A highly skilled property professional with more than 25 years’ experience of portfolio and asset operational excellence, SMART building technologies and sustainability strategy. Working across all major asset classes, including office, industrial retail and hotel assets for AREITs, building owners and facility managers.  During this time, I have partnered building specialists delivering Facility & Operational Management services across large office retail industrial and hotel portfolios.   Having a trade background in refrigeration and mechanical systems has assisted me greatly on my journey and combined with my passionate curiosity has taken to where I am today at Property Done Differently (PDD).

My business partner Matt Shepherd (not my brother!!!) and I saw an opportunity in the market with the evolution of property management and rising expectations of customers, owners and investors. At the same time there has been an erosion of the fundamentals of property asset and facilities management in conjunction with greater pressure on asset management teams to generate financial returns, enhance customer experience and deliver sustainability performance. 

Loss of core industry skills has a negative impact from the outset of the property and facilities management and the ongoing financial and operational performance. PDD is also focused on optimising the transition of properties from development and construction to operations with a dedicated 12-24 months of building tuning to optimise operational performance and customer experience. Its an opportunity to take the learnings from major developments with the AREITs and make it readily accessible to smaller owners and agencies.

PDD’s goal is to bring what the big end of town do really well and make it accessible and affordable to the whole industry. Every 1% of incremental change makes a big difference to the environment, the properties, the people and ultimately the property industry.

What energizes you the most about being involved in PDD?

Being a generally curious person, I love to understand what makes properties tick from the ground up.  This includes what noises they make (when they are running well and then not so well), how much energy is being consumed, what’s behind every door/access panel and what is the impact to owners and customers when things break.  Data is key and its great to see data capture on the increase but there is still work to be done in turning that data into insight that can optimise building performance and predict future needs and opportunities. 

PDD are passionate about the property industry and recognise its critical role in Australia’s economic and environmental performance. However, the industry is experiencing a huge skills gap and shortage or talent, we believe that mentoring and training programs for Facility Managers is critical to prepare them for the opportunities ahead as demand builds for SMART, sustainable buildings..   

I really love spending time with building owners, asset, property and facility managers to help them understand the data their assets create, where to find it, what to look for and the positive impacts this can have on the overall performance of the asset – from extending equipment life, reducing buildings outgoings, enhancing NABERS ratings and ultimately creating value.

It’s an interesting time for property, particularly retail, where do you see it going?

We should recognise the growth in e-commerce and the impact its had on the industrial space but we firmly believe that bricks and motar Retail is here to stay and in many ways seeing the same drivers as other asset sectors – generating financial returns in a challenging operating environment, creating great customer experiences and delivering environmental and social outcomes.

Its an exciting space with lots of innovation and a constantly evolving relationship with online retail and logistics.

Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?

My journey has allowed me to work with some of the industy’s most respected leaders and forward-thinking innovative individuals.  A few who have mentored me and ignited my passion for never accepting “because it’s always been that way” are Chris Luscombe, Stephen Butler, Peter O’Reilly, David Palin and Brian Hennessy.

What behaviour or personal trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?

I never settle for the status quo!  I’m passionately curious and believe there is always an opportunity to tweak and enhance performance and do so in a way that’s better for a building’s users, its owners and the planet.

I do see myself as a bit of an entrepreneur always looking for new innovations and initiatives that create value. We are doing this because we want to make a positive difference and that’s why we crawl through buildings late at night to see what’s running and its driven us to develop products that help building owners and operators optimise assets such as Building Optimisation audits, Carbon Zero plans strategic reviews.

One of our latest optimisation audits delivered over $100,000 pa energy cost saving for the building owner, de-risked NABERS Energy performance for a commitment agreement and identified a range of initiatives to further reduce energy use and emissions.

Outside of work, what would we find you doing in your down time?

In my spare time you will find my wife and I at our teenage son’s rock concerts and when not rocking out, spending time walking at the beach and cooking for and enjoying time with my family.  I also love wetting a line when time permits, oh and having a couple of cold ones with my mates.