March 2, 2015
Rabobank Clare has proudly celebrated its 10-year anniversary, with almost 200 clients and local professionals piling into the Clare Town Hall to take part in the celebrations on Thursday February 27.
Visiting the Mid North especially to share in the occasion was Rabobank Australia & New Zealand chief executive officer Thos Gieskes who said he was proud to see such a strong turn-out at the celebration event.
“The clients who have travelled from far and wide to share in our celebration truly reflects the strong relationships Rabobank has built with the farming community in the Mid North over the past decade,” Mr Gieskes said.
“It’s important to reflect on the successes in this time, but also we must look forward to the strong, productive and sustainable future which lies ahead for the food and agribusiness industry in this region.”
Mr Gieskes and long-serving, founding Rabobank Clare employee Peter Neale, and the Clare team shared in the cutting of an anniversary cake to mark the occasion.
Mr Neale was appointed to open Rabobank Clare in 2005. With a career in agribusiness spanning several decades (35 years) at the time, Mr Neale’s experience and commitment to the local farming sector has seen the business expand on many fronts – in both number of clients and staff who are a part of the strong Rabobank ‘network’ in the area.
When appointed to open Rabobank Clare 10 years ago, Mr Neale said the opportunity to open a branch from scratch was appealing, especially in a location such as the Clare Valley.
“I had spent quite a bit of time in the Mid North earlier in my career but when we moved to Clare, I guess I treated the organisation as my own business and worked very hard with good people to get the Rabobank name out there,” Mr Neale said.
“We built a good relationship with the local media and through sponsorships, we were able to link up with likeminded people which helped us show Rabobank’s point of difference and our cooperative values.”
A decade on, Mr Neale said Rabobank Clare remains a “vibrant” business.
“I think it’s quite exciting with the young people we have working in our team who are skilled and passionate about the agricultural industry,” he said.
Rabobank Clare branch manager Matt Butler, who was appointed to the role in 2013, now leads a team of six. Mr Butler is joined by senior rural managers Peter Neale and Gary Renshaw, as well as finance manager Sonya Baum, finance officer Emma McInerney and rural officer, Nadinne Wilkinson.
Mr Butler is a strong believer of the potential the agribusiness sector holds and is looking forward to growing the business and further supporting the agricultural community in the region.
“We have very strong relationships with our clients in the area as they have been on the journey with us and are great advocates of what we do. It’s a two-way street – the relationship is valued on both sides,” he said.
“Rabobank has a strong business in the Mid North. The area has a nice spread of sectors and all of our clients are different. We have some of South Australia’s best and most reliable cropping areas, a very strong pastoral industry and some of the most respected, world-renowned merino studs located across the countryside, as well as the famous Clare Valley wine region nestled in there.”
These factors are top of mind for Mr Butler and reinforce Rabobank’s commitment to the Mid North for the long-term.
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world's leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 115 years' experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 41 countries, servicing the needs of approximately 10 million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1600 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand is one of Australasia's leading rural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region's food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 94 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Media contacts:
Denise Shaw
Media Relations
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 02 8115 2744 or 0439 603 525
Email:
denise.shaw@rabobank.com
Jess Webb
Media Relations
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 07 3115 1832 or 0418 216 103
Email:
jess.webb@rabobank.com
