If you want to make a difference in this crazy world, you have to stand up and be counted. Amber Dawn has stood up, walked around, breathed in the air and been amazed by the new horizons it has discovered
When Amber Dawn decided it wanted to share its moral code and sense of social responsibility with fellow businesses, boss Ed Peen published his admirable manifesto.
This light touch, as opposed to an aggressive marketing campaign, proves, once again, that the pen is mightier than the sword.
By publishing his columns—aimed at people involved in property development in Africa—Peens has sought to educate, inform and encourage other businesses.
The haves and the have yachts
Amber Dawn was created after Ed Peen had emerged from retirement. Indeed, he had only just arrived back in his native South Africa after an extraordinary ten-year round-the-world hiatus. It should be pointed out that when he set sail he was still only 44!
Peen takes up the story: “I started in property back in ’79 and took over as managing director of the company I was working for in 1980, and during the ensuing 12 months the company went from one office to 50 franchises, while the workforce rose to 500. After developing it into a major top-five company, I decided to retire in 1993. I needed a break, so my wife and I got on my yacht and went sailing!”
After a decade exploring all manner of exotic locations he decided to settle in his native South Africa. With the country he loves still in a transitional period, Peen was adamant that his company could contribute proactively to positive cultural changes.
“After such extensive traveling we decided to settle down for a bit and top up the old retirement fund again. We looked at all the countries that we visited, but decided to come back to South Africa,” Peen added.
It’s a wonderful life
The pilgrimage back to the homeland proved to be an inspirational decision.
“South Africa is a wonderful country, with wonderful opportunities ahead and a wonderful future. We’ve got our difficulties, the same as every country in the world, but as long as we can resolve those problems, the sky is the limit,” says Peen.
After getting his feet back onto dry land Peen was almost immediately seduced back into the property game, by some old partners. Initially, he got involved in a very big industrial development, opposite Ballito, which is the fastest growing area in South Africa.
One of their first moves was to purchase 35 hectares of land which it converted into industrial parks and put on the market. The development included 22 mini-factories which were successfully sold and let. In the meantime, the small business started getting bigger, resulting in the formation of Amber Dawn.
This initial activity had been an exciting experience for the company and, having weathered the storm from the economic downturn, Peen and his team have now set their sights firmly on phase 2 of the project. This next stage involves the development of another 76 hectares and, at the time of writing, the team are already handling pre-sales.
Drive time
During the recession the company had a chance to refocus and at the beginning of 2011 an old of friend of Peen’s encouraged him to explore niche ventures.
Peen explains: “Peter and I got in a car and, over the last six months, we’ve travelled thousands of kilometres, visiting virtually every small, rural town in the area.”
“Very quickly we came to an epiphany. For the first time in our lives we were meeting black people in the population who were not maids, gardeners or bureaucratic officials. We were actually meeting genuine black businessmen with ambition,” he says. “It was a real revelation because these people owned businesses and had properties, but often had no idea how to unlock the value, simply because they’ve never been trained.”
After encountering Princes of royal blood, mayors and agency officials throughout rural areas, the intrepid pair decided that they didn’t want to be just another developer; they wanted Amber Dawn to get into ventures within the local communities and help them redevelop their properties. Consequently, joint partnerships with black businessmen have been the company’s primary focus over the last six months.
“We value their property at a fair rate and then they come into our developments as share-holders, building their income in the process,” says Peen. “We also talk to municipalities and see what the needs are and work with them to develop the land that is available. The projects have significantly increased income for these rural towns and created many jobs.”
Transformers
Since the ventures began 93 development opportunities in these rural areas have arisen. Of that number 17 have become petrol filling station developments. From the remaining number Amber Dawn selected the top 30, which the team have started to develop those. Currently there are six shopping centres and eight petrol filling stations in the pipeline over the next few months.
While changing the landscape, both culturally and physically, Peen continues to compose his digital newsletter, updating readers on his progress and also encouraging other property developers to work ethically with their countrymen. After all, building fairer partnerships actively galvanises, not only businesses, but the approach of an entire nation.
