Doug Hutchinson is the Chief Operating Officer of The Barry Plant Group.

He has an ambitious vision to deliver better outcomes for Barry Plant customers, franchisees, agents and the whole real estate industry whether that’s doing things better, faster, more efficiently or cost effectively. He loves the challenge and satisfaction that comes from breaking that vision down into the small steps and projects that need to be completed in sequence, on time and on budget and then watching as that all clicks into place and the vision becomes a reality. Doug also loves doing that collaboratively with technology and business partners that share his vision for a better future for Barry Plant agents, customers and the industry. People remain at the heart of that vision and that will never change but the technology strategy he has adopted is enabling Barry Plant to change the way they do things so they can deliver even better customer service and outcomes.

Doug also has a thirst for the knowledge and insights that can be gained from analysing big data that can be shared with and understood by Barry Plant agents and customers.

Whether developing a new technology initiative, commercial partnership, financial planning or business strategy he applies the same disciplines and derives the same satisfaction from the process and the outcome.

He is a Certified Practicing Accountant with a lot of experience in budgeting and financial compliance and this skill is well utilised in his current role, but his passion is technology – more specifically PropTech (property technology). As the Chief Operating Officer of the real estate franchise, Barry Plant, he has been able to see the potential PropTech has in the real estate business and works to ensure Barry Plant leads the industry in the implementation of this technology to improve their processes, their profitability and their client experiences. In this role he has worked with software developers who are on the cutting edge of this technology and have been able to suggest practical enhancements that benefit the whole industry.