M3 Companion – an ERP software solution.