Stephen Brell - Netstrata Managing Director and SCA (NSW) President

The state’s peak strata body, SCA(NSW) has just elected its 15th President, Stephen Brell from Netstrata, replacing Chris Duggan, who has served since 2016.

?Brell has worked in the strata industry for 25 years, after beginning work in 1997 at Network Strata Services, as it was then called. In that quarter of a century, he has worked his way from being the company’s only employee to the position of Managing Director and shareholder and lifted Netstrata from a portfolio of just a handful of lots to one of the leaders in the industry, managing tens of thousands of lots. Brell has served on the board of SCA(NSW) for the past four years, the last two as Vice President and is well credentialled for his new role as President.

???Brell was born in 1975 at St Margaret’s Hospital in Darlinghurst. His father, Peter, worked in the Accounts Department at Union Carbide, a huge American chemical company, whose Australian plant was based at Rhodes, on what is now the site of Sydney’s Olympic precinct. His mother, Noela, had worked for the Electoral Commission before her marriage, but, as the family grew, she gave up her job to care for the children. Brell was the fifth and youngest child in the family, having three elder sisters, Robyn, Carmel and Alison and an elder brother, Greg.

???When Brell was five years of age, his parents split up and he did not have a lot of contact with his father from that time on. He admits that his young life was not really impacted too much by his father leaving, but, as his relationship with his own sons has developed, he has reflected on what he might have missed out on in his younger years. He remembers looking to his brother, Greg, six years older, for help and support and acknowledges that it was his brother who instilled in him the great work ethic, which he still has to this day. Greg taught him to carry out any task to the best of his ability and to always look for the next job on the agenda without waiting to be told.

???As the youngest child, he did grow up to be very independent. His siblings were quite a bit older than he and his mother took work at the Electoral Commission, when it was available, so the young Stephen Brell remembers his boyhood as a wonderful and fairly carefree time. The family lived in a modest home in South Hurstville and Brell attended the nearby St Raphael’s Primary School. As a teenager, he attended Penshurst Marist College, a couple of suburbs away, until the end of Year 10. The school only went to Year 10, so students like Brell, who wished to progress to the Higher School Certificate, transferred to Kogarah Marist College. Brell successfully completed his HSC at Kogarah, where his favourite subjects were Economics and Legal Studies, but he freely admits that his last two years of schooling were more social than academic.

???It was at both Penshurst and Kogarah Marist that Brell, a self-confessed St George Rugby League tragic, played the game for his school in the Metropolitan Catholic Colleges competition. Kogarah Marist College was a schoolboy Rugby League powerhouse at that time and Brell, who had plenty of speed and was a great defender, played on the wing for the College First XIII, or, when needed, as hooker.

???After gaining his HSC, the only thing that Brell was sure about was that he did not want to go to university. Consequently, in 1993, straight out of school, he scored a job in the NSW Public Service, working as a trainee in the IT Department at the NSW Supreme Court. It didn’t take him long to realise that work in IT, and as a public servant, was not for him. At that time, one of his sisters was looking to purchase a house and Brell accompanied her. He began chatting to real estate agents, whom they met, and quickly saw opportunities in that field, particularly as he was fast coming to the realisation that, whatever field he chose, he wanted to run his own business.

???As a first step on this career path in 1994, Brell gained a traineeship with the Century 21 Real Estate Group and began studying full-time for the Real Estate Licence course at Gymea TAFE, where the lecturer in strata matters was Richard Holloway. He gained an Advanced Diploma in Property Agency, which meant that he was a qualified real estate agent; business broker; stock and station agent; and strata manager. At this stage he had no intention of progressing into strata management and, after completing the course, he joined Century 21 at Ramsgate and worked in sales and property management, thus gaining the two years experience necessary to gain his full licence. During this period, he also completed the Valuation course at Ultimo TAFE.

???In 1997, Century 21 offered to sell the agency at Ramsgate to Brell, but at 22 years of age, he had the ambition to run the business, but not the funds. A plan to entice investors into the venture fell through after 3 months of negotiations and it was here that Fate played a hand. In that same year, 1997, Brell saw an advertisement for a strata manager’s position at Network Strata Services. The company was in its infancy, the owner, Ted Middleton, having only begun the business the year before. At the ensuing interview, Middleton asked Brell where he saw himself in the next five to ten years and Brell answered honestly, “Not necessarily in strata, but certainly running my own business.” Middleton would not have been fazed by such candour, since he, himself, had shown an uncanny ability to own and manage a diverse range of businesses, most of which had been roaring successes.

???Brell was hired and went to work in the small Network Strata office in Railway Parade Hurstville. The company had a portfolio of 15 buildings and around 400 lots. By 2002, as the company began to grow, Brell was the Management Services Director and was given the opportunity to buy shares in the company. In 2005, Middleton retired and Brell became Managing Director. Middleton, to this day, remains as a shareholder and Chairman of the board. By 2005, the company’s portfolio comprised 500 buildings and more than 10,000 lots and employed 28 staff. This has grown to 1250 buildings and more than 44,000 lots in 2021 and the staff has increased to more than 100. The company today operates four separate divisions: the strata management company, Netstrata; an insurance broking arm; a software division; and a maintenance division. All these groups are housed in the company’s headquarters (an old renovated cinema) in Railway Parade Carlton, which will, in the near future be developed into a modern business hub for the company, along with affordable housing, which this socially responsible company believes is much needed in 21st century Sydney.

???Brell believes that one of the most successful moves which Netstrata has made is the Employee Share Ownership Scheme, which was initiated in 2007. Most staff at the time availed themselves of this offer. In 2017 a second tranche of shares was issued and key personnel were invited to buy in. Brell attributes the great success of the company, in part, to this scheme, which gives senior staff the incentive to go that extra mile and to allow the company to retain key staff. Two of the longest serving members of the Netstrata team are Samantha Antipas, now the General Manager, Administration and Operations, and Jeremy Stone, who leads the Business Development team, both of whom have been with Netstrata for more than 20 years.

???The company, which began life as Network Strata Services in 1996, changed its name to Netstrata in 2008. When the company was first established, it was Middleton’s aim to set up a network of independent, yet loosely affiliated and like-minded, strata management companies throughout Sydney. However, in 2008 the Board decided to change the name to Netstrata, as a nod to the technological revolution. This gave the company a more modern “feel” and better reflected the future direction of the strata industry and society, in general.

???Having grown up in the St George area and having played Rugby League for Penshurst and Kogarah Marist, Brell is a self-confessed St George Illawarra Dragons fan. With the Netstrata office situated at Carlton, a stone’s throw from the Dragons’ home ground of Jubilee Oval, it was always Brell’s dream to either sponsor the team or gain naming rights to the ground. He drives past the ground on his way to work every day and, early in 2018, he noticed that the University of Wollongong no longer had naming rights to the ground. Around that time the lease passed from the football club, back to the local George’s River council, and Brell entered a public tender on behalf of Netstrata and, in October 2018, was successful in gaining the naming rights to the ground. Initially, it was for only the five St George matches played at the ground per season, but in the 2018/2019 season, Sydney FC began playing all their home games at the ground, so Netstrata got a windfall there. In 2020, the Cronulla Sharks also used the ground for all their home games, so additional benefits accrued. The contract period includes the 2022 season, so expect to see a lot more action at Netstrata Stadium in the next twelve months.

???Brell works hard in his role as Managing Director at Netstrata and also in his role as a Director of SCA(NSW), but when he does relax, he loves to spend as much time as possible with his three sons, Mitchell, Dallas and Xander (Spike), aged from 10 to 17 years old. All the boys are keen skiers, so Brell, an avid skier himself, takes his boys on at least one snow trip per year and he loves to spend as much time with them as he can. Brell is a keen traveller and usually travels with his family at least twice a year overseas. He has also mixed business with pleasure having undertaken SCA study tours to Japan and Dubai, in addition to several Urban Development Institute of Australia study tours.

???Brell loves his footie, boating and is a keen cyclist. He is also involved in raising funds for many charitable organisations and, in one particular event each year he combines his love of cycling and charitable pursuits, by holding a ride to raise funds for a Cambodian orphanage. This event began in 2015 and the ride was held in Cambodia for the first couple of years. Since 2017, the event has been held in Australia and, in December 2021, this year’s event will take place in the Southern Highlands, with ten staff from Netstrata involved. The group will ride 700 kms in five days, which is no mean feat. Indeed, each month at Netstrata, an event is held to raise funds for a range of different charities and causes. Recently, one such event benefited those with Cerebral Palsy and coming up will be one of their regular Christmas charity events, Toys and Tucker, run by the Anglican church.

???Brell sees great changes ahead for the strata industry in the next decade. He envisions Netstrata expanding vertically to provide a larger and more comprehensive range of services, not only for owners, but also for the industry itself. Netstrata is well placed to provide training to the industry; to serve in furthering the Professional Standards Scheme; and providing software for the market as well. He believes that Covid has wrought changes in the past 18 months, which may well have taken years to come to pass in more normal times. Working from home for a significant part of the week has become the norm and there has been no loss of productivity, as once was feared. Meetings held remotely have been a great success and reaped benefits, such as a better use of time, as well as heightening the safety and wellbeing of managers.

???????In regards to the strata industry more generally, webinars run by SCA(NSW) have revolutionised the training potential for managers and have been exceptionally well received. Brell sees potential to extend the webinars to lot owners themselves, allowing SCA(NSW) to further extend its reputation and influence. He believes the potential reach of SCA is enormous and that the surface has barely been scratched in this area.

??Samantha Antipas, General Manager, Operations and Administration at Netstrata, who has worked with Brell for the past 21 years, says of him,

???“Stephen has always had a deep commitment and passion to be at the forefront of the strata management industry and to really drive the industry forward and to raise standards. Even 20 years ago, when I first worked with him as a strata manager, he had a vision for endless opportunities and was always keen to pioneer new techniques and try things that no one else in the industry was doing at the time. Working alongside him for the past two decades and watching him take the lead within our own business, and within the industry as a whole, has been very satisfying.”

???These thoughts are echoed by Jeremy Stone, another 20 year veteran at Netstrata, and now the company’s head of Business Development.

???“When I first started with the company in 2001, not many people in the strata industry had heard of Network Strata Services, but in retrospect we weren’t too involved with the industry at that point. A lot has changed in two decades and, with Stephen taking over as Managing Director, Netstrata is now one of the most recognised brands in the strata industry. Stephen has provided Netstrata with a strong strategic approach and a solid sense of purpose. With Stephen taking care of the vision, I can focus effectively on my job of growing the portfolio. It is fantastic that Stephen has become the President of SCA(NSW).”

???And Brad Wood, Director of Management Services, at Netstrata, adds that, “Stephen is a true leader, a visionary and generous to a fault. Netstrata would not be the company it is today without him and, similarly, SCA(NSW) will certainly benefit from his leadership”.

???The last word belongs to Tony Irvine, Senior Vice president of SCA(NSW), who simply says,

???“Stephen has proven himself to be a very astute businessman and, together with his team at Netstrata, has seen that business grow at an exceptional rate. He has also demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the strata industry with his directorships of both SCA(NSW) and SCA (National). Stephen’s love of expensive Italian cars is only overshadowed by his love for the St George Dragons. He is hoping that the Netstrata sponsorship will become synonymous with the big Red V and, as a result, he will get a bronze statue next to the other great St George Immortals in the “Walk of Fame”, outside the stadium”.

???????All this bodes well for SCA(NSW) as Brell leads the organisation for the next few years as its 15th President. SCA(NSW) has been exceptionally well served by its Presidents over the past 41 years, all of whom have devoted huge amounts of time to this important role, often at the expense of their own businesses. Stephen Brell has the skills and personality to continue this wonderful tradition at SCA(NSW) and all members wish him well as he sets out in his new role.