Neil Usher
General Manager Group Property
Rio Tinto - Development Case Study: Transforming Workplace Transformation
I joined Rio Tinto in August 2006 as General Manager – Group Property, with a global remit to establish a strategic property management function, and determine the shape and form of the company’s future workplace.
I established a Global Workplace Standard, and completed the first Regional Centre project for 550 employees in Paddington (UK) in December 2007. Futher projects will complete in September 2008 in Salt Lake City (600 employees), and in Montreal (800) and Brisbane (1,350) in 2010. In addition I am managing the re-development of our owned estate at 5 & 6 St James's Square, London for completion in 2011.
The new Regional Centres are based around open, flexible, energised workspace, designed to accommodate any method of work employed by an individual or team now and in the future.
I graduated in Politics and International Relations from Southampton University in 1985. I first developed a general management career including time as a Magistrates Court prosecutor for vehicle revenue offences and Distribution Manager for a record company before returning to university at Aston (UK) as a mature student to take a Masters in IT in 1991. After a short spell as a systems analyst I “fell” reluctantly at first into a career in facilities and property management before realising the opportunities within a young and expanding industry. After several roles growing from UK to multi-site and then international responsibility I managed the consolidation of all Warner Bros. sites in London, and then onto the role of European Business Development Director with Trammell Crow. From 2002 – 2006 as Real Estate Director EMEA for Honeywell I managed over 530 sites in 33 countries, successfully delivering portfolio rationalisation projects and transforming the workplace for thousands of employees.
