Nomad Building Solutions is a publicly listed company that looks after a diversified group of construction, manufacturing, and property development management businesses throughout Australia. Its impressive credentials include everything from houses to hospitals, apartments to police stations, and land subdivisions to office blocks. Nomad comprises McGrath Homes, Nomad Rental Properties, Nomad Group, and the recently acquired Bloomer Constructions.
Heather Gardner is the newly appointed CEO of Nomad and sees great potential for the future of the organisation. She says that while the past seven or so months have come with several challenges, she has been able to adapt her leadership style and initiate a transformational journey to pledge years of success for the business.
“The foundations of the business were great, and the opportunity for the business to identify other acquisitions and so forth definitely had a solid base to work from,” she says. “I am very operationally focused with a hands-on approach, and therefore I am able to get into the nuts and bolts of the business and have a look at what we need to do to make it the best it can be.”
Heather has been in the construction industry for more than 25 years and has been exposed to many experiences which have prepared her well for her current position. She has served as a long-term senior executive for FK Gardner Group, and has had roles with CSR and ANZ Banking Group. A couple of years ago, she also completed her Master of Business Administration. Heather brings to the Nomad brand a strong business acumen, organisational, logistic, and problem-solving skills, along with an exceptionally high commitment to customer satisfaction.
”I joined Nomad on November 10 as a non-executive director to start with, and after a two-week period the board clearly felt it was necessary to again have a leader of the company, whereas previously they had felt that they didn’t need a person there, with the contraction of Nomad. They identified that and then asked me if I’d consider the role, and here I am. I believe I’ve got something to offer and that I am able to help rebuild the company and make a transformational move to get it to where it needs to be.”
“It’ always a challenge when you come into a role where, I suppose, McGrath was the only business that was predominantly left within the Nomad brand. So initially my role was to do a review of the business and see what areas could be improved. Sometimes when youre the last flagship of the company, you can become a little bit complacent. I think they had just lost a little bit of direction.”
”Having a fresh energy and fresh eyes and doing some change management were things I focused on. I wanted to show the Nomad team where they needed to be, why they needed to be there, and how they needed to change.”