News

Succession Planning For Victoria

27th Apr 2015

Inglis Managing Director Mark Webster today announced a number of important changes to its bloodstock team, in particular a new management team for its Victorian operations. The changes are a culmination of deliberate succession planning undertaken at Inglis.

After many years of loyal service to Inglis (and formerly Dalgety’s) as the Victorian Manager at Oaklands Junction, Peter Heagney will step down from managerial duties on June 30 this year to make way for his successor Simon Vivian to take over the reins. Peter will continue to serve the company as a Director and Auctioneer, and will be very active at all Inglis sales and major events.

“Peter will continue to assist with the selection of yearlings and mentor junior members of our bloodstock team, and we will all still enjoy hearing his rousing calls to gather around our sale auditoriums in Sydney and Melbourne for some time yet, but he will gradually reduce the number of days he works as he heads towards retirement in the next few years. Peter has been a great servant of the company, it’s been a great privilege working with him and I look forward to his ongoing contribution in a different capacity in the future,” said Mark Webster.

Simon Vivian joined Inglis 11 years ago as a Senior Bloodstock Consultant and Auctioneer and has been groomed to take over from Peter for quite some time. Webster commented that “aside from being a great people person and bloodstock expert, Simon is a great thinker. He likes to challenge the norm and constantly looks for better ways to do business. A recent example of this is the introduction of the Blue Riband session as part of our Premier Yearling Sale, an idea Simon was very passionate about and one that has proven to be very successful.”

“Simon has also done an outstanding job developing the South African market for Inglis, an additional role he relishes and will continue to perform. Simon is well equipped to run the Victorian operation reporting to Jonathan D’Arcy, the National Bloodstock Director, and has the benefit of having access to Peter as a resource for some time yet,” Webster added.

Replacing Simon Vivian as the Senior Bloodstock Consultant in Victoria will be James Price, who will relocate from Sydney and return to his hometown of Melbourne. James joined Inglis as an intern nine years ago before moving to the Sydney bloodstock team as a Bloodstock Consultant.

“James has demonstrated that he has the ability to step up into a more senior role within the company and is now ready to serve as Simon’s deputy and make a significant contribution to the Victorian thoroughbred industry. I’m sure Victorian breeders will enjoy getting to know James a little better as he visits their farms in the coming months. He has been well trained by Jonathan D’Arcy,” said Webster.

Rounding out the succession planning changes is the appointment of Harry McAlpine to replace James Price in the Sydney bloodstock team. Harry has been a familiar face at Inglis auctions over the past five years as a bid spotter whilst completing his law degree. For the past two years Harry has also been working with Inglis Digital as a Sales Consultant for Bloodstock.com.au where he has been very successful. Harry now gets an opportunity to fulfil his career goal of working for Inglis as a bloodstock consultant with the company’s NSW and QLD based clients.

“Harry’s addition to the Sydney Bloodstock Team adds another enthusiastic and knowledgeable young person to our team. The McAlpine family are Queensland breeding royalty and his grounding in the industry has given him a great platform in which to assist clients of Inglis in his new role” said Jonathan D’Arcy.

“Peter Heagney’s contribution to the Victorian thoroughbred industry has been extraordinary over several decades and we will continue to rely on him to impart his sought after advice to members our bloodstock team in the years to come while I am confident breeders around Australia and New Zealand will embrace Simon Vivian’s appointment as the new manager at Oaklands. Simon’s passion for the Victorian industry is well known and he has the benefit of an outstanding team behind him in Melbourne” D’Arcy added.

All four new appointments will take effect on 1 July 2015.

(Photo: Clockwise from top left - Peter Heagney, Simon Vivian, Harry McAlpine & James Price)