JACK Burton has resigned as managing director and chief executive of Yeeda Pastoral Company in the Kimberleys to focus on his passion of building a major new cattle business in northern Australia.
Mr Burton's resignation was accepted by the Yeeda board of directors on Tuesday morning.
As part of his decision to resign, he will also sell his family's shareholding in Yeeda to the company's other shareholders.
Mr Burton and his family will retain ownership of Kilto station, which Yeeda will continue to lease until December 2020.
Yeeda chairman Mervyn Key, a co-founder of the company almost 20 years ago and its largest shareholder, has taken on an executive role, effective immediately, until a replacement is found.
The new chief executive will be in place when the new processing season starts next February, and together with the company's existing leadership team, will take charge of the next stage of Yeeda's expansion.
"On behalf of the Yeeda board and all of our staff, I acknowledge and thank Jack for his significant contribution to the company's growth over many years," Mr Key said.
"The Burton family has been an instrumental part of the Yeeda success story and we wish Jack, Vicki and their family all the best as they endeavour to grow their northern pastoral businesses.
"In the interim, I will take on executive duties to provide operational stability for the existing leadership team and all staff, ensure it remains business as usual for Yeeda and deliver a smooth transition for our incoming CEO."
On Tuesday Mr Burton said he was proud of what he achieved at Yeeda and thanked Mr Key, as chairman and co-founder of the company, and all the Yeeda team for their support.
"The creation of the Kimberley Meat Company has been an epic journey that we and everybody involved should be very proud of," Mr Burton said.
"The time has come for our family to seek new pastures and devote all our energy to growing other northern pastoral businesses.
"In due course we see ourselves becoming a major supplier of cattle to Yeeda's processing plant, the Kimberley Meat Company, and wish them all good fortune in the years ahead."
Jack and Vicki Burton purchased the pastoral leases and freehold land at Kilto station, 60km from Broome, in the early 1990s and set about building a substantial horticultural and cattle business.
In 1999, the opportunity arose for the Burtons to purchase the adjoining Yeeda station and formed the Yeeda Pastoral Company with the Taberer and Keys families.
Two years later Yeeda purchased the nearby Mt Jowlaenga station and in 2003 it acquired the Springvale station aggregation area which includes Mabel Downs, Texas and Alice Downs stations.
Yeeda Pastoral Company owns and operates the Kimberley Meat Company processing plant halfway between Broome and Derby.
The processing plant can handle 37 head per hour, or up to 70,000 head per year, and is the only abattoir in WA's north.
The plant is operational between the end of February and early December before the annual shutdown during the Kimberley's wet season.
