Ryal matriculated at Volkskool Heidelberg (Gauteng) in 1983. He started working at the Land and Agricultural Bank of SA in 1984 and then went to Potchefstroom for military training in July 1984. He completed his military training at the Artillery School and attained the rank of lieutenant in 1985.
He continued with the Land Bank after military training and started part time studies in 1987. Ryal completed his B.Accounting degree part time in four years and B.Acc (Hons) in 1991. He started his articles at Coopers Theron du Toit (now PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC) in 1992 in Pretoria and also passed SAICA’s board exams in the same year, continued with his articles at PwC Stellenbosch and qualified as Chartered Accountant at the end of 1994. Ryal was appointed as Audit Manager at PwC, but then accepted a Financial Manager’s position at Tydstroom Poultry Farm, a division of Pioneer Foods (then Bokomo) in 1996.
During 1999, he accepted a position at Stellenbosch University (SU) as lecturer in Accounting and Tax.
After a year as lecturer he returned to the commercial sector, accepting a Financial Manager’s position at Kleine Zalze Wines. He was actively involved with the winery, grape and pear farming, restaurant and lodges at Kleine Zalze as well as the De Zalze development and gained valuable experience and in-depth knowledge of the hospitality industry, winemaking and property development.
After six years at Kleine Zalze, he considered a career in aviation and big game hunting, but was persuaded by the CEO of SUN MeDIA to assist in the privatisation of the printing facility of SU at the end of 2006. This “service department” of SU was successfully privatised 2007. He was also involved in assisting with the establishment of similar companies, SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein, in conjunction with Free State University in 2009, and SUN MeDIA MeTRO in Gauteng during 2010. In the last four years he has gained in-depth knowledge of Digital Printing and Publishing models.
Ryal was appointed as Financial Director of the SUN MeDIA Group during 2009.
He has subsequently completed the Senior Management Development Programme (SMDP) at USB-ED (Stellenbosch). Furthermore he has a good knowledge and understanding of Financial Management, General Management, Financial Systems, Costing Models, IT Systems, Cash Flow Management, Human Resource Management and Strategic Business Development.