Case Study: RFTN
From founder-led growth to a disciplined, executable 2026 strategy
Industry: HVAC — mechanical, electrical & infrastructure
Location: Padstow, NSW
Services: Design, install & service of HVAC systems for large-scale accommodation, clubs & schools
RFTN has built a genuine reputation delivering large mechanical and electrical projects for builders, schools and accommodation providers across Sydney — work now sitting behind institutions like Oakhill College, St Luke’s Grammar, Wesley College and multiple Scape developments. Ten years in business and the acquisition of Mech Air had taken RFTN from a small operator to a 20-person team almost overnight. But the growth that earned that reputation had outpaced the structure underneath it.
Leadership growth needs all three
Underneath all of it runs the same throughline: clarity on who owns what, the courage to make an overdue leadership change, and a cadence of coaching that keeps the strategy alive between sessions.
Clarity
Who owns what.
Courage
To make the overdue leadership change, and to keep having the difficult conversations.
Cadence
Weekly and monthly meetings that keep the leadership team talking to each other and pulling in the same direction, backed by coaching that keeps the strategy alive between sessions.
Challenge
An initial discovery and leadership assessment found RFTN transitioning from “Ramping Up” to “Delegation” — the stage where businesses typically hit unclear core values, a culture resistant to change, and a widening gap between leadership and staff. The recent acquisition had sharpened all three: a legacy leadership role from the acquired business no longer fit where RFTN was heading, creating conflict and distraction; reporting lines had become genuinely complex; and it wasn’t clear who owned which seat, or whether the right people were even in them.
Sales still ran largely through the founder. The business was being pulled toward multiple markets and one-off projects that didn’t build repeatable capability, and there was no clear picture — for the team, clients, or the leaders themselves — of who RFTN really was or what it stood for.
RFTN engaged Orchard Coaching to:
- Design and manage a considered exit for a legacy leadership role following the acquisition
- Review the leadership team's skills and agree who sits in which seat
- Build a disciplined, executable strategy for 2026 and beyond
- Clarify leadership structure, roles and decision rights
- Build a succession plan for key long-serving staff
- Develop emerging leaders coming up through the business
Solution
Orchard Coaching has worked with RFTN’s leadership team — Stephen Joyce, Derek Munnelly and Cathy — continuously since mid-2025, moving from individual coaching to organisation-wide strategy as the business was ready for each.
Discovery & Leadership System Diagnostic
A structured discovery process, including a Leadership Maturity Assessment, established the baseline: where RFTN’s leadership was strong, and where the gaps sat.
Weekly Executive Coaching
Strategy Sessions
2026 Execution Retainer
Leadership Development: Future Leaders Program & Leaders to Create Future Leaders Program
Sales Capability & Commercial Discipline
Moving from founder-led selling to a defined sales function, with a repeatable sales process and structured pricing and negotiation frameworks to protect margin on bigger, more complex projects.
Revenue Diversification & Smoothing
People, Structure & Alignment
Development runs alongside the strategy work, not after it. Joe and Dylan attended Orchard’s Future Leaders Program in February 2026 — two days built around self- awareness (DiSC), emotional intelligence and a practical plan each participant owns — and Byron progressed straight into Leaders To Create Future Leaders the following month, building the coaching and delegation skills needed to lead others, not just himself.
Key Fundamentals of RFTN's Business
HVAC — mechanical, electrical & infrastructure
The RFTN Engagement Achieved:
- A considered, well-managed exit for a legacy leadership role following RFTN's acquisition, instead of an ongoing source of conflict and distraction
- A leadership team with a clear read on its own strengths and gaps, from a structured Leadership Maturity Assessment
- A tested 3–5 year vision every 2026 decision is now filtered through, replacing ad-hoc, founder-led calls
- One clear niche, replacing scattered pursuit of new markets and one-off work
- Three prioritised strategic pillars, each with a named lead and a quarter-by-quarter milestone plan
- Leadership structure clarified and communicated across the business
- A defined succession approach underway for key long-serving staff
- Joe and Dylan through the Future Leaders Program, and Byron through Leaders To Create Future Leaders — building the foundations for the business's next generation of leaders
Q: From a scale of 1 (unhelpful) to 10 (very helpful), rate how helpful the coaching was in accomplishing your goal?
10 /10
Q: From a scale of 1 (unlikely) to 10 (very likely), how likely would you recommend Orchard Coaching to others?
10 /10
It has brought us stability and structure within the business, both from my perspective and Derek’s perspective, and the confidence — the self-confidence to go and make the changes in the business that we knew that we had to make, but we didn’t know how to make them. 
Stephen Joyce — Managing Director, RFTN