David Adamson
My role entails managing all of the global offices that Renaissance uses; managing the provision of all the support services in each of these locations and managing the procurement of particular services.
For me there is no such thing as a normal day: every day brings with it new challenges. Some larger than others!
As Renaissance expands we have been rolling out new offices and accommodation in locations all around the world and this brings with it many, many challenges.
The thing I enjoy most about my role is working on such a global platform and doing things that have never been done before. We are pioneers. For example we opened offices in Lagos equipped to the very highest standards you would find anywhere in the world, including London or New York. Achieving that was an immense challenge. We are doing the same thing all around the world, in places like Almaty, where we have to virtually teach the entire industry, from architects, engineers and property developers through to contractors and suppliers about the kind of standards we expect.
We are pioneers and the eyes of the world are following us. So if you join Renaissance, then you are also a pioneer. I had worked all over the world before joining the company. But since coming here, I have travelled to a huge variety of new places I had never even considered going to before.
I am a qualified accountant and have spent around twenty-five years working all around the world, in just about every major financial capital. I have worked with JPMorgan and Barclays Capital before starting my own consultancy.
Immediately before joining Renaissance I was working for ICI Paints and the atmosphere there was very sleepy compared to the world of investment banking. In truth, I missed the fast pace of investment banking and that is one of the main reasons I joined Renaissance. The culture here is dynamic, fast, aggressive and results-oriented. It is a culture that is very demanding, but the rewards are very high, especially for high achievers.
It is also a very collegiate atmosphere: people know each other and know where other people fit into the scheme of things. You don’t really find that in the major corporates where I had worked before.
Here at Renaissance people are treated as professionals no matter what their role or background. For a global financial institution that is very important but also quite impressive. The company is all about employing the best people and developing them as much as possible.