Back when he was just 17, ambitious northern NSW stock and station agent, Daniel McCulloch, was setting his sights on building Australia's largest private rural selling agency.
Now, 20-plus years later, after teaming up with fast growing national rural property group, LAWD, his Tamworth-based McCulloch Agencies is eyeing expansion opportunities into southern Queensland.
McCulloch Agencies' real estate arm joins LAWD's property sales and advisory business from September 1, while the firm's livestock business will continue to trade independently under the McCulloch brand.
Mr McCulloch said the deal, which sees him become a LAWD senior agribusiness transactions director and shareholder, would effectively free up capital for his four-year old firm to expand both its livestock and LAWD real estate footprint.
"I see a lot of potential in growing our business base and making use of the good team of young talent we have as part of a longer term succession plan," he said.
"I feel there are more opportunities for private agency growth in northern and western NSW and over the Queensland border, either by establishing a greenfield presence or teaming up with a partner."
Within the space of just a few years the McCulloch brand has opened branch offices in Quirindi, Wauchope, and Sydney, and is about to open in Singleton in the Hunter Valley.
Coastal branch offices at Kempsey and Taree were also briefly part of the growth spurt last year, but both have been mothballed, while the Sydney team is about to move into LAWD's Market Street premises.
"We certainly want to grow our livestock business and build our network further with people like ourselves, providing a nimble alternative to the corporate names," said Mr McCulloch, whose wife Karina leads the livestock agency division.
"I learnt a lot and got backing from some of the best in this game when I was a young bloke and I think we'll have similar opportunities for people coming through our team's ranks - at LAWD and the McCulloch livestock business.
"Being an independent also allows us to make quick decisions for clients and have the flexibility to get in and implement them the next day."
Mr McCulloch, who with Karina acquired almost 10pc of the LAWD business, started in the rural agency game straight out of school, becoming a 49pc partner in Davidson Cameron by the age of 20.
The couple launched their own brand in 2019 after the nine-branch Davidson Cameron agency group - part of Ruralco's network - was absorbed by Nutrien Ag Solutions.
He said the decision to move the company's real estate division had not been taken lightly and he believed it was in the best interests of the business' growth, its staff and property market clients.
"By joining LAWD and co-branding our business we're part of a fast growing nationally recognised brand which is seen as a leader in large capital property transactions," he said.
"We can take advantage of a lot of experience and connections outside our traditional base and establish good links to overseas and institutional investment audiences."
LAWD, also founded relatively recently, in 2020, is led by prominent farm sector real estate deal makers Danny Thomas, Col Medway, Peter Sagar and Tim McKinnon, with a team of about 50 in offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Katherine in the Northern Territory.
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
