Tony Eyres, B.Sc (Agric.) CF

In 2007 our Executive Director, Tony Eyres, established Rounding Up to service Clients seeking capital and commercial partnerships with his extensive network here in Australia and overseas.

He saw an opportunity to assist those needing strategy development support and provide research services in agriculture to enable business growth.

He has gathered a hand picked team of consultants who can be brought into an entire project or for an individual stage as required. This ensures that Clients don’t have to carry the overheads of a large organisation and the team can adapt and pivot as required.

Tony is a senior executive with leadership and management experience, coupled with extensive knowledge and insights across key trade-exposed sectors of the Australian economy. He brings highly developed stakeholder management, media and communications skills and political astuteness.

He has enjoyed access and exposure to the highest levels of government, corporations and industry representative bodies across Australia and off-shore, including key customers and competitors of Australian exports. Tony offers this extensive network to connect Clients to opportunities to expand their business or grow their portfolio.

Tony was previously appointed one of five Senior Investment Specialists at Austrade, national roles initiated by then Australian Trade & Investment Minister Andrew Robb, to better service foreign investors seeking exposure to priority areas of the economy.

His commercial acumen is supported by strong research and technical skills, stemming from an undergraduate degree in agricultural and resource economics at UWA, complemented by a Churchill Fellowship on “technology adoption and its impact on rural communities”, and supplemented by various programs at Harvard University’s Business School and Kennedy School of Government.

Tony was recently interviewed for Arete Podcast where you can listen to his thoughts on the future viability of the Australian agriculture industry and how recent world events have accelerated trends in agriculture, how the industry is also changing the way external funding is raised, as well as talking about his experience as a non-exec director, the roles that the non-execs have in working with their CEO and what boards should think about when hiring board members.

The podcast can be listened to here.

Project examples for Rounding Up include:

• delivered sector specialist advice to real assets division of a global investment bank on the development of a new farmland investment capability targeting global investors
• facilitated a two-day Strategic Planning workshop for Southern Cross Agricultural Exports
• facilitated a two-day Strategic Planning workshop for a NSW government water utility
• advised a consortium of local and state government agencies on corporate structures, financing and governance for a water infrastructure project to supply multi-national customers.

Current partnerships

• Pottinger – a global financial services firm that provides strategic and financial advice that unlocks value and reduces risk in strategy development and M&A.
• Tony is Pottinger’s Senior Advisor – Agriculture and Food and is currently the project lead on the Financial Risk Management Project for the National Farmers’ Federation and NSW Government.
• Read the full project report released in June.
  

Current directorships

• Southern Cross Agricultural Exports – a national group of growers that are custodian of the ASP Certified^TM certification for sustainable produce. ASP Certified^TM documents the journey of growing, storing, delivering and processing chemical free, environmentally friendly, nutritionally dense and sustainably grown produce. Southern Cross developed these certified systems to recognised national and international standards, underpinned by global auditing body SGS and recognised by Australia’s consumer protection agency, the ACCC.
• Davren Global – an agricultural technology company commercialising a potential new technology for insect pest control, without toxic chemicals, exploring market opportunities for the global grains and horticultural sectors. Tony has been on the board for a number of years and has recently stepped into the role of Chair.
• Brigidine College St Ives – a Catholic independent school dedicated to the education of girls. The College is non-selective and proudly educates girls of varying abilities, enabling them to develop and realise their opportunities.

Previous roles

• Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) – federal government agency that leverages its extensive international and domestic networks, and the badge of government, to deliver value for clients and investors. Role involved facilitating foreign direct investment into priority areas of the Australian economy, such as agribusiness & food.
• UBS Asset Management – their Real Estate & Private Markets business is one of the largest asset managers in real assets worldwide, currently managing over USD100bn globally. Role involved engaging with local and global institutions seeking financial exposure to real assets in a mature, low sovereign risk market.
• Fonterra Co‐operative Group – the World’s largest dairy exporter. General Manager, Operations role in International Farming, managing a culturally diverse team of 20 operational and technical staff across several growth markets including Brazil, Indonesia, China and India with considerable commercial and government stakeholder engagement.
• Harvest Capital Partners – a Sydney-based, specialist corporate advisory firm focused on agribusiness and food investments across rural and regional Australia. Established the business and successfully built a project pipeline in excess of AUD400 million in pastoral, dairy, broad-acre cropping and intensive horticulture.