Wanted: team members to accelerate our growth
Why CIO Rutger Schuur is looking for new talent
Last September, Rutger Schuur joined us as Chief Investment Officer. In this position, he is responsible for growing the number of parking locations we have at ParkBee. An important first step for this, is the recruitment of new talent. Preferably talent with a real estate or financial background. Luckily, Rutger sees many opportunities for attracting these new team members. “With data and technology, scale-ups such as ParkBee are able to change an entire industry.”
How did you end up at ParkBee? “I’m 43, so I’ve already had a whole career behind me. I studied at the Hoge Hotelschool and enrolled for Business Administration later on. After graduating, I held various positions in which I focused on corporate banking, commerce and strategy. More recently, I worked as Commercial Banking Director at ABN Amro, where I also focused on making the real estate portfolio more sustainable. Subsequently, I became a board member at the Dutch Green Building Council, a non-profit organisation that is focused on making the built environment more sustainable. “
“After all these years in the world of banking, I realised it was time for something new. I always wanted to start a business on my own, or to help an organisation grow and achieve more with new services and products. That is how I got in touch with ParkBee. I am the Chief Investment Officer here and factors such as growth, entrepreneurship, sustainability and real estate come together in this position.”
Were you immediately in love with the parking industry? “Of course ‘parking’ doesn’t sound that exciting. But ParkBee works different than the rest of the “traditional” parking industry. In particular, I am very impressed with their execution power. New products are developed, tested and put into practice in no time. This way they can ensure a better user experience within their parking locations, and they can realise a relatively high revenue. Our team is fully equipped for making this happen. 50% of our people are directly involved with technology and product development. This is how we make a difference: we base our insights on data. In addition, we regularly test with new ways of yield management, such as dynamic pricing. Nobody in the parking industry is doing that. At ParkBee, we are turning parking into something innovative — for the first time, really. “
Where is the overlap between parking and real estate? “At ParkBee we offer a service: parking spaces for a large audience. But to make sure everyone who wants to park, finds a spot, we need more parking space. And that’s where the real estate sector comes in. They have the locations that we want to offer to our customers. That does not only apply to real estate, but also to the hotel industry and retail. “
But how is that sustainable? “At ParkBee, we are currently talking about “3 times 15”. I’ll explain: 15% of the space in the city is currently occupied by public parking space. 15% of all traffic in cities is search traffic, looking for an available parking space. And only 15% of all places in parking garages are occupied. In other words: 85% of all spots are empty! With our technology, we can contribute to a more efficient use of space and reduce the number of parked cars on the street. This provides more green space and more liveability within cities. In that way, parking can be sustainable indeed.”
You said you’re looking for new talent. Why? “ParkBee is growing fast. We open new locations every day, and recently we have set up a joint venture fund with a large investor. With this, we can actually acquire the parking garages that we need. In short: we are ready to accelerate. And for that, we need people. “
What kind of people are you hoping to attract? “Talented, experienced people who strive after growth and hope to contribute to the change that ParkBee is bringing about. Both in the mobility industry and the real estate sector. It’s important that those people have an affinity with mobility and real estate. We are currently with around 40 people, and I would like to see that increase in coming months. Putting together a team full of A-players is now my top priority. “
Would you like to work for an ambitious, entrepreneurial organization that is able to change an entire industry? View ParkBee’s vacancies at careers.parkbee.com.
Originally published at https://business.parkbee.com on December 13, 2019.
