Saffer Murray Roos is driving the cattle market from the 90s into the digital age

While stock exchanges and marketplaces have embraced digital transformation, it’s hard to believe that some sectors have yet to follow suit. One such sector is the cattle market, which has remained largely unchanged since the 1990s. It still features familiar personalities—agents and brokers—alongside the bustling atmosphere of on-the-ground livestock auctions, complete with the mooing of cows in the background. Enter South African Murray Roos, a former executive at the London Stock Exchange, who is spearheading a digital transformation in the UK’s cattle market with his innovative platform, LiveStockEx. In an interview with BizNews, he shared that farming runs in his blood; his family’s history in cattle farming in Southern Africa spans several decades. While working in the UK, he acquired a farm in one of England’s southern counties and quickly recognised that the existing cattle market was “very antiquated.” This inspired him to create an online trading exchange for cattle in the UK. Murray envisions LiveStockEx initially focusing on cattle but also sees potential for expanding into sheep and pig markets on a similar exchange platform.