Zig Inge | Founder and Joint Managing Director

Zig Inge began his illustrious career in the early 1950s selling homes in and around Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. The business, Inge Bros. became renowned for building innovative, quality family homes.

In 1979 Zig embarked on his first retirement village development, Pinetree in Donvale, Victoria. Who would have thought that from this humble beginning one of the country’s largest and most successful retirement village development and management companies would emerge and Zig would become the unofficial “patriarch” of retirement living in Australia. Our residents at Prospect Hill are now able to benefit from Zig’s vast experience.

Zig’s other passion is the work that is undertaken by the charitable foundation that bears his name: The Zig Inge Foundation. As Chairman of the Zig Inge Foundation, Zig is able to provide assistance to a wide variety of groups offering support to less fortunate Australian children.

Peter Inge | Joint Managing Director

Peter has been working with his father for more than 20 years and is the Joint Managing Director of the Zig Inge Group, the owner of Prospect Hill Village.

Trained as a solicitor, Peter holds a Bachelor of Laws (majoring in accounting), a Master of Laws (Human Rights) and an Advanced Certificate in Real Estate from RMIT. Peter “drifted” into the family business in the late 1980s where his legal and commercial skills set him up for a great start. He worked closely with Zig, in growing the business and at the time of its sale in 2007 was the Joint Managing Director responsible for nearly 3,000 residents and over 300 staff.

Peter now plays an overseeing role in the family investment company together with having a strong interest in philanthropic pursuits being on the Board of Advisors of the Property Industry Foundation and the Zig Inge Foundation. He is an Executive Consultant to the Industry Superannuation Property Trust and a former President and life member of the Retirement Villages Association of Australia. He maintains his interest in the law as a consultant to Melbourne Legal Firm Perry Maddocks Trollope.

So what is the secret of Prospect Hill’s success? “The answer is simple” says Peter,“We offer the perfect mix of quality, security and community in an environment which has been developed with real insight into what is important when it comes to enhancing the lives of residents. The total focus of the entire family now is on Prospect Hill where it used to be shared with 18 other villages. We love being back in the industry and we especially love again owning what we consider to be one of the best retirement villages in Australia”.

Karen Inge | Director

Karen is involved in all aspects of the family business but given her background as an Accredited Practising Dietitian, plays a very special role in Prospect Hill.

Karen was invited by Zig to join the family business in 2000 when he asked her to help give residents “more energy and better health”. She launched the groundbreaking “Zig Inge Group Wellness Program” which was innovative at the time. The program is being reintroduced at Prospect Hill and is holistic in its approach promoting wellness for the mind, body and soul promising better living and greater vitality through physical and social interaction. “Our aim is to help everyone live independently for as long as possible. We believe that participating in our wellness program will help our residents achieve that”.

Karen also oversees the dining experience at Prospect Hill working with our chefs to design seasonally appropriate, restaurant quality menus which meets the nutritional needs of older Australians.

Karen has responsibility for the family’s ownership and operation of the Flinders Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula and is able to bring from Flinders many wonderful ideas around food service and menu creation.

Karen is also a regular contributor on Tuesday afternoons on 3AW with Denis Walter and often seen on A Current Affair and Today Tonight commenting on some topical food-related matters. For more information on Karen, please visit her website at www.kareninge.com.au.

On the family business Karen says “Everyone who works with us is hand picked from the head office team to the onsite managers and chefs and contractors. It is not uncommon to have second generation trades working with us. We have extremely high standards in every aspect of our operations”.

Penny Inge | Sales Manager

Penny was involved in Prospect Hill at its inception helping many of our residents deal with the transition from their existing family home to their new home at Prospect Hill. She seems to know everyone at the Village and given that her grandmother is one of our oldest residents, spends much time socialising with and assisting residents both existing and prospective.

Penny has been married to Peter for over 25 years and has therefore had significant exposure to the retirement village industry and to the culture of the Inge family in their dealings with their residents. Her new role at Prospect Hill is to assist prospective new residents learn more about what we have on offer at Prospect Hill and to try and help them navigate the potentially tricky landscape of deciding what to do when you take the initial decision to scale down from a larger home to a smaller one. Penny’s job is made somewhat easier for her by the enthusiastic and incredibly positive residents at Prospect Hill whose most common complaint is that they didn’t make the move earlier.

Marlee Anker | Sales Consultant

Marlee is Peter and Karen’s sister and senior sibling of the second generation of Inges. She has resided in Sydney for many years however has a part time role working with Penny in assisting on the sales side at Prospect Hill.

Marlee spent many years living in Europe and upon her return was principally responsible for the start up sales of the group’s largest broad acre retirement village, Cherry Tree Grove in Croydon.

Marlee’s main interests are in hospitality having owned and operated two of Sydney’s finest restaurants. However, she brings to Prospect Hill another pair of hands when times are busy to assist Penny with sales.

Perry & Ann Ponton | Village Managers

Perry and Ann are an integral part of our team at Prospect Hill being our resident managers.

They live in the Village and are responsible for “everything” that is important in enhancing the lives and enjoyment of our residents. Perry and Ann have complementary skills which when combined form a formidable team. From administrative to social, building maintenance to pastoral care, Perry and Ann are considered ‘family’ by many residents and contribute greatly to the wonderful spirit and camaraderie that permeates through Prospect Hill.

Having experienced live-in managers like Perry and Ann is critical to the smooth running of Prospect Hill and in many ways a major element of what makes Prospect Hill such a wonderful place to live.

Bill Juchno | Maintenance Supervisor

Bill is a full time employee who has wide ranging areas of responsibility. Should you need a light bulb changed or perhaps a leaky tap attended to, then Bill is the one to ask.

He also has over-riding responsibility for all common area maintenance as well as looking after the beautiful gardens at Prospect Hill. Bill also can be seen walking the corridors with his trolley taking out residents’ garbage and recyclables and generally keeping everything looking pristine and clean.

Should you need a heavy item brought to you from your storage area in the basement then all you need to do is let Bill know and the job will be done.