Office Trust boss steps in at tough time

Scott Pritchard says he will place high emphasis on relationships. Photo / Dean Purcell

National surf life-saving champion Scott Pritchard originally trained as a teacher but has been working in real estate for most of his career.

As the new chief executive of AMP NZ Office Trust's manager, taking over from Rob Lang, the Aucklander will be heading through choppy waters in the next few months as the business is transformed.

The trust's head office has just been shifted from Wellington to Auckland. It will soon morph from a trust to a company and undertake a series of corporate governance moves which institutional investors have sought.

Pritchard inherits a tough legacy and the role of leasing the refurbished office block at 21 Queen St, whose only tenants are Dick Smith and CB Richard Ellis.

The trust has total assets of $1.2 billion but trades at a discount to net tangible asset backing on the NZX, giving it a market capitalisation of $728 million.

But Pritchard said the trust had market dominance in its sector, as New Zealand's only NZX-listed specialist office landlord.

Sport was his focus for years. From 1997 to 2003, Pritchard was a member of the New Zealand lifeguard team to Hawaii.

The team won the championship in 2000 and 2001 and in 2005, he represented New Zealand in the team competing in Kurrawa, Australia.

Pritchard grew up at Red Beach, went to Orewa College and holds a bachelor of education, a management masters and post-graduate business administration diploma, all from Massey University.

From 1992 to 2001, he worked for Auckland International Airport, starting out as a rescue firefighter, then a purchasing manager and eventually a property development manager.

By 2003, he had joined real estate investor Urbus Properties as an asset manager and when that was sold to ING (NZ), he moved there but left in 2005.

His latest role has been at NZX-listed Goodman Property Trust, working closely with chief executive John Dakin, and Pritchard acknowledges the work ahead of him and the role close associate Murray Barclay has played in his career.

The two have often worked at the same business and Barclay remains with Goodman.

"I want to bring a new approach to relationships with customers, investors, bankers, the agency community, consultants and advisers. I want to enhance relationships," Pritchard said.

"Negotiations are under way for 21 Queen St and in the next two months, we hope to announce changes to the trust," he said.

Westpac will leave floors in the PricewaterhouseCoopers tower soon and the trust will have to find new tenants for that space as well.