The Leader - November/December 2008 - (Page 44)

EXECUTIVE P R O F IL E DTZ’s James Maddock: Energy, Risk Management, and the Bottom Line BY MEGAN MCCANN J ames Maddock, Director and Head of EMEA for Global Corporate Services at DTZ, has a passion for all things to do with corporate real estate (CRE), particularly environmental and sustainability issues. In fact, he’s been ‘on his soapbox, banging on about’ energy-related topics for some time, long before the subject became a musthave for businesses instead of a nice-to-have. “My latest excitement is hydro-electricity,” Maddock enthuses. “How streams and rivers in Scotland can trade further electricity through micro-hydro schemes – I think that this is deﬁnitely going to be the way forward and another sustainable source of power for the UK.” He notes that as energy prices increase – sometimes double, sometimes triple – more and more people are able to see a direct payback with conservation and alternative-energy initiatives, whereas just three or so years ago they did not see the intrinsic link between sustainability and the cost of energy. Still, he fears the subject is a “good-times topic and not an all-times topic. We need to make sure that it stays at the top of agendas and people start making rational decisions about choosing buildings, constructing buildings and ﬁtting out buildings.” New and Emerging Markets “Every day of the week the world goes further east in Europe, further west in Asia and further south,” he says. Multi-national corporations are looking at new and emerging markets to expand into, but many lack the cultural understanding necessary for success. “DTZ is proud of the fact that we have had and always will have a very strong Middle East and African platform that has been greatly in demand over the past 5 years from our EMEA clients,” Maddock says. “Clients want to know how we’re going to deliver a solution in those two areas of the world because they’re always seen, especially by American corporates, as really tricky areas.” Interestingly, Maddock says those areas really aren’t all that tricky – if you understand the geographies and the cultures and are prepared to work with your client to ﬁnd a solution. The biggest problems are timing and transparency. To address those, you need experienced people on the ground, but even then clients can be frustrated at the volatility of decisions, and elasticity of timelines. “We are now talking about clients who are no longer just dealing in France and Germany but in Kazakhstan, Botswana and the Middle East,” he says. “And lack of cultural understanding can render an already difﬁcult assignment almost impossible.” For most corporations dealing in less mature markets, their issues are as much about staff security and welfare, as well as project deliverability. Collaboration with security and risk advisors is an increasing trend in real estate planning. Business Continuity Planning and Risk Management Multi-national corporations can now do business in most of the world, but with that access brings new and different risks. A country can be in the midst of a political uprising, or natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes. Corporations must have a clear understanding of these risks and plan for continuing business under extreme circumstances. “There is a huge potential risk around energy,” Maddock says. “And, this is not just in India where it’s always been well docu- 2 0 0 8 TH E LE ADE R 44 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - November/December 2008

The Leader - November/December 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Leveraging Business Geography My Work @ Bank of America Blending the Old with the New A Tool for Growth Creating Real Estate Value Nokia-Siemens Networks’ Peter Doran DTZ’s James Maddock Annual Economic Development Directory The Georgia Report Location Profile: Magdeburg, Germany Linking Corporate Real Estate to the Enterprise 3rd Quarter 2008 Adding Value in Challenging Times Australia and New York Shell’s Paul Huston Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Chapter Learning: The Global Perspective

The Leader - November/December 2008

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