The winner of the 2015 National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia’s Wool Broker Award to recognise excellence in wool broking in Australia has been announced. Matthew Thomas of Landmark was selected by the independent Selection Panel as the winner. Andrew Howells of Elders and Todd Clark of Schute-Bell were the other two Finalists.
The independent Selection Panel made their decision after the three Finalists gave presentations to at the NCWSBA Annual General Meeting held on Thursday, 27th August in Melbourne. The three Panel members, Charlie Merriman (WoolProducers Australia); Ian Ashman (General Manager, AWTA); and Annabelle Beale (Fairfax Agricultural Media), considered the applications from each of the Finalists, referee’s comments, the presentations and responses to questions posed by the Panel to each of the Finalists in reaching their decision.
Simon Hogan, President of NCWSBA, announced the Award Winner at a presentation during the annual Wool Week dinner at ZINC in Melbourne on 27th August 2015. He acknowledged and congratulated all three Finalists.
The Award recognises client servicing, auctioneering and/or innovation by wool broker staff who are working for a NCWSBA member and have been in the wool broking industry for 10 years or less. This is the fourth year that the Award has been offered. In making their decision, the Selection Panel noted that “The calibre of all three presentations were excellent, and it was extremely difficult to separate the Finalists. All would be very worthy winners.”
The Panel said that “Some of the most pleasing aspects from the Finalists were their obvious passion and dedication to the wool industry and their commitment shown in providing outstanding service to their grower clients (and to get the best possible returns to them), often in very trying circumstances. We would like to congratulate all three Finalists.”
The Panel concluded that “In a close run race, Matthew best met the assessment criteria. In particular, the innovative approaches he has taken with clients and his willingness to go the extra yard in a crisis makes him a worthy winner.”
Matt will now go to the International Wool Textile Organisation’s 2016 Congress in Sydney in April next year AND the Nanjing Wool Market Conference in China in September 2016. All travel, Congress and Conference fees and accommodation paid thanks to sponsorship by AWTA and Fairfax Agricultural Media. Visits to mills will also be included during the trip to China.
