A well-established New Zealand organisation engaged TwentyTwo’s Kate Horton and the Strategy team to help reimagine their nationwide property portfolio. With 50+ owned and leased sites – including offices, contact centres, retail spaces and commercial premises – their network had evolved over decades, shaped by legacy decisions, changing service models and expanding operational needs.
The result? A broad and varied portfolio, but with growing uncertainty around whether it was still fit to support the organisation’s future direction.
As part of a wider organisational refresh, several key areas were identified for realignment to drive value – property strategy, health and safety, sustainability, customer experience and product strategy. Recognising the critical role of property and placemaking, they sought a strategic partner to help define a more future-fit approach.
Navigating the noise: Starting the strategy conversation
Developing a property strategy at this scale, especially when an organisation is early in its transformation journey, requires both structure and empathy.
- How do you start conversations about change?
- How do you bring stakeholders on the journey when priorities compete?
- And how do you make smart decisions when the portfolio has grown organically over time?
TwentyTwo supported the organisation through early discovery and co-designed the approach with the internal project lead and Head of Property.
The outcome was a Nationwide Property Strategy designed to critically assess, rationalise and optimise the portfolio – realigning it with the organisation’s evolving operating model, business needs and future service delivery ambitions.
Key strategic questions included:
- Do physical retail sites still support effective service delivery?
- Are existing premises still fit for purpose and in the right locations?
- How can we bring consistency to a legacy-built network?
- How can internal and external insights inform future demand and location decisions?
- What does a future-proof property model actually look like?
From insight to action: What the data told us
Through a data-driven and collaborative process, several key insights and actions emerged:
- Retail as a channel: Physical sites remain important, but require rethinking and optimisation.
- Network gaps & underperformance: Opportunities were identified to expand in underserved areas and relocate from lower-performing sites.
- Clear property archetypes: Four distinct property types were defined to suit different service needs and contexts.
- Market specific strategies: Tailored strategies were developed for metro, provincial and rural locations.
- Strategic realignment: A series of strategic initiatives were identified to move the network towards an ideal future configuration.
The roadmap: Planning the moves that matter
To enable this transformation, TwentyTwo worked with the organisation to develop a Network Plan, a roadmap – mapping out key strategic moves across Aotearoa over a 10-year period.
This plan was designed to:
- Signal the scale and pace of change required.
- Prioritise investment in high-impact regions.
- Provide a coordinated roadmap for internal teams and decision-makers.
Navigating complexity
Property change is never just about buildings. It’s about people, strategy, purpose and transformation. TwentyTwo played the role of navigator, guiding the organisation through complexity and ensuring alignment at every step.
The result? A confident path forward, a clearer property vision, and a smarter network to support the next decade of impact.
