AWN AWN, one of Australia’s largest pastoral houses has announced the appointment of Rick Maybury to the position of MD and CEO from July 1 this year.
Founding MD John Colley will take over as Chair of AWN whilst Brendon Lunney will step back to Deputy Chair.
AWN has seen extraordinary growth over the last 26 years, firmly establishing itself as one of the leaders in the sale of Agricultural outputs. The diversification into Livestock and Real Estate has gained amazing support from rural Australia. The business also holds the largest stake in The New Zealand Merino Company and has investments with the ASX listed Merino & Co in manufacturing.
Founded in 1999 as a wool specialist marketing company, AWN now employs over 300 people and services over 27,000 clients across every state in Australia.
Outgoing MD, John Colley paid tribute to Italian wool processors, the Schneider Group, Ermenegildo Zegna, Loro Piana and Marzotto, who backed the business in the early days along with the initial woolgrowers who shared the vision of AWN.
“The founding shareholders, both processors and wool growers, were an integral part of the success story behind AWN. It is exceedingly rare to establish a business that represents all parts of a pipeline. AWN continues to dominate markets associated with the downstream processors of Europe and China through specialist marketing programs.”
Colley went on to say “This is a great day for AWN. Rick Maybury has been with the business for over eight years and following on from his senior roles at Ruralco, he is best positioned to take the company through its next phase of evolution. Rick has overseen the expansion of AWN into Livestock and Real Estate, and he did that during incredibly challenging times when markets were in turmoil.”
Outgoing Chair, Brendon Lunney said “I am excited by the changes that are happening within AWN. John Colley has been a true entrepreneurial leader in an industry that has struggled in later times. His wealth of knowledge and expertise is revered by those in the industry worldwide and he is perfectly placed to support the industry and still lead AWN as Chair. Rick’s skill set will see further growth of the business, and this will be good for all stakeholders of AWN.”
For further information please contact:
John Colley: 0417 732 601
Rick Maybury: 0458 834 723
