"I believe Goffs is a brand. Like all brands, it has to grow and flourish. To do that it has to be managed, nurtured. I would say lots of TLC but equally lots of investment," Mr Oliver O'Reilly, chief executive of Robert J Goff & Co, says.

"It was fairly obvious from what I was hearing and seeing that there were opportunities we were not taking up. I think what had happened was that some people looking at us would say: 'All you are doing is selling horses and insurance'," he elaborates.

Now this kind of marketing talk might be regarded as some kind of heresy in the rarified world of bloodstock, but Mr O'Reilly is categorical that whatever developments the State's leading bloodstock salesmen introduce must enhance and reinforce their core business.

Goffs has been in business for 120 years and the company currently is controlled mainly by the Aga Khan with a 32 per cent shareholding, and Moyglare Stud and Mr Tony Smurfit with 21 per cent each.

What Goffs plans is a £15 million to £20 million (€19 million to €25 million) investment in a hotel and conference/exhibition centre in Kill, Co Kildare. The proposal, for which they have planning permission, is currently the subject of a feasibility study to see if it makes sense in the context of what Goffs does.

"I suppose what we're saying is we have a very good facility as it stands. We have a number of events currently - we have conferences, we have shows, both indoor and outdoor, and we have experience of this market - and we're looking to get involved in a more serious way, provided it makes sense in the context of our core product and that it's economically viable."

However, the existing premises are not used more than 30 days in any year for horse sales. Other bloodstock sales companies, such as Agence Franτaise in Deauville in France, have gone down the route to diversification, holding art and wine sales.

"They are in a town where about 4,000 people live in winter and 150,000 to 200,000 in summer, so it makes total sense for them. We should recognise we're in proximity to Dublin and, having a marketing background myself, I think if we spot an opportunity in the market, we should go after it, provided it's in sympathy with what we are currently doing."

Mr O'Reilly has been with Goffs since January 1999. "When I joined, I would have seen three things to be tackled initially: driving the core business of bloodstock in Ireland and France, looking for enhanced utilisation of assets, and identifying additional income streams."

He says the core business has occupied most of his time and, as the annual report for 2000-2001 shows, Goffs has recorded improved performance. "There was room for improvement," he admits. "The way we tackled that was through management reorganisation, a refocusing of our marketing, and a serious investment both in the running costs of the company and on the capital side."

This was done after research on what requirements its customers and staff felt were necessary; the staff varies from 30 permanent employees to as many as 80 on a sales day.

It was uncanny, he says, the degree to which the responses of both groups corresponded. First, they wanted to reinforce the front end of the business - sales - considerably and, second, while its facilities had been praised as the best in Western Europe, there was a feeling that it needed a makeover of the physical structure as well as of its procedures.

Customers and staff were very forthright, he says, and the staff addressed the programme "with zeal and energy".

Two new managers were appointed - Mr Shane O'Dwyer, a former Army captain, is facilities manager and Mr Matt Mitchell, formerly of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, is the new managing director for bloodstock sales and marketing. Mr O'Dwyer is overseeing a significant investment in the Kill facilities while Mr Mitchell has introduced more balanced marketing and invested heavily in the sales catalogues.

Goffs holds eight sales every year and the next one, the autumn yearling sale, is one of the most important, with buyers coming from as many as 20 countries. "It has the largest number of Sadler's Wells offspring we've had in any sale - 21 yearlings," he says.

Though not from a horsey background, Mr O'Reilly clearly relishes the atmosphere of sales days. He says he found the first one strange. "I suppose there was a palpable sense of anticipation on a sales day. It's a heady cocktail of pride, economics and a deferred reward for hard work, judgement.

"Plus it's a flagship for a very important part of Irish industry. We have a good panel of auctioneers. And the other side - socialising and entertaining - we can accommodate those who are busy and want to graze, and those who have the celebratory lunch or dinner. We have been fine-tuning and setting ourselves higher standards all the time," he admits.

After all sales, members of management complete a questionnaire making suggestions for improvements. "I suppose I have been trying to get our core competence absolutely right. The next stage is how we add further value from the perception of the customer dealing with Goffs."

Mr O'Reilly came to Goffs from Swedish Match in Britain, but he started life as a geography teacher at Sundrive Road vocational school in Dublin. "I've been pretty lucky in that I've jumped industries a number of times. Basically, it seemed like a good challenge," he says.

He liked teaching, he says, but was interested always in marketing, having been brought up in the post office and general store in Stradone, Co Cavan. He worked first as a sales rep with Eli Lilly, then moved to Beechams as a brand manager and later to RTV Rentals.

When he joined CDL ( the coal distributors), he put into practice his experience with consumer brands, turning what was a commodity product into a branded one and he then was head-hunted by Maguire and Patterson (later taken over by Swedish Match) as marketing director, becoming managing director nine months after the match factory closed.

"It was a baptism of fire. Within a very short space of time we had to find a new rationale for existing. We took the distribution route and it became very successful and that success continues. Swedish Match Ireland is probably one of the most regarded distribution houses in Ireland."

Five years later, the British Swedish Match, which had taken over production for Ireland, closed and he left Ireland to manage a similar change of business there.

Having worked for British and US companies as well as Irish, he says he finds American management ethos tough and pragmatic, and the British laid back.

He sees two types of cultures in Irish management: "My age group or older he's 52, we see a management role as status as opposed to something that is an activity that can be learned and developed. The newer blood coming through is more like Americanised Europeans, and more global in their outlook.

"We're certainly no longer dominated by the British influence. People in the UK are very obsessed with process; I think Irish people are very much more concerned with the result."

Married to Marie - who held the fort in the Republic while he commuted to Britain - they have three children, Daragh, Nicola and Aoife, all of whom will be in third-level education in October.

When not working long days at Goffs, he pursues his main interest, coarse fishing, and last year pursued it as far as Alaska. "It was one of the best experiences I ever had. We were putting back 10-15lb salmon because they weren't big enough. The scenery was breath-taking but it was on such a vast scale, you'd need a cine camera to capture it."

He says he doesn't take anything in the sports area very seriously but adds: "I do enjoy racing but it wouldn't be a compelling thing. To me, it's a business. No matter what business you're in today, it has to be well-run to meet its maximum potential. You are there for the stakeholders."