CARY, N.C. -

ServNet executive director John Brasher is leaving his leadership post at the auction group on April 30 to pursue other opportunities in the industry, the group said Wednesday.

ServNet administrative director Robert Sullivan will be interim executive director while the group conducts a search for its new leader.

Brasher has been executive director of the group since Jan. 1, 2020, when he and Sullivan took over ServNet’s leaders for Pierre Pons, who was the group’s chief executive officer for 12 years.

ServNet had announced in August 2019 that Brasher and Sullivan would be the next leaders of the group, a move that became effective at the start of last year.

“It is with regret but with sincere thanks that we announce John Brasher’s departure from ServNet,” ServNet president Bruce Beam said in a news release.

“He has worked tirelessly on behalf of the ServNet auctions since being named executive director in 2019,” Beam said. “His leadership during the pandemic has been invaluable to the 24 members of the ServNet Auction group, all of whom benefited from his expertise in auction operations and his understanding of the national remarketing process. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Brasher has spent close to his entire career as part of the ServNet organization as an organization executive or member-auction owner.

ADESA acquired the Brasher family’s auctions in 2016. Two of its auctions were among ServNet’s founding members when the group started in 1988.

“I leave my friends, mentors and companions at ServNet with mixed emotions,” Brasher said in the release.  “The trust and confidence I have in this group of auctions is as strong as ever.  The auction owners are wise, experienced, competitive, aggressive women and men whose place and influence in our industry is needed now more than ever before.

“I am proud of what I have seen them accomplish over the many years I have been associated with them, and specifically over the past 14 months. These folks will always have my support and a piece of my heart.

“I look forward with excitement and anticipation to the challenges and opportunities the next chapter of my career will bring,” Brasher added. “I hope to continue to contribute to the progress and advancement of our industry.”