Times couldn’t be any tougher than they are in the Longreach region at present, yet livestock agents Bill and Georgia Seeney have revamped a main street location to showcase their business, to much acclaim.
The Longreach Ray White franchisees, described by the organisation’s livestock section manager, Bruce Birch, as “one of our showcase offices”, celebrated their bold move with an appreciation dinner for 100 and sponsorship of a race meeting at the weekend.
“It has been a goal of ours to move into the main street, so when the opportunity came up, we jumped at it,” Bill said. “The exposure and benefit for our clients speaks for itself.”
What was once a bus terminal has been transformed into work areas for six staff, a meeting room and a spare office for expansion, complete with dual television screens flashing a rotating line-up of property for sale in the front window.
The building has been leased from Smith Bros and fitted out by the company to the Seeneys’ design.
It’s a far cry from 2009, when Bill and Georgia took over Ray White Livestock in Longreach with no permanent staff.
“Without your support we wouldn’t exist,” Bill told guests at the Cattleman’s Bar dinner following the office opening. “The last few years have been very tough and it’s a credit to you, the way you’ve tackled it head on.”
In a strange kind of way the ongoing drought has made the business stronger as Bill and Georgia sought to diversify their offering, and built up the real estate side.
Bill described Rhys Peacock as Longreach’s number one real estate salesman, “no mean feat”, and said staff members Kara Oates and Kelly Richards had reduced rental property vacancies from 60 to 15 through their hard work.
The branch also has two trainees, Sam Whip and Shannon Cossor.
Although Richard Murray has moved to Gympie, Bill said there was still a strong association between them.
Bruce Birch said that Ray White Rural had last financial year sold 1.6m sheep and 560,000 cattle, and over $1 billion in rural property, attributing it to people like Bill and Georgia.
“They are the sort of businesses we want – young, vibrant and adding value to the community,” he said.
“The work they do up here is wonderful.
“They are here because they want to be here, and they want to back you.”
Bill said he was looking forward to the season breaking and getting back into selling cattle at the Longreach yards.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
