Pierre Tredoux, Chairperson of Atterbury Property Holdings and Attacq Limited, is a businessman and entrepreneur with a passion for educational transformation. We spent a morning learning more about this inspirational member of the Atterbury family

How did you come to be involved with Atterbury, and how long have you been chairman of the board?
In 2004 Louis van der Watt approached me to help him with the governance of Atterbury. We’d worked together at Deloitte in Pretoria before, but it was a chance meeting while watching rugby at Newlands that led to me becoming involved as nonexecutive director for Atterbury, and assisting with the establishment of governance structures.

Tell us a bit about your background?
I was born and raised in Worcester and matriculated at Paarl Gymnasium. I studied accounting at Maties and did my articles in Stellenbosch. After working in the wine industry for a while I started working for Deloitte in Cape Town in the late 80s as a management consultant. The job took me to London and when I returned we relocated to Pretoria in 1994. In 1998 I became the MD of Deloitte Consulting in South Africa. I was fortunate to work with many leading organisations both locally and abroad, particularly in the US, Australia and Asia. In 2004 I started my own business, Barnstone, an entrepreneurial business that has evolved over the last decade from creating SAP systems implementation, satellite communications and internet access systems, to including Barnstone Education, which is now my core focus and passion.

Who is Pierre when he is at home?
My wife, Petra and I have been married for 30 years and we live in Pretoria with the youngest of our four daughters, Lindi, who has just finished matric and will be going to Stellenbosch to study actuarial science. Lara, the eldest, is a CA at Deloitte in New York, Lize works for Emirates in Dubai, and Lani is studying accounting at Tuks. I’m the only man in the house – even the dog is a girl! Aside from golf, I have two hobbies that are my creative outlets: photography and cooking.

You were with Deloitte for many years before Atterbury. Who are harder to work with: accountants or developers?
I was fortunate that my consulting job with Deloitte involved working with many creative people, but I feel really privileged to work with Atterbury. I find it an extremely dynamic company with a very positive culture; which explains its phenomenal growth. I admire their ability to get things done and I think the reason for their success is that they don’t spend too much time worrying about what can go wrong; they go ahead and implement their decisions.

One of your specialities is assisting entrepreneurs to turn ideas into business success. Can you share one success story you’ve been involved in?
What immediately comes to mind is an institution, not an individual: I have worked with the Urology Hospital in Pretoria for three years. We are taking them from being a specialist hospital to becoming a major player in providing health-care services in South Africa. Here we have 15 doctors who are learning to apply business principles to turn their facility into a business success story. Another success story I’m proud of is Aurecon, which I assisted strategically since 2005. I was instrumental in merging the then Africom, SA’s leading infrastructure consultants, with the Australian engineering and consulting group Connell Wagner to form Aurecon which now is the largest consulting engineering firm in Australia and South Africa.

Is there a secret for spotting a new venture that will succeed? What are the characteristics that you look for in an entrepreneur?
For me it is about the person, someone who is really passionate about what they want to do and not only has the ability to implement that vision, but is also willing to listen to advice and work with other people. Being able to mobilise people to make your vision a reality contributes to the success of a business. I won’t work with people who start off overconfident, thinking they know everything, that is not a recipe for success. You don’t have to redesign the world – not every business has to be Apple or Microsoft. You can take a basic concept, make sure you understand what your customers want and be the best in your field, and you’ll be successful. I believe that entrepreneurship is what will save the South African economy.

What are your top three business lessons?
One: Focus – you have to focus on what you want to do, and you have to be careful not to get involved in too wide a variety of activities.
Two: The importance of managing people. A good leader not only leads by example, but makes time for the people who work for them. It’s about understanding what motivates them, what inspires and drives them – taking them on the business journey with you.
Three:  You have to understand where the money is actually made in the business, and manage your cash flow.

We’re coming to the end of the year. What is your idea of a great holiday, and where would you go if time was unlimited?
We are fortunate to own a holiday home in Hermanus, so that is where the family gets together, and the girls will all join us for at least some of it. But if I have to name a bucket-list holiday… it would be a leisurely 4×4 trip through Africa with my wife to explore, and do some photography.

Next month: Find out more about Pierre Tredoux’s remarkable investment in educational transformation.