CEO Outlook 2025: Ben Ellis, Charter Hall

terest rate environment and an uncertain rate cut outlook continuing to impact consumer sentiment, spending on non-discretionary items in convenience retail has remained incredibly resilient. Charter Hall’s strategy remains focused on being the leading owner of convenience retail property anchored by Australia’s favourite everyday retailers whom continue to attract strong footfall to our centres. More than 150 million shoppers visited our convenience based retail centres last year. Complementing our convenience Shopping Centre Retail is our Net Lease Retail portfolio, which is also focused on providing everyday needs-focused goods, such as service stations with BP and Ampol and the hardware sector including Bunnings. Our blend of convenience shopping centre and convenience net lease retail, combined with our long-term and deep tenant customer relationships, has enabled us to curate a portfolio that provides valued goods and services to our communities and a highly defensive and resilient income stream to our investor customers throughout the property cycle. Investing in quality assets and people Fundamentally our success at both Charter Hall and as a sector is all about our people and the quality of our assets. At Charter Hall, our end-to-end property service is delivered by a dedicated team of more than 120 specialists. Passionate about retail, they make a positive difference every day to create places for the community to enjoy. Actively listening and engaging with both tenant customers and end consumers regularly is key. For example, at Charter Hall, we partner annually with Monash University’s Business School to survey our centre-based tenant customers to deeply understand their satisfaction levels, where we are winning in our service levels and opportunities for growth. Pleasingly, our satisfaction rating continues to significantly outperform, and we maintained a ‘highly satisfied’ rating on all key metrics. And once again, our tenant customers told us that it’s our people and the way they communicate that are our greatest strengths. We also leverage our deep and long-standing cross-sector relationships to better understand our customers’ business and priorities, such as Coles and Woolworths whom are major tenants in both our retail and industrial portfolios. Eastgate Bondi Junction, NSW Stronger communities through active partnerships Shopping centres have always been vital to cultivating strong, connected communities. Beyond the important day-to-day services we offer, shopping centre owners have a unique opportunity and responsibility to actively engage in building community connections through causes and initiatives close to customers’ hearts. At Charter Hall, we are committed to fostering a sense of belonging and strive to play a part in bringing Australian communities closer together. Our strategy aims to celebrate the individuals who are part of our shopping centre communities and to make their lives easier through convenient and authentic experiences. We proudly partner with a range of community partners and social enterprises, including, for example, our ongoing partnership with social enterprise Two Good Co. Throughout our six-year partnership to date, we have assisted in raising awareness about the impact of domestic violence and supported vulnerable women through providing meals to domestic violence shelters Australia-wide, as well as creating employment opportunities. We’ve done this through social procurement, purchasing products made by vulnerable women whom are being supported with life-changing training, skills and employment. Delivering social value is also about supporting relationships with our teams and customers to make a positive contribution in the communities. We continue to partner with community organisations, giving space in our centres, time and resources as part of Charter Hall’s Pledge 1% commitment. Two Good, Pacific Square Sustainability It’s great to see that sustainability is becoming an increasing focus across our sector as both real estate owners, managers and retailers seek to reduce their environmental impact across their business and supply chains. At Charter Hall, sustainability is integrated into the way we operate. We are focused on reducing our environmental impact through energy efficiency, waste management, and lowering carbon emissions supported by onsite solar generation and off-site renewable electricity. In doing so, we are working closely with our tenant customers to deliver measurable progress together on our respective emissions reduction goals. We are proud that our sustainability efforts have been recognised in independent benchmarking with Charter Hall Retail REIT achieving a ranking of 1st in Australia and New Zealand for listed Retail entities in the 2023 GRESB Report and maintained A level Public Disclosure. Driving innovation The retail sector has always been at the coalface of economic changes, new trends and shifts in consumer sentiment and I don’t see this changing any time soon. It is critical we continue to drive innovation as a sector in our offering without forgetting the fundamentals such as quality centre amenities, presentation and services. Ultimately, a shopping centre’s core role is as a key community hub providing a welcoming and inviting space that contributes positively to local communities. At Charter Hall, we’re always looking at how we can enhance the shopper experience, whether that’s through optimising the retail mix or investing in property upgrades and redevelopment such as adding pad sites to deliver more choice for customers and drive further value for investors. Rockdale Plaza, NSW Adapting to change Looking ahead into 2025, despite some continuing economic headwinds, bricks-and-mortar retail will remain a vital part of our communities. We can expect households will continue to adjust how and where they spend, but I’m confident in our sector’s ability to continue to be resilient and evolve in response to customer demand and the pace of change. This includes delivering superior in-person experiences and activations that online retail can’t match, while providing complementary services that support omni-channel retailers such as Click & Collect and Direct to Boot pick-up options. We can expect to see further online penetration in the year ahead, but we know from our portfolio that customers still need and want to visit centres to meet other shopping and personal needs, and services including health, beauty and medical. And the research shows that many customers who Click & Collect also visit other retailers on the same trip, particularly in community-based centres. Ultimately, as a sector, it’s important we continue to invest in our centre offer, our people and places and appeal to continue to attract shoppers to visit our centres more regularly. Against a background of limited new supply and increasing population growth, this will continue to drive the evolution of our offering at Charter Hall – to better meet community needs, boost retailer profitability and achieve long-term, sustainable shareholder returns. SCN’s Premium members can view the full CEO Outlook feature in the latest edition of SCN magazine.