AT just 32 years of age, Scott de Bruin has found himself at the helm of one of regional Australia's fastest growing companies - the De Bruin Group.
It was a natural progression for the young man who had already succeeded positioning the family company's Mayura Station luxury Wagyu product in some of the most exclusive restaurants in Australia and overseas.
And just like the herd of full-blood Wagyus which are descended from specially-selected bloodlines, Scott comes from good breeding stock: the son of Adrian de Bruin, who founded timber giant Auspine.
Scott has inherited his father's business acumen and in the two years he has been managing director of the De Bruin Group, has earned plenty of respect overseeing the six core businesses, based in Mount Gambier.
After Adrian sold his major share in the publicly-listed company Auspine, the De Bruin Group was launched. It has expanded into engineering, air charter and aeromaintenance.
Mayura Wagyu, founded in 1999 and De Bruin Civil (an earthmoving and construction business) have been operating for the past five years.
More recently, De Bruin Engineering has established itself as one of the largest workshops in the South East, servicing a large number of companies, such as Kraft, Carter Holt Harvey and Safries.
Early last year, the De Bruin Group also made an opportunistic purchase of collapsed regional airline O'Connor Airlines, with Adrian passionate about retaining a locally-owned airline.
The sale included travel agency O'Connor Travel and the aeromaintenance division which now services private and charter-operated piston engine and turboprop aircraft.
"You need as many income streams as possible to protect against the ups and downs of business - when one area is not doing well, hopefully another one is," Scott said.
The De Bruin Group is among Mount Gambier's larger employers, with about 75 staff. And like many successful businessmen, Scott acknowledges his staff as the company's most important asset.
"Keeping staff motivated can be hard but being surrounded by good staff motivates you and I really enjoy working with people," he said.
Scott spent the first 11 years of his life at Millicent before moving to Adelaide when his parents separated, and only returned to live on the Limestone Coast at 21 years of age.
He attributes his secondary education at Scotch College, where he was a day student, for leaving a lasting, positive impression on him.
"It was a really good grounding experience and the small class sizes and individual attention by teachers enabled me to grow as a person," he said.
He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in marketing at the University of South Australia, before "reluctantly" taking on a role at the family's Millicent property, Mayura Station.
But this was to be a defining moment in his career.
Mayura Station has been in the de Bruin family since the early 1980s and has grown from just 80 hectares to a 2020ha showpiece property.
As fate would have it, Scott's return was around the same time the first 29 Wagyu cattle arrived on Mayura Station - among the first imports into Australia from Japan.
Scott was able to combine his love of business and food, and marketing know-how, to establish the boutique beef brand.
* Extract from a full Rural Young Guns report in Stock Journal, June 11 issue.
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