Ventia is a leading essential infrastructure services provider that makes infrastructure work for communities across Australia and New Zealand. They are a top 200 Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) company with a secondary listing on New Zealand’s Exchange (NZX).

Ventia specialises in the long-term operation, maintenance, and management of critical public and private assets and infrastructure across various industry segments, including Defence and Social Infrastructure, Infrastructure Services, Telecommunications, and Transport.

Ventia has a large and diverse workforce of over 35,000 people and operates in over 400 sites across Australia and New Zealand. This enables them to deliver an extensive range of services to clients and communities.

As an organisation, Ventia believes that innovation isn’t the responsibility of a single sector or unit. Every employee has opportunities to contribute game-changing ideas that can lead to innovative solutions. Ventia tries to create an environment that’s more than transactional; it’s inclusive and collaborative, two factors that make innovation possible.

Ventia wanted to spark a new era of innovation culture, so they pulled together a team of 17 “Innovation Founders” from across the business, led by Gary Dring, Group Manager of Innovation. They brainstormed: How can Ventia create a culture where tomorrow’s problem solvers have a space to express great ideas, and how can Ventia harness and share them with its vast geographic footprint in a fun and engaging way?

The group’s solution was a ‘Pizza & Pitch’, an informal event in which their employees pitched their most innovative ideas to a friendly cohort of colleagues while eating pizza and mingling. At the end of the event, the pizza-eating audience applauded each of the pitching teams, and the team that received the loudest applause of the evening won a trophy. The ‘pizza and pitch’ format has been tried and tested globally for startup companies pitching their ideas to investors. Gary and the group of Innovation Founders have added their own Ventia flair to it, and it continues to evolve from event to event.

The Pizza & Pitch events have fostered confidence at all levels of staff to contribute ideas. One year after the first Pizza & Pitch, five events have been held across Australia and New Zealand, with over 1000 people attending. There were 42 pitches across the business, with five winners, one in each location.

Despite there being clear winners on the night, 13 innovations have been implemented in the business, and eight more are under development.

There is no doubt that the program is offering a host of ingredients for innovation at Ventia. Tapping into the collective intelligence of Ventia’s 15,000 employees and 20,000 subcontractors is a forward-thinking approach.

For information about Ventia, visit ventia.com