Riviera CEO retires

Australia’s largest luxury boat builder has today announced two key appointments.

John Anderson has been appointed CEO of Riviera following the retirement of former CEO Wes Moxey.

Following the strong result for Riviera at the Sydney International Boat Show that concluded Tuesday of last week and the overwhelming successful launch of the company’s new flagship 70 Enclosed Flybridge, Mr Moxey felt that the time was right to retire from Riviera.

“After 26 wonderful years with Riviera it’s time to take a break,” said Mr Moxey. “My family have been totally supportive of me in my career at Riviera and now it is my turn to give them time. I am unashamedly proud of our brand and market position in 2008. Even in a challenging market, Riviera is the big boat brand of choice. People trust Riviera and depend on our unique 24/7 owner support and service. The business today is in very safe hands and this gives me great comfort to step away.

“We achieved sales of 25 boats at Sydney over the six day show. When you combine this sales result and those of the 2008 Sanctuary Cove Show held just two months ago, the value of sales for the two shows exceeded $73 million. That’s a remarkable performance given the current market.

“Reaction to our new 70 has been overwhelmingly positive (the star of the show according to at least one leading boating journalist). We had five orders for this magnificent new boat even before the first was launched. I share our design and manufacturing team’s passion for this boat being the largest we have built in our 28 year history. It’s the realisation of my dreams.

“Having reached these significant highlights, I feel that I can hand over the reins to industry veteran John Anderson to help take Riviera to a new set of milestones,” concluded Mr Moxey.

Mr Anderson joined Riviera 18 months ago as Director of Operations of the company’s 14 hectare manufacturing facility on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Prior to joining Riviera, Mr Anderson served for nine years as President of American boat builder Four Winns, who built over 7,000 boats each year.

“We would like to publicly thank Wes for his great contribution to Riviera and wish him well in his retirement. We know he will remain a long-term advocate and friend of Riviera,” said John Anderson on behalf of the staff, management and Board of Directors.

The second key announcement by Riviera this week is the appointment of Les Galbraith as Managing Director of R Marine, Riviera’s retail dealer network, which now spans 13 locations within the region.

Mr Galbraith takes over the role from founding Managing Director Tim Sayer. Mr Sayer will undertake an Advanced Management Degree at Harvard University in the US over the next two months before returning to take up a senior strategic role within Riviera.

Mr Anderson said that Mr Sayer had performed an outstanding task to bring the R Marine network together.

“He has brought a group of independent business people together to create the largest and best integrated boating network in Australia,” said Mr Anderson. “R Marine today is one of the premier boating retail organisations in the world.”

Les Galbraith comes to R Marine from Travelscene American Express where he was General Manager.

Mr Galbraith brings to R Marine a passion for delivering lifestyle options for clients around Australia. His other great passion is boating.

Mr Anderson said that Les Galbraith will bring to the role a wealth of knowledge about the leisure retail market.

“We are excited to welcome Les to R Marine,” concluded Mr Anderson.

PHOTO CAPTION:
Wes Moxey hands the reins to new Riviera CEO John Anderson.