The shopping centre industry is driven by people. It’s the skills and expertise of the people that manage, develop and evolve shopping centres for their communities that creates this great industry. In this special ‘Movers & Shakers’ feature published in SCN magazine, we speak with nine industry leaders about their career journey and experiences, and discuss some of the key trends and major challenges facing our industry. Here, we profile Renaud Herington, Senior Asset Manager at Growthpoint Properties Australia.
Tell us about your current role and main responsibilities
By title, Asset Management within Growthpoint’s syndicated and joint venture projects, within the Funds Management team. However, the role itself is broad, with no one day the same. We like to say ‘we wear many hats in the engine room’. It is all encompassing, from once an asset is identified and acquired, to the setting strategy planning/objectives, leasing processes, income and expenditure management and valuation/financier processes in conjunction with our wider teams. We also oversee the managing agent and leasing teams. A key part of the role is working with our investors and joint venture partners, with which we partner with. It is a fast-paced role – and you need to live and breathe retail.
How did you get started in retail property?
From a young age, real estate always interested me as a future career path. I was lucky enough to kick start in property within the asset management services team of Knight Frank Australia that started what is now a near 15-year professional journey. My time at Knight Frank helped seed an interest in retail and I moved to Westfield (now Scentre Group). It was the retail immersion within Westfield, and the range of daily challenges and opportunity that solidified my interest. My role entailed national income generation via third party partnerships giving exposure across the ~40 centre portfolio and it was rewarding to work with some of the best in the industry. Having caught the retail bug, and to develop in asset management and leasing, I moved to Fortius Funds Management (Fortius was acquired by Growthpoint Properties Australia in 2022). My role is Senior Asset Manager, Retail, where I’m responsible for assets that include two of Australia’s premium CBD assets in an asset and investment management capacity. With my background I’ve been directly involved with property management, leasing and funds management, which has provided a range of experiences and perspectives, that I seek to apply in my role.
Do you have any career highlights, proudest moments, favourite projects?
Being able to have the opportunity to work with and complete leasing transactions with some of the best retailers in the country is a definite highlight and motivation.
However, without a doubt, the COVID-19 period taught me more than any other period of my career, including the value of relationships, perseverance and agile thinking to problem solve in a time of uncertainty for the retail industry. This experience involved working closely with our SME and restaurant tenants, witnessing these businesses reinvent their offerings and generate alternative revenue streams while adhering to guidelines. It was gratifying to see these successes during such a challenging time for the retail sector.
The development of smaller tenants in neighbourhood centre projects into multi-site operators and the repositioning of these assets into hubs for the community are also some of the best memories. I stay in contact with a number of these tenants, and seeing their businesses grow, based on an initial store or pop-up are all very fortunate work experiences.
MidCity, Sydney
What are some of the major challenges facing our industry?
The market is always moving and cyclical, and there will always be challenges. Whether this is related to interest rates, cost of fit outs, retail sales/sentiment or wider economic or global event pressures these factors are an inherent reality for any industry. There are, however, many amazing retailers, personalities and success stories that rise above every day and it is cliché but the cream does rise to the top in any down market. Recent events have accelerated positive changes and strategic decisions within many retailers, driving structural transformations. Despite current pressures related to stock and wages, there are still many remarkable success stories.
Personally, there have been many challenges along the way. This is part of what develops you as an executive – by seeing these as opportunities to refine, adapt, learn and move forward. I like the quote ‘the obstacle is the way’. I think one of my best attributes when facing a challenge is a positive mindset, a deep resilience and a ‘find a way’ attitude. The athlete mindset is something I seek to apply in the day-to-day.
What are some of the tools that influence your decision-making?
It’s a simple view, however, I remain a very strong advocate of the face-to-face meeting, as relationships and direct face-to-face contact remains the best mechanism available for quality information gathering, improving understanding, avoiding the nuances of email communication and improving partnerships and decision-making. While an enabler to varied styles of work, remote meetings can only tell you so much. We are in a people and relationship business, and this is core to how I approach work.
What are your thoughts about the future of shopping centres?
I believe shopping centres and retail remains at the forefront of our communities and there will always be retail shops in some format – this is a commonly held view!
Retail and shopping centres represent a place where people congregate, spend social time, live, work and play. The reinvention of the retail offering over the past five years has opened up a range of alternate uses for under-performing or redundant space, such as introduction of wellness and lifestyle and, in essence, becoming ‘super convenience hubs’.
It is our ongoing job to best curate these environments and blend the physical and online experience – as no one shops exclusively through a single channel.
In terms of future trends, we will see increased use of AI for stock management/customer experience, inclusive of alternate ways to research and explore, and a better integration of in-store/online experience.
Looking overseas, there are many outstanding US and UK examples demonstrating the ability to purchase one-off or bespoke experiences and products that have limited or no take home stock in store. I like the scarcity principle – buy it now or it’s gone.
Ideally, I foresee more diversity in the Australian retail offering and less duplication within centres. I see technology cascading into superior consumer experience as an area of ongoing improvement. Shopping centres continue to refine and develop – and the grocery/department store underpinned shopping centre of years past, continue to evolve for the better.
Rundle Place, Adelaide
How has the changing retail landscape altered the way you think about asset creation?
In a changing market, we must be clearest on strategy and objectives. Market conditions, interest rates and sentiment will change, however strategy must be defined and clear.
My view is, our aim is to acquire the best quality assets at prices whereby specialist management/leasing and select capital expenditure, unlocks value creation – and core principles should always remain, despite the cycle. One of my favourite quotes is: “well bought, is half sold”.
Asset creation thinking is to me – first, ‘what is the end product we wish to create from a product/mix and return profile perspective?’ and what are the steps we need to undertake to achieve this. Secondly, ‘will this plan maximise centre performance and sales of our retail partners?’ and finally, ‘delivery of an asset that operates efficiently operationally and sustainably’, with ESG remaining a core fundamental of our asset objectives.
Whether it is a neighbourhood centre with 20 specialties, or a premium CBD centre, the asset creation principles remain, albeit mix, precincting of usages and customer journey all become more critical as the asset size and complexity, increases.
What advice would you give to someone starting in the industry?
For new entrants into the industry, today there is such a wealth of courses, training, industry bodies and groups to connect with in addition to the valued SCN publications and events.
Be prepared to work hard from the outset to build a strong reputation and network within the industry. Hard work pays off.
Personally, when starting my career, I made it my strategy to make contact with and seek meetings with some admired industry professionals. Call that leasing executive or asset manager – and invite them for a coffee. Everyone was in the same position once.
Develop a tenacious and perseverant attitude but take time to celebrate the wins!
This Q&A profile of Renaud Herington forms part of SCN’s Movers & Shakers feature. Premium members can view the full series in the latest edition of SCN magazine.
