With more than 20 years’ experience in professional services in recruitment, on-hire, group training and workforce development, Tully has spent his entire career working with businesses that have long term trade skills shortages or productivity issues based around skills.
Tully graduated from La Trobe University in Melbourne (BA in Economics and Politics) in 1995.
After working in recruitment services and the on-hire sector for a number of years, Tully’s passion to provide skills solutions for industry led him to start Blue Tongue in 2001. The business went from a start-up in 2001 to $48M in sales in 2023.
Tully started the Blue Tongue international hiring program in 2005. Since then, under his active management the business has hired, employed and managed more than 800 specialist technicians from Africa to work in the Australian mining sector.
In 2010 Tully, as Managing Director of Blue Tongue, pioneered a new skills development and supply model and the term ‘Up-Skilling’ for mobile plant maintenance in mining. As a result the team at Blue Tongue has since hired and up-skilled more than 1000 Light Vehicle mechanics to work as Heavy Mobile Plant mechanics in the Australian mining sector. Blue Tongue has grown to become Australia’s largest employer of mature-age apprentices and a leading workforce development consultancy that is also recognised for its training innovation programs.
