Bill and Imelda Roche

Bill and Imelda Roche AO established Nutrimetics International (Australia) Pty Limited in 1968 and 23 years later, in 1991, acquired the worldwide interests of Nutrimetics International. The Nutrimetics Group was subsequently sold in 1997 to the Sara Lee Corporation. When the couple bought the Australian franchise to Nutrimetics in 1968, they started with just $6,000 of stock. When they sold the company in 1997, they owned the entire company which had a turnover of AU$250 million a year.

Since selling Nutrimetics, Bill and Imelda have restructured their interests and emerged as property developers and investors. The Roches are not new to property investment - they started with the purchase of a Sydney warehouse in the late 1950s and have been quietly acquiring properties ever since. They now own residential land subdivisions, rural properties and office complexes.

Their wealth was estimated at AU$545 million in the 2006 Rich 200 List of Australian business magazine "Business Review Weekly". According to the magazine, Bill Roche left school at 13 and retains a zeal for hard work, having once compared work to "a prayer". Imelda Roche AO was Acting Chancellor of Bond University from 5 August 1999 to 25 November 1999, and served as Chancellor from 25 November 1999 to 30 May 2003. [ [http://www.bond.edu.au/about/bond/governance/chancellor.html Chancellor - University Governance - Bond University ] ] Imelda Roche AO is an Officer in The Order of Australia due to her distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large. Imelda Roche Ao has been happy to retire from the business world, having worked alongside her husband for more 40 years. The couple met in a supermarket in 1956 and sold lamps door-to-door before starting Nutrimetics.

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