Former Managing Director of Nido Student Living, Dan Smith, launches Good Management Group; a new environmental, social, and governance (ESG), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability consultancy specialising in real estate. Good Management Group is the sister company of Student Housing Consultancy Ltd, and offers strategic advisory to investors, operators, and partners in the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) industry.
ESG is at the forefront of the PBSA industry with operators, developers and investors focusing on building for the future – to unlock higher valuations and more favourable credit terms, and to have a positive impact on people and the planet. Identifying a gap in the market for a cost-effective consultancy solution to the environmental and social issues facing the industry, Dan joined forces with environmental scientist and real estate sustainability consultant Ian Dodd to launch Good Management.
The company is a strategic ESG, CSR and sustainability consultancy that helps its clients to understand, manage and communicate their social and environmental impacts on a property, portfolio or company level. Through a combination of consultancy, certification, data analysis and reporting, Good Management aims to embed good management in the businesses it partners with.
“Over the last few years, we’ve seen the growing importance of credible ESG strategies within PBSA and BTR both at a property and company level. This has been partly led by investor and finance terms, resident requirements and a renewed focus on company purpose.
“Every company is at a different stage of the ESG journey and the landscape is constantly evolving, so it’s easy to feel left behind. Whilst certifications like Fitwell or BREEAM help to benchmark assets, our focus is on helping our clients to create, implement and manage pioneering ESG strategies.
“We take a holistic approach to ESG, CSR and sustainability to ensure that every client has clear goals and understands the required actions and timelines to achieve them.”
Dan Smith, Founder, Good Management
During the past six months, Good Management’s ESG and sustainability consultants have worked with clients large and small from completing a full review and ESG strategy for a £22bn global commercial real estate behemoth, to sustainable procurement policies, ESG training and strategy workshops for investors, operators and even single unit landlords.
“There is a lot of noise surrounding ESG in real estate, but until companies put credible strategies into action there will be a significant lack of impact. Everybody’s talking about ESG, but what does it mean to your business and how do you actually make a positive impact?
“We founded Good Management to ensure that the real estate industry can lean on our experienced consultants with full flexibility. Often there is no need to hire an internal ESG resource when Good Management can offer cost-effective sustainability project management and outsourcing services by supporting existing staff. Whether you use the terms ESG, CSR, sustainability, net zero, carbon neutral, whatever you call it, we call it Good Management and we can help organisations do good, better.”
Dan Smith, Founder, Good Management
At present, Good Management counts large multinational commercial real estate agencies, private equity firms, management operators, landlords and their supply chain partners among its clients, and the organisation continues to grow alongside the growing focus on ESG and the need for these services.
