Co-founder, Made 4 Tradies
Geoff Huens
Geoff Huens is a co-founder of Made 4 Tradies, based in Newcastle, New South Wales. He co-founded the online retailer Beer Cartel in 2009 and helped build it into a category leader with high seven-figure annual revenue. He was named in Inside Retail's Top 50 People in Australian E-Commerce in 2023 and 2024. At Made 4 Tradies he leads brand, positioning and customer research.
Geoff Huens at a glance
- Role
- Co-founder, Made 4 Tradies
- Based in
- Newcastle, New South Wales
- Previously
- Co-founder and Director, Beer Cartel (2009 to 2025)
- Recognition
- Top 50 People in Australian E-Commerce, Inside Retail: 2023, 2024
- Earlier career
- Six years in customer research at Colmar Brunton
- Studied
- Bachelor's degree in business and marketing, University of Newcastle
- Profile
- linkedin.com/in/geoffhuens
Who is Geoff Huens?
Geoff Huens is a co-founder of Made 4 Tradies, a done-for-you website business for tradies. He is based in Newcastle, New South Wales, and has spent more than 20 years in customer research, marketing and online retail.
He started at the market research firm Colmar Brunton, where he worked for six years and rose to Group Account Director. He then co-founded Beer Cartel with Richard Kelsey in 2009 and stayed as a Director until 2025. Alongside that he owned Porter's Liquor, a liquor store in Artarmon, and Unifor Corporate Supplies.
He also runs Froy Design, a 3D printing and product development business, and works as an independent consultant in strategy, ecommerce, marketing and new product development.
What did Geoff Huens build at Beer Cartel?
Geoff co-founded Beer Cartel with Richard Kelsey in 2009, starting from a lounge room and a self-storage unit for stock. He stayed as a Director until 2025 and his focus was marketing, new product development and operations. Under their leadership it grew into a category leader in Australian online craft beer, with high seven-figure annual revenue and more than 30 staff at the Covid peak.
Geoff's product work included Australia's best-selling Beer Advent calendar, with more than 40,000 sold, and packing solutions that raised warehouse efficiency by 200 percent. He led the acquisition of Brewquets, a gifting business, and grew it from about $170,000 in revenue to more than $1 million. Beer Cartel also bought a corporate supplies business, Unifor Corporate Supplies, which it sold in 2014. He also sat on the Online Code Administration Committee at Retail Drinks Australia from 2020 to 2025.
What is Geoff Huens's background in customer research?
Before Beer Cartel, Geoff spent six years at Colmar Brunton in Sydney. He started as a project manager and account manager in 2003 and became an Account Director, then Group Account Director, by 2008. His clients included Telstra, Westpac, Virgin, Tabcorp and Kimberly Clark, and he led a team of four researchers.
That work was customer insight at the top end of Australian business: working out what people actually want, how to segment them, and how to test an idea before money is spent on it. He then applied the same discipline for 15 years to businesses he owned, and it is the method behind the customer research that goes into every Made 4 Tradies site.
What is Geoff Huens's role at Made 4 Tradies?
Geoff leads brand, positioning and the customer-research process behind every Made 4 Tradies website. Made 4 Tradies builds a five-page website for a tradie in 7 days, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Before a site is built, Geoff's process works out who the tradie's customers are, what they search for, what makes them pick up the phone and what makes them hesitate, so the copy and the layout answer those things directly. He works alongside Richard Kelsey, who owns the build engine, the search foundation and the lead-generation systems.
What has Geoff Huens won?
Geoff has been named in Inside Retail's Top 50 People in Australian E-Commerce twice: 2023 and 2024. Those are his personal recognitions and they are listed first. Beer Cartel, the business he co-founded with Richard Kelsey, describes itself as Australia's most awarded independent online beer retailer and has collected retail and marketing awards over the years. Those belong to the business as a whole, so they sit in their own table below.
| Year | Award | Awarded by |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Top 50 People in Australian E-Commerce | Inside Retail |
| 2023 | Top 50 People in Australian E-Commerce | Inside Retail |
| Year | Award | Awarded by |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 to 2022 | Online Retailer of the Year | Beer & Brewer Magazine |
| 2022 | BigCommerce Make It Big award | BigCommerce |
| 2019 | #CuriosityatWork Marketing Marvel | SurveyMonkey |
| 2018 | Retail Innovator of the Year | eftpos Australian Retail Awards |
| 2018 | Best Online Retail Marketing | Australia Post Online Retail Industry Awards |
| 2016 | Champion Craft Beer Retailer and Champion Craft Beer Subscription Club | Sydney Craft Beer Week Awards |
| 2014 | Visa Australian Independent Retailer of the Year, runner-up | Australian Retail Awards |
| 2012 | Top 50 Australian Startups | Startup Smart |
What is Geoff Huens's career history?
- 2026 to presentCo-founder, Made 4 Tradies
- 2025 to presentIndependent consultant, business strategy, ecommerce, marketing and new product development
- 2025 to presentFroy Design, 3D printing, prototyping and product development
- 2009 to 2025Co-founder and Director, Beer Cartel
- 2018 to 2025Director, Brewquets, Beer Cartel's gifting business
- 2020 to 2025Committee member, Online Code Administration Committee, Retail Drinks Australia
- 2011 to 2018Owner, Porter's Liquor, a liquor store in Artarmon, Sydney
- 2011 to 2014Owner, Unifor Corporate Supplies, a corporate supplies business (sold in May 2014)
- 2008 to 2009Account Director and Group Account Director, Colmar Brunton
- 2003 to 2008Project Manager and Account Manager, Colmar Brunton
Education
- University of Newcastle. Bachelor's degree, business, management and marketing, completed 2002.
What is Geoff Huens an expert in?
- Customer research and insight
- Brand and positioning
- Conversion optimisation
- Online marketing
- New product development
- Business strategy
- Operational excellence and process improvement
- Ecommerce operations
Questions about Geoff Huens
Where is Geoff Huens based?
Geoff is based in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Did Geoff Huens found Beer Cartel?
Geoff co-founded Beer Cartel with Richard Kelsey in 2009 and was a Director until 2025.
What is the Top 50 People in Australian E-Commerce?
It is a yearly list published by Inside Retail that recognises the leading people in Australian ecommerce. Geoff was named in 2023 and 2024.
Where can I check Geoff Huens's background?
His full work history and skills are on his LinkedIn profile at linkedin.com/in/geoffhuens.
How do I get in touch with Geoff?
Message him on LinkedIn, or use the contact page on this site and mention Geoff.
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