New owners at Horizon
Horizon Motor Yachts Australia under new management from JanuaryAfter more then 38 years in the marine game Russell and Denise Wright are ready to hang up the boating shoes and enjoy retired life.
Russell who has been the Director of HMYA for over eight years says he has never really had a break over the years so he is looking forward to "reading the paper, having a coffee, getting out on the boat, and working on his cars in the man cave".
Taking the helm at HMYA are Matt Yapp and Gary Wahlstedt, two Horizon owners who have a passion for the brand and met the week they both bought their Horizon Yachts at Sanctuary Cove.
Matt who owns an Horizon E88 White Caviar and Gary who owns an Horizon E73 Swell Time hit it off after a chance meeting when taking delivery of their new boats.
Since meeting they have taken their families boating together on numerous trips to Hamilton Island and around the Whitsundays.
The idea of buying HMYA came up in conversation one day when Russell mentioned to Matt he was thinking about retirement. Matt made a quick phone call to Gary to see if he wanted to be a part of the purchase and things quickly progressed from there.
Gary, coming from a manufacturing and residential construction background, brings fresh creative ideas to the partnership while Matt who owns Queensland’s largest heavy haulage and crane business brings an engineering background to the table.
The pair are already planning on building the well-established Horizon Brand in Australia and improving the Horizon experience for its current clientele and future customers.
Matt and Gary have both visited the Horizon factories in Taiwan multiple times and can not talk highly enough of the technology and research that goes into the building and manufacturing of each Horizon hull. They say they are are confident in the brand and know that the Horizon brand is a quality product and look forward to working with the factory to make it an even better product and even more popular in the Australian boating market.
The hand-over date is scheduled for January 6 (Russell’s Birthday) and Russell couldn't be happier or think of a better birthday present then retirement stating: "I’m satisfied with where we’ve taken the company and the Horizon brand over the years but it’s time for a new injection of ideas and energy, and time for me to enjoy the time off."
The HMYA team says it wishes Russell and Denise well in their retirement and look forward to exciting things to come in 2015 with new directors Matt and Gary.
For more information contact Erica Rae on 07 5577 9009 or email: erica@hmya.com.au
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