Email Brian Back to profiles

Brian Freestone

Executive Director

My career has involved disruption of the status quo. I am passionate about change that delivers real benefits to shareholders, stakeholders and society. This is under pinned by a clear understanding of the role of the board in setting strategy, the importance of engagement with management to ensure that a business can move at speed and the ongoing need to refresh skills. Boards need to own strategy; have a shared view that is well in advance of the sector and use all their resources to drive innovation and create opportunity. I am very experienced in starting and growing successful businesses. I bring a set of strategy and people skills focused on making sure that an investment is in the right industry, with the right strategy to attract the very best people to execute. I believe that directors also need a grounded understanding of where their company touches consumers, how they are delighting their customers and that their products are valued. I like to get out and talk to people who purchase services, understand their motivation to buy and hear in their own words what it is they are buying. My journey in the health sector started as a child who suffered burns and needed skin grafts. I learnt first-hand the tremendous skills and capabilities of the doctors and nurses who treated me but also saw up front disorganisation, waste and failure within the sector. I have worked to improve the health sector in the belief that much of what is done in health could be enhanced with private sector disciplines. Some of this has been easy such as ensuring that there are no steps into a healthcare facility through to the reorganisation of physical assets to improve patient experience and reduce waste. I bring the impact of personal experience with me. I am committed to the uptake and use of technology to create new, unthought-of products and services as well as ways in which organisations can lower their costs and customise experience. I enjoy dealing with scientists, technologists and academics as I am committed to facilitating a culture which embraces and drives change in a meritocracy. I have an affinity for the health sector, medtech, food and high value manufacturing industries, biotechnology and education. I believe that Australia has the opportunity in each of these sectors to continue to develop world class businesses able to create high value jobs and superior returns.


Expertise

  • Large (200+ employees) organisation – unlisted
  • Small to Medium Enterprise – SME (199+ employees) – unlisted
  • Small organisation (1-9 employees)
  • Not-for-profit organisation Small (1-9 employees)
  • Biotechnology
  • Civic & Social Organization
  • Dairy
  • Education Management
  • Food Production
  • Government (state
  • local
  • federal)
  • Hospital & Health Care
  • Human Resources
  • Real Estate
  • Governance
  • Business Acumen
  • Human Resources
  • Research
  • Strategic Thinking

Experience

  • Chair
  • Non Executive
  • Committee Chair
  • Advisory Board Chair
  • Advisory Board Member
  • CEO
  • GM/MD
  • Executive Director
  • Consultant

Board or Committee Experience

Title Sub Committee Company Name Industry
ChairHRThe Calan Group LimitedHealthcare

Executive Career Summary

Title Company Name Industry
Principal Managing DirectorArkBowmen and ArkTalentProfessional Services