Greenstone Welcomes New Shareholders and Joint MD

Property Advisory and Project Management experts Greenstone Group are pleased to announce that 3 existing team members have now become shareholders in Greenstone Group. Andrew Bowden, Jonathan Albery and Todd Jones have been with the company for between 6 to 10 years and are Project Directors in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga respectively. The move to widen the shareholding is a long planned strategic move to improve the business’ resilience, provide succession planning from within and strengthen a drive to bring fresh ideas into the business.

All three took the decision based on the significant growth and success of the business in recent years as well as their faith in the future opportunities in the business.

Jonathan, having been with the business during 12 years of growth has great aspirations for the future, “The growth of the business and consolidation around clients with large portfolios and projects has assisted the business in becoming an established and respected service provider across Aotearoa. Having been a part of that, I was keen to back the next chapter of the Greenstone Group story in a more direct way.

In its culture, Greenstone has always managed to strike a balance of personality types and backgrounds at all levels of the business. The positive open and flat culture that has been developed creates real teamwork and allows support and ideas to flow freely within the business. We choose our people carefully and then run a high trust model that allows them to develop their own style. When well managed this approach creates engagement, vibrancy and adaptability and I think our clients pick up on this.“ - Jonathan.

Andrew and Todd have similar sentiments to what makes Greenstone a stand out employer.

“Greenstone Group offers team members a real chance to grow and improve and I can see where I can add value from a different direction and experience base. The variety of Greenstone’s management team allows for different perspectives but in a complementary style. We have such a broad range of property industry experience which in turn allows us to be successful across multiple industries and varying project sizes. It’s something that really sets Greenstone apart from our competitors and provides real opportunity for development with our newer team members.” – Andrew

“Greenstone’s always employed and retained a phenomenal group of professionals who all bring their own set of attributes to the table making the offering to clients truly superb. They really put a focus on putting their people first which is why, when the opportunity to invest in the business came up, I jumped at it. I believe it has a strong future.” - Todd

What that future for the Property and Construction industry will be in NZ is still hard to determine.

“There are multiple challenges facing our industry but I’m optimistic that the glacial shift in mind-sets over previous decades is gathering pace. Hopefully it will continue to do so and enable genuine innovation and best practice to come to the fore, pinning NZ to become the leader that it really should be. I’m excited about being on the front lines of this.” – Todd

"The industry is much more segmented these days with a wider range of specialist services required than the traditional build 10 years ago."

“The industry is much more segmented these days with a wider range of specialist services required than the traditional build 10 years ago. It requires earlier oversight from Project Managers and significantly more management throughout the project life cycle to cohesively pull it all together. The role of the PM has changed and will be redefined. We need to know a little bit about everything that requires constant education to stay ahead of the changes.” – Andrew

“In the coming years I foresee a bit of an arms race in BIM competence bleeding out into the contractor market. As core building products become more technically nuanced and designers become more guarded over their design liability, a trend towards increasing input and reliance from specialist design contractors’ is emerging.  This will need a rethink as to how we approach procurement and design liability as traditional approaches are looking decidedly creaky.  Whatever form the new normal takes, a universal increase in BIM competence will be essential.” – Jonathan.

With these new shareholders on board Greenstone Group has extended their Managing Director role to be shared between company Directors Shane Davis and Phil Eaton. They will both focus on different areas in the business as it continues to grow.

“As we grow and mature as a business, the demands in the management space become ever more important and time consuming. The sharing of the role with Phil brings major benefits to the business, letting us spread the load and provide more effective management and leadership. What gets me up in the morning is working with great people and having a positive influence on our industry. The MD role gives me extra exposure and the ability to interact both internally with my colleagues at Greenstone and externally with our clients, which ultimately takes that enjoyment and satisfaction to the next level.” - Shane

Phil adds “I welcome Shane to the role. While we operate a very flat and open management style Shane’s new role highlights the importance we place on continuous improvement of our business. The experience and skills Shane brings are well known within Greenstone and those clients he interacts with. Elevating his skillset demonstrates our commitment to what makes Greenstone a great business, our evolving mind set and great people.” – Phil

“Clarity and focus have become a bit of an internal mantra of mine in recent years. Clearing away the white noise and distractions, and understanding what the important priorities are for the business will mean that we can support our team in the most effective way. Effective management creates a positive environment that gives everyone the opportunity to do their job really well. Supporting the team to deliver great results for our clients is the ultimate outcome.” - Shane

The changes within Greenstone Group are definitely set up with a long and bright future in mind. With the recent fluctuations within the market it’s great to see some stability and strong leadership within this New Zealand owned and operated business.

“Over the last year the industry has done spectacularly well in coming together and managing its way through probably the most significant challenge I will see in my lifetime. The challenge for us all, not just at Greenstone, is to take the learnings and the collaborative way we overcame obstacles to make sure we continue to evolve in the way we do business. The confidence we can take from the last year is huge and it has highlighted to me what we can achieve with resilience and focus.” - Shane