ONE of Australia's top rural real estate agents, Danny Thomas, has joined boutique real estate agency and advisory firm, LAWD (Land, Agriculture, Water, Development).
LAWD began in July last year, with John McKillop being the initial shareholder and now executive chairman, who has extensive agribusiness experience.
He is also the independent chairman of the Red Meat Advisory Council.
Previously, Mr McKillop was chairman of CBRE's agribusiness division, where he worked closely with Mr Thomas.
Soon after LAWD's inception, another rural real estate heavyweight Col Medway came on board as senior director.
He is also a former agribusiness leader from CBRE and worked with Mr Thomas.
In less than a year since the company began, LAWD has gained a few other real estate heavyweights to join its team, including Peter Sagar as senior director and Tim Corcoran, Ian Robertson and Paul Callanan as directors, all who have a strong reputation in the Eastern States.
Mr Thomas surprised the industry late last year when he left CBRE, resigning as head of agribusiness.
In between leaving CBRE and joining LAWD, Mr Thomas focused on his own agribusiness venture, Ulupna Pastoral Co, which includes a partnership with Western Australian high profile agribusinessman John Nicoletti.
At the time of his resignation, media reports said that LAWD had reached out to Mr Thomas but he declined.
"I left CBRE, had some time off and then my former colleagues convinced me to join LAWD," Mr Thomas said.
"At CBRE I had nearly 10 years there and didn't want to be the boss anymore and wanted to concentrate on my farming interests which I am still heavily engaged in and enjoying.
"Now I get to work a bit with some of my old colleagues, so it's the best of both worlds."
He said he's enjoying having less of a managerial role and being "just a worker now".
Since leaving CBRE, Mr Thomas has taken on the marketing campaign of two high profile rural offerings - the Lawson Grains portfolio said to be worth $500-$600 million and the North Star Pastoral listings valued at more than $150m.
LAWD does not yet have WA-based agents but Mr McKillop confirmed that the company aimed to expand nationally.
"We have plans to have a presence in all States by the end of the calendar year if we can find the right people," Mr McKillop said.
"We hire based on culture first.
"We're not aiming to be the biggest company (in rural real estate), but we want to be able to provide a more nimble service focused on the larger end of the market, which we understand very well."
