Robinson Sewell expands footprint to SA

Her industry experience extends from broadacre and livestock in the Mid North, Kangaroo Island and Yorke Peninsula, wine grapes in Clare and Barossa Valleys and the intensive industries of pig and dairy. 

According to Ms Purvis, her motivation for the move into credit advisory came from her work as a rural financial counsellor, where she learned how tendering credit can have a real economic tangible benefit for borrowers.  

Speaking to The Adviser, director Ian Robinson said that Ms Purvis’ experience as a financial counsellor made her an “amazing candidate” to expand Robinson Sewell’s footprint into SA.

Mr Robinson commented: “South Australia is one of those areas that gets hit by a lot of big adversities in agribusiness; droughts, shifting commodity prices etc.

“But, it’s a geographic footprint that Brad [Sewell] and I find very difficult to reach ourselves, so it's not a practical or efficient way to have a consistent approach and presence personally. So, having a dedicated human resource there made a lot of sense for us.

“But the move was also a case of reverse engineering; it was finding the right person to fit that position. We spent a fair bit of time behind the scenes looking for the right type of characteristics and behaviours and also the pedigree that sits behind that at a technical level, and Deb Purvis certainly ticks all those boxes. She is quite an amazing candidate really.”

Mr Robinson added: “With her background and experience in the rural financial counselling service, Deb has a lot of core empathy, which is a very strong character trait to have and demonstrate when dealing with clients in that area.”

While being based in Clare, Ms Purvis will cover all of South Australia while Mr Robinson will concentrate his business on NSW and Victoria, while Mr Sewell will be covering NSW and Queensland.

Mr Robinson said that the company has plans to expand to additional states before the end of the year.

[Related: Thriving in the outback]