Our Leadership Team

Peter Black

Having been a small business owner for many years, Peter says the essence of outstanding customer relationships is strong communication.  To this end he places a strong priority on responding quickly to issues, regardless of whether the answer is known, as a measure of respect for the client.

After being offered an apprenticeship in motor mechanics, Peter followed up his training with a business management course.  Through his career as a mechanic, Peter was promoted to General Manager of a Mercedes Benz specialist shop, a role which brought him into contact with a wide range of clients not dissimilar to the property owners he now works with.  In addition, the strong accounting skills he developed throughout his career are now regularly applied to budgeting and preparing year-end financial reports.

With more than a decade of experience in owners corporate management, Peter works with anywhere from three to a group of seventy owners at a time, in which he is required to act as educator, negotiator, and mediator to reach consensus.  He says the democratic environment is challenging, and works particularly hard to ensure that people who could potentially feel alienated remain engaged and involved with the process.

Read about other client’s experiences of working with Peter.

To contact Peter, call 03 9862 3721 or email peterb@selectocm.com.au

Andy Dawson

Andy started his career at ANZ, and worked his way through every aspect of banking from working through the branch network to international services, property-related services, and then commercial lending.  In his 13 years in corporate finance, Andy developed a strong expertise in both assessing a company’s business plans and financial projections, as well as being able to gain an understanding of the customer service offer and marketing fundamentals that supported the business.

By taking a financial position in a range of companies, Andy particularly enjoyed the working relationships he developed with business owners and senior managers as these businesses grew and their business aspirations achieved.

At Select, Andy has built his business on maintaining a strong customer service focus while developing a specific expertise in multi-level unit developments and mixed-use precincts of 100-500 units comprised of multiple owners corporations. These assets are valued between $150m-$450m with annual budgets of between $750K-$2m. He and his team manage these properties as ongoing business concerns that require a high level of service coupled with a full range of strategic, financial, operational, and technical skills.

Read about other client’s experiences of working with Andy.

To contact Andy, call 03 9862 3710 or email andrewd@selectocm.com.au

Stuart Mellington

Through his career as a survey draftsman and an owner/builder, Stuart has a thorough knowledge of the theory and practicalities of building and construction.  This knowledge extends from initial planning and boundary issues, right through to understanding the implications of specific applications for owners, such as understanding the correct approach for wiring and lighting in shared tenant spaces. 

By combining his first rate knowledge of building design concepts and ideas with his experience in knowing what works and is functional for tenants, Stuart can recognise and correct potential issues for tenants before they become a problem, or work with an owner to ensure that any problems only need to be corrected once.

Further, Stuart is highly adept in managing a large network of trade services. The professionalism with which he has built these relationships throughout the Melbourne metropolitan area ensures strong service support for his clients when needed.  He understands first hand the issues that property owners and owner’s corporations contend with at the council level, and is constructive in using his experience to deliver positive outcomes for owners that are acceptable to council.

Stuart has more than a decade of experience in working with owner’s corporations, and has developed a diverse client group that ranges from smaller developments through to high rises operating with multiple owners corporations.

To contact Stuart, call 03 9862 3730 or email stuartm@selectocm.com.au

Kevin O’Neill

Kevin has a long history of service to the community through his former career in law enforcement.  His approach to property management is driven by his work ethic in the police force which operates on the principle of understanding the issues, engaging in good communication, and then getting on with the job. 

Kevin also worked for 15 years with a private health insurer working as a contract manager and negotiator responsible for a $500m budget.  His role required a strong focus on managing day-to-day fees, and negotiating with hospitals from Tasmania to Queensland to contain costs in order to keep membership subscriptions as low as possible, a skill that is ideally suited to owners corporation management.

Kevin’s expertise is working with properties of under 100 units, where he enjoys working with owner/occupiers.  In managing properties across Victoria, he has developed a strong relationship and reputation within the property developer and real estate agent industries, which call on his expertise to establish new owners corporations and associated cost frameworks, and for advice and assistance in managing existing owners corporations.

Kevin’s focus is to keep clients happy, maintains a proactive approach to continual improvement of properties over time, and sees great value in exploring issues and developing big picture plans with owners in order to create priorities that can be budgeted for in the year ahead.

Read about other client’s experiences of working with Kevin.

To contact Kevin, call 03 9862 3750 or email kevino@selectocm.com.au

Geoff Steele

Geoff graduated in civil engineering and was initially involved in projects in the construction, mining and infrastructure industry. He moved into management roles before becoming involved in the property management industry.

After a state sales management role with ARC Engineering, Geoff gained a post graduate marketing qualification and took on industrial marketing roles with ACI Fibreglass. He was involved in running an R&D project that developed glass reinforced cement acoustic barriers for VicRoads that are in use on freeways in Australia and parts of South East Asia.  During this time, Geoff was actively involved in promoting slab floor construction on behalf of the concrete industry.  This campaign was a great success in changing builder knowledge and practices in using concrete slabs for residential construction which are commonplace today.

Geoff was promoted to Executive VP for the company’s operations in Manila and turned the business from a loss situation to a profit centre. After returning to Australia Geoff took up the role of GM of Aerospace Technologies in the final year prior to privatisation.

With almost a decade of experience in owners corporation management Geoff describes his approach as a facilitator to help solve the client’s problems, with an emphasis on ensuring issues are resolved quickly. His background in leadership, management, and project management provides Geoff with a strong professional foundation in which to manage owners corporations.

Geoff and his team manages a wide portfolio of properties including residential, aged care and medical suites, and commercial facilities with multiple owners corporations.

Read about other client’s experiences of working with Geoff.

To contact Geoff, call 03 9862 3740 or email geoffs@selectocm.com.au