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Steph Young on choosing joy
Steph Young is many things. She’s a born and bred Brisbanite, a loyal Broncos fan and the Director of our River City off...
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A multi-generational Ulton client, the Pressler family's business journey is marked by resilience, dedication, and strong family values. In this client success story, we delve into their story of overcoming challenges, including a devastating citrus canker outbreak; navigating major business shifts; and creating a legacy of success and integrity.
The early days
Prior to embarking on their journey with citrus farming, John and Pam—along with their children Craig and Sonja—called Bundaberg home. At that time, the Presslers were focused on cane farming and had a number of farms around Bundy.
This is where the Pressler family’s connection with Ulton began. Moving in similar circles, John connected with former practice partner Ron Hancock, who he engaged as his accountant.
The Presslers lived in Bundaberg for some years, before responding to the call of opportunity out west.
“They decided to sell their Bundaberg cane farms and set up a farm out in Emerald. No one had ever really farmed out there before, so they decided that’s their place to go,” says Dean, Business Services Manager and close partner to the Presslers.
In 1990, John and Pam, along with their partners Geoffrey Pressler and Darryl Hess, founded 2PH citrus farms in Emerald.
With a lot of hard work, 2PH experienced plenty of success growing their citrus and their business in the years that followed. John developed a passion for breeding new citrus varieties, including the Taylor Lee mandarin, which he named after his granddaughter, Taylor Pressler.
Image: Taylor Pressler
They maintained a close relationship with our firm over the years, forming a close working relationship with Mark McLean, who became their main advisor when Ron set off to begin his journey with Wide Bay Capricorn.
The canker outbreak
In 2005, the unforeseen occurred: a canker virus outbreak tore through the Emerald citrus industry, devastating growers. The discovery of citrus canker forced a governmental declaration of a quarantine zone and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of citrus trees.
The largest citrus farm in the area, 2PH had to destroy more than 250,000 trees, causing a setback of $94 million.
It was an incredibly challenging time for the farm, but also a testament to their resilience.
Shifting directions
The canker outbreak marks a pivotal moment for the Pressler family. Following the destruction of their crops, John and Pam made the decision to exit the business and pass 2PH onto their son Craig. Ulton played a key role in facilitating the ownership transition.
Image: Criag Pressler
“Ulton was very involved in helping with the business transfer,” says Dean.
“Mark and his team played a key role in making sure that transition went smoothly. The family got on great and everyone was in agreement around the decision to pass the business onto Craig—but there was a huge amount of technical work we needed to do from a financial standpoint to ensure it all came together,” says Dean.
Following the successful transition from one generation to the next, John and Pam, along with Sonja, her husband Rob, and their daughters Demi and Emma, moved back to Bundaberg.
The move back to Bundy was both a homecoming and the start of something new. A family of entrepreneurs, John, Pam, Sonja, and Rob went into business together in the Nemo Car & Dog Wash, a car wash in North Bundaberg; and McHugh Steel, a steel framing and fabrication business.
Image: Sonja Pressler-McHugh and Robert McHugh
The new chapters
Following their pivot from farming, Ulton has continued to play a key role in the Presslers’ and McHughs’ business ventures.
Today, Jason Krenske acts as external CFO for McHugh Steel and Dean Johnson, Business Services Manager, is the family’s close working partner.
“For anything to do with the running of their businesses, they come to us as a first port of call,” says Dean.
Now one of their closest and most trusted advisors, Dean began working with the family when he was still a junior.
“I was just the junior who worked on their account—effectively just doing what the senior people in the firm would tell me to do,” Dean says with a chuckle.
“But over the years, as I’ve progressed through the firm, I’ve built this great relationship with them. Now, if they have anything they want to discuss or talk about any issues they might be having, I’m the person they call,” he says
“From where I started to where I am now… to be working with that client the whole time—it’s been great,” says Dean.
“[Working together for so long] has been really beneficial from an accounting point of view, but it’s also been great for the relationships I’ve established with the family along the way,” he continues.
“I usually go out and see John and the family, and we all sit around the table. We’ll discuss all the business items, but then we usually end up talking about everything else that’s going on in their lives too—we chat on a more personal level,” says Dean.
Reflecting on the key to maintaining the relationship Ulton has with the family, which now spans many decades, Jason says it’s all about honesty.
“It comes back to being really open and honest with one another. I would say we have a very frank relationship,” says Jason.
“Some clients won’t feel comfortable calling a spade a spade—they’ll dance around their concerns or will try to avoid hurting your feelings. Whereas this client will just call it straight out. To be perfectly honest, I really respect and admire that because you always know exactly where you stand,” he says.
Jason adds that mirroring the approach of absolute honesty has been pivotal to the success of the working relationship.
“If any family member rings Dean or myself, they’ll either get an immediate response or we’ll say ‘I’m tied up now—can I call you back?’ and they respect that and know we’ll ring them back by the end of the day. We do what we say we will and that’s what’s helped build that trust,” says Jason.
The family-focused future
As the two businesses continue to progress, there’s been a lot of thought and planning put into ensuring the multi-generational business stays within the family.
“This client is probably the one job I do where almost the entire family sits in on the board meeting. [For McHugh Steel] board meetings, you have grandma and grandpa, mum and dad, and the kids in there now too,” says Jason.
“They are all focused on trying to get the best outcome for the business,” he says.
Sonja and Rob’s daughters Demi and Emma are now closely involved in the business too.
“Demi has stepped into the role of internal accountant. I’ve been working with her for the last three years and educating her in the process,” says Jason.
“She’s really closely involved with our meetings and will contribute to my monthly summary that comes out of the budget report,” says Jason.
Working closely with Demi, Jason has observed a real difference in the approach between generations.
“Demi has a real ability to embrace new technology. She’s always looking for ways to make her life easier and over the last six months I have shown her what’s possible with automation technologies such as Power Automate. She’s taken this on and has now automated some of the manual tasks that took her hours each month,” says Jason.
“This is something a bit different from my experience. The previous generations of clients are typically more reserved or cautious when it comes to automation—but this next gen is always looking for better and more efficient ways to do things,” he says
Dean believes the diverse skill sets within the family have been key determinants of the businesses’ success.
“John, Pam, and Sonja are obviously great business people—they had major success in citrus, pivoted into something completely different and are running those businesses very successfully, too. Rob has a lot of experience and expertise in the steel fabrication side, and Demi and Emma bring their tech savviness to the business,” Dean says.
Image L-R: Demi Pressler-McHugh, Rob McHugh, Sonja Pressler-McHugh and Emma Pressler-McHugh at the Ulton Race Day.
“The six of them can mould together and specialise in what they do well in a way that benefits the whole business,” he says.
“It's sort of like…It doesn't really matter who the successful one in the business is. They are all there to help the whole family. That mentality started way back when citrus was the main business and everyone in the family would help out,” says Dean.
“It all comes probably from John and Pam and the values that they have. That's filtered down to their children, and now their grandchildren,” he says.
For Dean and Jason, having a direct role in working with the family to create and further their family’s legacy is tremendously satisfying.
“It is rewarding to work with a client who sees a long-term future for the business and wants to build a strategy for keeping the business family-owned and able to support the entire family,” says Jason
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