Budding billionaire
PUBLISHED : 08 Sep 2010 12:09:00 | Eloise Liddell
Having won an internship with billionaire Harry Triguboff, Eloise Liddell found herself at the centre of Australia’s largest property development empire
Day 1
From the very beginning I felt a little like a celebrity. As one of the three winners of the BRW “Win a week with a Billionaire” competition I was picked up in a private car from the airport, chauffeured to my own apartment in the Sydney CBD and faced with photographers and journalists first thing in morning. This is all is quite daunting to your average 21 year old from the big smoke in the Sunshine State.
I was not really sure what to expect, anticipate or assume this week (BRW and Meriton wanted everything to be a surprise, so they didn’t tell us very much) but once we began to meet the staff it became quite clear that myself along with the two other winners were going to be just like part of the Meriton family for the week. I began to realise that we would be exposed to things I could only dream of previously and learn from the industry mogul who has laid the foundations for the high density apartment empire that dominates the Sydney skyline.
In the first few hours of the day, it was fascinating to see how streamlined and efficient the Meriton business is. We were referred to “the kids/apprentices/cadets/interns” and all the staff we met were very approachable, friendly and keen to answer numerous questions. They were also kept asking if HOT (Harry Oscar Triguboff) was behaving himself.
So far, so good.
The Meriton head office is located within an Harry Siedler designed building near Chinatown. The office is not ostentatious (despite Triguboff’s position on BRW’s and Forbes’ rich lists), or particularly high tech; it features a PA system through which staff are called into meetings or summoned into Harry’s office. The walls are covered with photos, images and articles about Harry and the Meriton business through it’s inception to the current day.
When we met him later in the morning, Harry was very excited, welcoming and keen for us to learn as much as we could through the week.
Throughout the day we were shown the daily operations of the business; from our initial meet and greet, we went out to two construction sites and sat in on a various meeting’s with development managers, sales staff, contracts and a general update meeting at the end of the day.
Harry spent some time signing off some progress claims (he literally signs off every transaction in the business) and the daily task of personally reviewing the infamous sheets so that he can know where his money is (or should be). These sheets are A3 pieces of paper that everyone uses to track the progress of their work. Like I said, it’s not a very high-tech way to keep track of the largest personal rental roll in the country but it enables Harry to keep his finger on the pulse and keep an eye on all aspects of the business, and well, Meriton’s track record speaks for itself.
BRW
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