As farmers ourselves, and end users of all our Waringa Distribution brands, we know our products inside and out. We know what our customers need and want from a product and understand their expectations for back-up service and product support.
John and Kristen are the founders and directors of Waringa. With more than 20 years experience successfully operating their farming business together, they set out to diversify into other sectors of the farming supply chain.
As a fourth-generation farmer in the Yuna area, John knows that for a cropping operation, pairing investment in quality machinery with timelines of operations increases production and management efficiencies.
Kristen's commerce and human resource background has been essential in the establishment of Waringa. Today her role sees her manage the support functions for Farming and Aviation, as well as providing input as a director of each business.
Growing up on a farm on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand, Sam has always been passionate about agriculture. On completion of his schooling Sam spent time working in large farming enterprises in WA, the UK and Ireland, before joining Waringa Farming in 2011.
In 2013 Sam introduced Agri-Spread to our directors, setting the foundations for Waringa Distribution. Since then Sam has worked in every aspect of the Waringa Distribution business, including the establishment of the relationships and product lines that have underpinned our rapid growth. Sam’s deep knowledge and experience across all aspects of agricultural equipment has seen him become a respected industry leader and he maintains his passion for working with suppliers, dealers, farmers and our team members to deliver high quality products and services to our markets.
Coming from a farming family near Narrogin, Chris completed a Bachelor of Business at Curtin University before returning to regional WA to work with Elders Insurance. This was followed by a career in stockbroking before he founded Checkside, a consulting firm focused on strategy, leadership and succession planning that continues today. Over an 18 year period Chris worked with well over a hundred companies, boards and CEO’s, including agricultural and distribution sector clients in WA and SA, before agreeing to ‘practice what he preached’ with Waringa in 2021.
Chris is a graduate of the AICD directors course and has completed qualifications in financial advice and derivates. He combines a love of numbers and agriculture with a deep interest in markets, economics and leadership to help design our strategy and guide the management teams of each of our businesses.
Tom grew up in Perth and schooled at Trinity College. He then went on to complete a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Western Australia, starting his professional career at KPMG. Tom worked in the Audit Advisory department gaining experience in various industries. He went on a number of international secondments with KPMG once he completed his Chartered Accountancy and later moved to London working in the Banking Sector.
Tom returned to Perth and completed a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance with FINSIA. He then moved into Commerce and has worked at a number of companies as the Chief Financial Officer. These included Westnet Internet during the ‘broadband boom’ and Western Plant Hire which specialised in hiring large mining equipment as well as mobile crushing of iron ore. More recently he was at Westmore Seafoods which is one of the largest Australian private seafood wholesalers with a fleet of Fish and Prawn trawlers.
