Real Estate Institute makes Thomson a life member
Metroglass makes board changes
Vital Healthcare appoints Australian director
Ryman appoints third Australian to board
New owner for Century 21 Financial
Reserve Bank moves transformation & people role to Auckland
Didsbury quits SkyCity board over potential Fletcher conflict on other job
Veros Property appoints 2 new partners
Clifford replaces Thomson on Real Estate Institute board
Hawkins jumps to Ray White after brief return to Kelland’s
FitzGerald takes on government leader role at Aurecon
Buchan promotes 7 NZ staff
Vital NorthWest appoints fund manager
On the move is a Bob Dey Property Report column about comings, goings, rises & falls. Contributions are welcome, including photos – email [email protected] with details (of the coming or going) & a jpeg or png image.
27 November 2019:
Real Estate Institute makes Thomson a life member
The Real Estate Institute has elected Harcourts Group Ltd chief executive Bryan Thomson as a life member, as he ended an extended period as a director of the institute. He’s been a fellow of the institute since 2013.
After serving 4 terms totalling 8 years, Mr Thomson wasn’t eligible for re-election last year. However, as 4 board members were retiring around the time of the annual meeting last November, and 2 of the other 5 were new, a special resolution enabled Mr Thomson to stay on until this month.
He’s been in real estate for 30 years, and was chief executive of Harcourts NZ for 8 years before being appointed head of the group’s real estate operations for Australasia in 2010. He stepped down in 2013 to run his own business, Thomson & Associates Ltd, focused on management consultancy, keynote & MC presentations, but returned to Harcourts in April this year as managing director for New Zealand.
Thanking the institute, Mr Thomson commented: “I’m not done yet, so this in no way signifies the end of my involvement.”
Metroglass makes board changes
Metro Performance Glass Ltd has appointed Graham Stuart as a non-executive director with effect from 1 December, and announced the retirement of 2 directors in a review of its performance, capability & director succession plans.
Gordon Buswell will retire with effect from 31 December and Bill Roest will retire before the 2020 annual meeting.
Mr Stuart has over 30 years’ experience in senior executive & governance roles in New Zealand & internationally. He was chief financial officer & strategy director for the Fonterra Co-operative Group from 2001-07, and chief executive of the Sealord Group from 2007-14.
He chairs EROAD Ltd, is an independent director & chairs the audit committee of Tower Ltd, and is an independent director & chairs the audit & risk committee of Vital Healthcare Property Trust’s manager, NorthWest Healthcare Property Management Ltd.
Mr Stuart is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia & NZ and a member of the NZ Institute of Directors. He has an MSc from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BCom from Otago University.
25 November 2019:
Vital Healthcare appoints Australian director
Vital Healthcare Property Trust’s manager, NorthWest Healthcare Properties Management Ltd, has appointed Dr Michael Stanford of Australia as an independent director.
Following his appointment, the board has an independent majority of 3 directors and 2 non-independent directors. An independent director will replace NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT representative Bernard Crotty as chair.
Dr Stanford has spent 30 years in senior executive roles in the Australian private & public health care sectors. He was made a member of the Order of Australia in February last year for service to the healthcare sector & tertiary education, as he finished 16 years as group chief executive of St John of God Health Care, one of Australia’s largest Catholic not-for-profit healthcare organisations with facilities in Australia, New Zealand & East Timor.
Before that, he was managing director of Australian Hospital Care Ltd, a publicly listed private hospital operator, and was managing director at several public hospital networks.
Dr Stanford was a director of Healthscope Ltd, Australia’s second largest hospital group, until it was acquired & delisted from the ASX in June. In May, Vital’s manager pulled out of a proposal by its parent, NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT of Toronto, to participate 50:50 in buying the Healthscope portfolio.
Dr Stanford became a director in September of ASX-listed Virtus Health Ltd, which provides assisted reproductive services in Australia, Ireland & Singapore, and is a director of Nucleus Network Ltd, Australia’s largest phase I clinical research organisation.
He holds a Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery degree from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Business Administration from Macquarie University and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ryman appoints third Australian to board
Ryman Healthcare Ltd has appointed Melbourne-based human resources executive Paula Jeffs as a director. She has experience across the healthcare, financial & government sectors.
Ryman chair Dr David Kerr said her appointment strengthened the board in the critical areas of people, team development & talent identification.
“We’re a high growth business and we know that finding & developing the right sort of people is critical to our success,” Dr Kerr said. “When we think about the future, and the enormous potential we see for Ryman ahead, one of the greatest risks we see is attracting & developing the right people to maintain our culture & help us grow.”
Ms Jeffs worked in various human resources roles at ANZ Banking Group Ltd in Australia for 15 years, finishing in 2010 as global head of talent services. Since then, she’s held senior human resources roles at Austin Health & Sigma Healthcare in Melbourne, and joined Melbourne Water in July as people & capability general manager.
She’s Ryman’s third director with a base in Victoria, where Ryman has bought the site for its 11th Melbourne retirement village. All up, the company owns & operates 36 villages.
18 November 2019:
New owner for Century 21 Financial
Julius Capilitan became the new owner & managing director of Century 21 Financial NZ in July (formal company name CHLSNZ Ltd).
Formerly its general manager, Mr Capilitan ran the home loans & financial services business for nearly 2 years before buying it outright from Joseph Lupi, owner of Century 21 First Choice Realty.
Mr Capilitan’s retail & business banking experience includes residential & commercial lending, insurance & investments. He’s held funds management & specialist roles at ANZ Bank, KiwiBank, AXA Group Investment and NZX.
He said of his new role: “A lot of bankers become brokers, but I’m now fortunate to take it another step and become the New Zealand master franchise owner for C21 Financial. It’s hugely motivating helping Kiwis and providing expert solutions. Clients may be seeking advice on how to build a property portfolio through to having had challenges securing funding. Our value is in helping people to navigate & secure a life-changing outcome.
“Many mainstream bankers leave property purchasers with the impression that they’ve reached the end of the road. However, Century 21 Financial can deliver greater borrowing flexibility, better interest rates, and does all the running around – making short work of what can be a daunting & disheartening process for people.
“Often first-homebuyers get rejected by others because they don’t quite meet the servicing requirements, they might not have the required deposit, or a lender does not want to approve the security on a particular property. However, we pride ourselves on being can-do, and clients really appreciate what we can achieve for them.”
As well as first-home & next-home buyers, Mr Capilitan said Century 21 Financial worked closely with property investors & developers on funding solutions. The company also provides risk advice on business insurance cover and advises self-employed clients on matters such as ACC commitments.
He said the business had been busy since 1 October, when the Government reduced the required deposit for its first home loan schemes to 5%: “The whole landscape for mortgage brokers & financial advisors is going to change within the next 12 months. Advisors will have to deal with a higher level of requirements & challenges under the new FMA regime.
“C21 Financial is anticipating significant growth. We are now advertising for a number of brokers to join us throughout the country, who we will heavily support. We’re feeling very excited about what the future holds.”
Link: Century 21 Financial
Reserve Bank moves transformation & people role to Auckland
The Reserve Bank has moved an assistant governor position – assistant governor/general manager, transformation & people – from Wellington to Auckland, resulting in disestablishment of Lindsay Jenkin’s Wellington role.
Ms Jenkin held that job for the last year after 12 years as the bank’s head of human resources.
The bank will start recruitment for the new role in the next month.
11 November 2019:
Didsbury quits SkyCity board over potential Fletcher conflict on other job
Richard Didsbury resigned from the SkyCity Entertainment Group Ltd board today to avoid any conflict with his role chairing the consortium extending the 4-laning of the Northern Motorway beyond Warkworth, in which Fletcher Building Ltd is a partner.
Mr Didsbury, who became a SkyCity director in 2012, has overseen the company’s NZ International Convention Centre (NZICC) & Horizon Hotel development project as chair of the board’s NZICC committee.
Fletcher Building subsidiary The Fletcher Construction Co Ltd is the head contractor building the convention centre, where fire broke out on 22 October.
Mr Didsbury chairs the Northern Express Group (NX2), a private consortium responsible for delivering the Puhoi-Warkworth project through a public-private partnership with the Government.
This 18.5km extension from the Johnstone’s Hill tunnels to just north of Warkworth is the first stage of the Ara Tuhono – Puhoi-Wellsford project. NX2’s equity investors are the Accident Compensation Corp & Public Infrastructure Partners II LP (managed by Morrison & Co PIP Ltd), Acciona Concesiones SL & Fletcher Building Ltd.
The SkyCity board has begun a search for a new non-executive director.
Veros Property appoints 2 new partners
Veros Property Services Ltd has appointed 2 new partners, Gareth Strawbridge & Sean Haynes, as the company continues its growth trajectory.
Managing director Morgan Jones said: “The appointments of both senior development managers as shareholders & partners adds to the firm’s skill set and is the latest move as the company increases its footprint across the property sector of New Zealand.
“Throughout this year our growth has accelerated, with the addition of some very talented staff & with development management & property advisory sitting at the heart of the Veros business. Gareth & Sean strengthen that unique value & commercial expertise we offer our clients.”
Mr Strawbridge grew up in Hamilton and is one of the leaders in the Veros Waikato office, providing national experience in development management & property advisory capabilities. He said he jumped at the opportunity to take this leadership role: “The combination of a great group of people to work with and the challenging projects we lead are an enviable mix. Add to that the fact that there’s a strong alignment between what I want to achieve in my career and what Veros wants to achieve in creating & delivering better places for our communities.”
He said Veros was well placed to leverage opportunities as both commercial & residential property sectors grew strongly in Hamilton & the greater Waikato area: “Our skillsets are unique and our team is highly motivated. With so much happening here the potential is huge for us.”
Mr Haynes joined Veros in 2018 from roles in Auckland & Sydney and has established himself as a trusted leader in shaping & executing largescale developments. Taking up a position in the Bay of Plenty, with his family, was always on his radar so when the opportunity presented itself to join the Veros team he grabbed it.
“I’ve worked in property development my whole career and worked in some fairly big organisations on largescale, complex projects overseas. It’s rewarding to apply & adapt those skills & experience to Veros projects. The key is ensuring the right service is matched to the projects we work on, and we’re adept at doing that here.”
The nimble approach of the Veros team was a key reason Haynes jumped at the chance to join the team: “Veros is really going places and there’s great energy here. Being part of a growing business that leverages opportunities for future growth is something this company does exceptionally well. It’s a good fit for me and that doesn’t come along too often.”
Veros works across the urban growth & development spectrum, including planning, policy, property advisory, strategic projects, development management & project management.
Mr Jones commented: “We are proud of the team at Veros and the quality & passion we deliver in our work. Our depth of knowledge of development & growth is our competitive advantage that allows us to advise, create & deliver projects for our clients in a complex & dynamic market.
“Our commerciality & ability to problem-solve & bring ideas to fruition really sets us apart in the market.”
Link: Veros Property
Clifford replaces Thomson on Real Estate Institute board
The Real Estate Institute has appointed Harcourts Group chief operations officer Jo Clifford as an independent director.
She’s worked for Harcourts for 35 years in a wide range of senior management roles. Her appointment follows the term of appointed director Bryan Thomson’s coming to an end as he’s completed his maximum time on the board under the institute’s rules.
Board chair Bridget Coates said: “Jo is very well known & respected in the industry. She brings an extensive knowledge of the real estate profession, both in New Zealand & internationally. Additionally, she has held a significant number of real estate-related directorships over the last 20 years that will be extremely valuable in supporting the board.”
Institute appointment panel member Peter Thompson said a number of excellent candidates applied for the position, but Ms Clifford would bring so much experience to the table: “During her career Jo has had significant governance experience across a number of real estate-related boards and this experience will be invaluable to the institute, its members & the wider profession.”
Mr Thomson returned to Harcourts in April as chief executive & a shareholder after a 6-year break to run his own business. He’d held a number of senior roles at the agency over the previous 15 years.
8 November 2019:
Hawkins jumps to Ray White after brief return to Kelland’s
4 weeks after returning to Auckland residential real estate agency Kelland’s after 7 years at Sotheby’s, Ross Hawkins has been snapped up by Ray White Epsom owner Heather Walton and started there on Monday.
Mr Hawkins said: “It was nice to have Kelland’s open their doors and have me back,” adding that his old agency was “quite understanding about taking up the offer from Heather”.
One issue for him was that Kelland’s had less of an eastern suburbs focus after closing its original Parnell office, and his focus was firmly on those suburbs.
He expects to work on promotions of boutique high-end apartment developments, will continue with coastal sales and is also doing a small subdivision in Wanaka.
As I noted in On the move on 8 October, Mr Hawkins worked at Kelland’s for 3 years after running his own importing & textile business for 15 years, and later for another 4 years, specialising in high-end eastern suburbs homes but also growing a following in premium coastal locations, and selling down a number of large developments.
Between those 2 stints, he owned a Harcourts franchise in Orakei for 4 years.
Mr Hawkins moved to Sotheby’s International Realty in 2012, working from its Parnell base and also in Queenstown over the last 7 years, and holding the agency’s No 1 ranking nationwide throughout his time there. He’d also become a property developer in 2005, setting up Mt Cardrona Station Ltd with 3 partners and developing lifestyle properties around the Queenstown district.
He first developed a working relationship with Ms Walton during the selldown of Princes Wharf in 1999, when she was legal advisor to many of his developer clients.
FitzGerald takes on government leader role at Aurecon
Engineering, design & advisory company Aurecon has appointed infrastructure & urban development specialist Josie FitzGerald as its NZ Government leader to help solve some of the most complex infrastructure challenges.
Ms FitzGerald will focus her attention on central & local government organisations, bringing together expertise, experience & networks from across Aurecon to partner with the public service and co-create innovative solutions.
Aurecon’s Melbourne-based government sector managing director, Aneetha de Silva, said Ms FitzGerald’s role as client director would draw on her deep understanding of the NZ Government’s policy agenda & priorities.
“All infrastructure serves communities and therefore is influenced by Government policy. Yet often infrastructure developments are scoped, designed & delivered in a finite & disjointed manner.
Josie’s local knowledge & experience, as well as technical expertise, mean she can work with our NZ Government clients to understand issues and make informed decisions to achieve results that are best for them & the communities they serve.”
Ms FitzGerald said: “Aurecon has reorganised & invested to reflect & respond to the needs of our communities & the government entities which serve them. We have recognised not only the value of our technical expertise, having delivered major infrastructure projects, but the added value we can deliver by coupling this with a deep understanding of the drivers of governments & their policy priorities.
“We have put ‘human-centred’ design at the heart of what we do. Together, we know we can produce better, more efficient & lower risk outcomes that provide social, environmental & economic value to the public.
“Currently, the NZ Government is tackling a significant infrastructure deficit & housing shortage. I’m excited to be able to work with government agencies to develop long-term planning, procurement & asset decision solutions which reflect policy changes & the changing needs of communities, and bring the local knowledge & relationships we have to the table, coupled with international best practice tailored for our unique market.
“My number one driver is to create great places & spaces for people to live, work & play. And to achieve this, I believe the key is creating great relationships with our clients and bringing diversity of skill & perspective. Our teams & leaders need to reflect the communities we are designing & delivering for. My new appointment is another opportunity for me to be a role model for all professionals aspiring to leadership positions, and to bring the story & learnings of Aurecon’s transformation to our government clients.”
Ms FitzGerald is Wellington born & bred and has spent her career focused on the betterment of the New Zealand market. Shortly after completing her bachelor of surveying degree at Otago University, she joined Aurecon to lead surveying, planning & land development teams. She has since dedicated 24 years to delivering urban development & infrastructure projects in New Zealand, focusing on risk management, financial performance & service quality for her clients.
She’s worked extensively across many central & local government agencies and is a director of the NZ Defence Industry Association.
Buchan promotes 7 NZ staff
Design group Buchan has promoted 7 New Zealand staff – 4 to senior associate, one to project leader and 2 to BIM studio leader.
Senior associates: Tom Whiteman, Craig Hopkins, Matthew Munn & Gavin Gillson
Project leader: Jessica Wright
BIM studio leader & senior technician: Andrew Kendall (Auckland) & Bradley Hunting (Christchurch)
Buchan NZ managing principal & director David Thornton said of the 7:
Tom Whiteman joined Buchan’s Auckland studio in 2015, relocating from the UK. He’s worked on projects across a variety of building types, including retail, hospitality & hotels, civic, cultural, commercial & residential developments. He refers to complex geometry to provide the technical expertise required to break new ground in design, while his realistic & flexible approach ensures he meets client budgets & timeframes.
Craig Hopkins is a construction technical specialist on complex retail, hospitality, commercial & industrial projects. His in-depth knowledge assists clients to get the right solution earlier, and he’s able to help navigate codes & standards to keep projects on track. This combines with a love of methodical & technical drawing and an ability to develop solutions in 3D.
Matthew Munn is one of Buchan’s most in - demand designers. With over 25 years’ experience as a senior designer in the supermarket industry, he has completed supermarket designs ranging from new builds & light renewals through to new fitouts within expanded areas. He’s an expert at layout configurations and the operational & spatial requirements in back-of-house areas.
Gavin Gillson’s diverse project experiences stem from 20 years working on retail, residential & commercial projects. He brings an accomplished body of work to Buchan’s Christchurch team, having managed multiple people & projects. He thrives on helping clients through the project delivery stage to completion. He creates pragmatic & efficient solutions through the design & production of clear construction documentation.
Jessica Wright has 7 years’ experience in both construction & architecture, with expertise covering a range of sectors, including residential, retail & educational. Her approach to projects is to deliver design outcomes that are holistic & highly considered, not only to meet but exceed client expectations.
Andrew Kendall has 12 years’ experience as an architectural technician working on a wide range of commercial, retail & residential projects. He always strives to produce a high standard of technical documentation from his team & himself. Having a keen eye for detail, as well as an excellent working knowledge of Revit, Mr Kendall is an invaluable asset to Buchan and in turn, its clients.
Bradley Hunting’s career spans 23 years in the architecture industry, working across many sectors including mixed use, education, retail & commercial. He brings to Buchan an invaluable area of expertise & knowledge in BIM software. Mr Hunting is experienced in the production of detailed construction drawings & schedule packages, the co-ordination of project information & liaising with the design team across a range of project types.
1 November 2019:
Vital NorthWest appoints fund manager
Vital NorthWest Healthcare Properties Management Ltd, the manager of NZX-listed Vital Healthcare Property Trust, appointed Aaron Hockly as its fund manager a week ago. He’s expected to start in early January.
Mr Hockly, a New Zealander, returned to New Zealand at the end of 2018 after 17 years in senior management & advisory roles in Australia. He has an extensive property, funds management & legal background.
For the last 9 years he was company secretary & general counsel, then chief operating officer, for Growthpoint Properties Australia, an $A4.1 billion ASX-listed office & industrial real estate investment trust. At Growthpoint, Mr Hockly had direct management responsibility for strategy, transaction structuring & execution (property, debt & equity), reporting & investor relations.
At Vital NorthWest, he will be based in Auckland and will report directly to Craig Mitchell, the chief executive officer of NorthWest Australia & NZ.
Mr Mitchell said: “We are very pleased that, after a lengthy executive search, we have been successful in attracting a senior real estate executive with Aaron’s experience & understanding of both the New Zealand & Australian property markets.”
Mr Mitchell said Miles Wentworth, who’s been Vital’s interim manager since David Carr resigned as chief executive in May, would work closely with Mr Hockly to ensure a seamless transition & a continuation of the current management focus before resuming his role as a director & advisor to NorthWest.
Since Mr Hockly’s return to New Zealand, he’s been acting head of legal & insurance for Airways NZ Ltd and real estate advisory director for PWC NZ.
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