During that time, Mr Street led significant business growth and secured the platform’s position as the largest digital agriculture marketplace in the country.
AuctionsPlus chairman Kelly Freeman thanked Mr Street for his efforts and commitment to growing the innovative company, and helping create value for agricultural producers across Australia.
“Angus has built a strong team of forward-thinking leaders, delivered significant growth in the business, and helped design a clear roadmap to delivering leading marketing solutions for our customers in the Australian rural sector,” Mr Freeman said.
Mr Street will take up the reins as CEO for leading global marketer and seller of ethical wool, The New Zealand Merino Company Limited (NZM).
Having grown up in rural New South Wales, and with a passion for innovation and sustainability in the agricultural sector, Mr Street said the opportunity to lead an organisation with a deep legacy and strong purpose aligned with his value-based leadership approach.
“Staying connected to the rural sector is important to me and the opportunity to be part of NZM’s journey is a real honour,” he said.
“The company has been challenging the status quo for 27 years and leading the way in sustainable and regenerative farming.
“This is a particularly interesting opportunity for me as my family’s roots can be traced back to the birth of the wool industry in Australia in 1797 with the introduction of Spanish blood Merinos by Captain Henry Waterhouse.”
NZM chair Kate Mitchell said Mr Street’s dual experience in technology and agriculture, coupled with a personal affinity for the farming sector, made him the ideal candidate to follow in the footsteps of NZM’s first CEO John Brakenridge.
“John was responsible for transforming the fine wool industry in New Zealand, so his resignation kick-started a global search for a leader with the tenacity and imagination necessary to continue NZM’s story,” Ms Mitchell said.
“We are delighted to have Angus join the team. He has the experience, skill, and - crucially - passion required to lead a complex business that needs to constantly evolve to keep our growers’ wool at the forefront of the global market.”
Technology is critical to the future of NZM. This time last year, the company announced its partnership with Silicon Valley technology company, Actual.
Its platform will help to equip NZM’s growers with tools to monitor and improve their environmental, social and animal welfare performance.
This work was celebrated by Time Magazine in its round up of ‘The Best Inventions of 2022’.
The leap forward with Actual was one in a long line of firsts for NZM.
Its 1996 beginnings saw the first long-term contracts between growers and global brands, sheltering both from the volatility of the commodity market.
The company went on to pioneer the world’s first ethical wool certification and build an unprecedented global network of over 130 leading brands.
Mr Street said NZM was known for making bold moves and the next chapter wasn’t going to change that.
“I’m looking forward to getting out amongst the growers and helping them to produce and market the best wool in the world,” he said.
Mr Street, along with his wife and two young children, will relocate to Christchurch where he will take up the CEO position in early August.
AuctionsPlus has commenced the search for a new CEO.