Login
iscover
Apollo Auctions made a strong showing in the recent Australasian Auctioneering Championships (AUSTROS), guided by a seasoned player in the auction rodeo.
A third of all the competitors in the tilt held in Sydney on 16 to 18 October hailed from the agency, with five representatives from Apollo Auction’s 21-strong network across Australia and New Zealand.
Apollo Auctions director Justin Nickerson — who is the only person to be named five-time winner of the REIQ auctioneer of the year award and the only Australian to win the Australasian auctioneer of the year three times in the history of the award — stated he has been growing his stable of expert auctioneers for almost 10 years.
Since launching the brand in 2013, Mr Nickerson said that the agency has been expanding every year to be the “largest independent auction agency in Australasia”.
“I always believed our industry needed an independent auction agency to ensure both sales agents and vendors had access to the very best in the business who could help them achieve superior results,” he said.
Notably, the agency has called over 15,000 property auctions since it was established, including onsite and in-room and in both residential and commercial sectors, while training auctioneers in all states of Australia and regions of New Zealand.
The agency’s proverbial horses in the AUSTROS race were Robert Tulp from Apollo New Zealand, Luke Banitsiotis and Andy Reid from Apollo Victoria, and Greg Allan and Mark MacCabe from Apollo Queensland.
Mr Tulp and Mr Banitsiotis bested the competition to earn a spot in the finals, with the former taking out the runner-up title. Meanwhile, Mr Reid was also pipped at the post for a place in the finals.
For Mr Tulp, taking part in the auction competitions is motivated by a couple of reasons.
“[It] helps keep my skill set sharp to help my clients in the everyday work that we do as auctioneers, but I also like to be involved as it keeps me in touch with the auctioneer fraternity. It’s always good to hear what’s happening, what’s working, and what’s not in other parts of Australia and New Zealand,” he said.
Mr Tulp has over three decades of experience in the real estate sector and has stepped into different roles, including sales consultant, manager, business owner, real estate mentor and auctioneer.
As an auctioneer, he has been up on the podium to call auctions in the residential, rural, mortgagee and commercial fields.
“As a competitor, the AUSTROS final this year was a great challenge numerically and also with the specific scenario that we were given to navigate.
“I always enjoy an opportunity to showcase my skill set but also see what areas need work to take myself to the ‘next level’,” Mr Tulp stated.
Newsletter
