“We bring global experience to a local context”
Our Directors are all Members of the Australian Institute of Project Managers and the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. While we are qualified members of both Institutes Grahame and Ben head up our Cost Management service offering with John leading our Advisory/Project Management service offering. Both Grahame and John hold individual Project Management Licences with the Queensland Building and construction Commission (QBCC). The company also holds a Company QBCC licence and is PQC qualified for both Cost and Project Management with the Queensland Government.
Executive Management
Director and Co-FounderExecutive ManagementGrahame Wrobel
Director and Co-FounderGrahame established Steele Wrobel in 2002 as a co-founding Director of the Company. Since then, Grahame has been the driving force behind the expansion of Steele Wrobel’s client base and service offering to transform the company into the full service firm it is today. Grahame specialises in cost planning and cost management services, and has delivered this expertise on a wide range of projects including the $300m Brisbane International Terminal Expansion and the $100m Coolangatta Airport Refurbishment, and his practical experience also includes several years on construction sites as the Audit Quantity Surveyor. Prior to establishing Steele Wrobel Grahame was based in Brisbane as an associate of a large international practice responsible for the cost management of numerous projects. Grahame brings more than 30 years of knowledge and experience to Steele Wrobel and his experience in construction as well as the delivery of cost management services for masterplanning projects is highly sought after by clients.
DirectorExecutive ManagementBen FosterDirectorBen joined Steele Wrobel in 2008 and was appointed a Director in 2009. He has more than 30 year’s experience providing cost management services for multimillion dollar projects in the health, aviation, education, residential, retail, entertainment and public parks and infrastructure sectors. This experience combined with significant management roles in previous major international companies has given him the skills necessary to accurately establish, communicate and contribute to the successful delivery of projects of all types and sizes. His specific project experience includes a number of large Health projects including the $180m Mater Mothers Hospital, $200m Townsville Hospital ($200m) and the $110m Cairns Hospital ($110m). Ben has also served as Director and Board member of the Brisbane Housing Company (BHC). In addition, Ben has maintained an active role in the development of the quantity surveying profession having held positions on the Australian institute of Quantity Surveyors state committees for 9 years including the role of Queensland President for 2 years.
Director of AdvisoryExecutive ManagementJohn Pemble-SmithDirector of AdvisoryJohn commenced his professional Career in 1985 and has worked in both professional offices and contracting where his professional skills have developed from quantity surveying into client side Independent trusted advisor roles, encompassing Project Management, procurement strategies, contractual arrangements and commercial negotiations. Prior to joining Steele Wrobel in 2016, John spent 21 years working for a leading global advisory consultancy predominantly in their Brisbane office and enjoyed a 2-year secondment to their London office from 1999 to 2001. Appointed a Director in 2002 he undertook the role of Director in charge of the Queensland business in 2009 at which time the business was acquired by a major global engineering consultancy. John was appointed to the role of Group Director – Buildings and Places in 2013. John has a diverse range of cost management, project, risk, and program experience and across the industry. He has undertaken numerous, varied roles working on many health-related projects ranging from the redevelopment of the Royal Brisbane Hospital, from a cost management perspective, to the lead Director across a number of disciplines of many hospitals for both government and private healthcare clients. One of the most recent projects was the Rural Enhancement Program for QLD Health. This project entailed the replacement of 4 rural/remote hospitals requiring the management of, not only the projects themselves, but also delicate stakeholder management. His professional skills lie in Cost Management, Life Cycle Costing, Auditing, High level Independent Reviewer, procurement strategies, contractual arrangements, commercial negotiations, as well as management of projects to ensure that the required outcomes for time, cost and quality are achieved. His skills and expertise based on in excess of 30 years of experience in the construction industry has assured the outcomes of a significant range of complex health projects for the government and private sectors. A focus on understanding clients’ and project needs and willingness to push the boundaries to deliver the best client outcomes has helped John build a strong reputation in the industry, by being the person that asks questions, considers different perspectives and digs deeper to uncover the real issues on a project.
Associate DirectorExecutive ManagementRobert TimmsAssociate DirectorRobert joined Steele Wrobel in 2019 after completing over twenty years as a director of a successful project management consultancy company. He has experience across a broad range of projects both in Australia and internationally. He has a portfolio of long-term repeat clients in the health, aged care and educational sectors and is highly regarded for his personal commitment to delivery of high-quality services. Robert’s clients include the Brisbane Grammar School, the Sisters of Mercy, The Moreton Club and many others. He commenced his career as a Quantity Surveyor in 1980 and spent nine years as a senior manager/consultant with a major international engineering and services company prior to taking up project management. Robert’s good working relationship with the local building consulting and construction industries allows positive outcomes to be gained by his clients on their projects.
General ManagerExecutive ManagementSimon LovegroveGeneral ManagerSimon has more than 20 year’s experience in management roles. He commenced his career as a quantity surveyor in the UK in 1976 and worked in South Africa before joining a major quantity surveying consultancy firm in Brisbane in 1986. He became a Director in 1995 and Brisbane Manager in 2000. After takeover by a large international consultancy in 2003 he became National Director of Cost management Services across eight offices until 2008 when he left to join a start-up software company as one of the co-founding directors. The company was established to develop digital (on-screen) and 5D BIM construction estimating solutions. As the construction industry representative on the core management team, he played a key role in growing the company from start-up in 2003 to sale in 2017, with nine offices worldwide. At time of sale the lead product CostX had become one of the leading digital measurement applications worldwide, with more than 13,000 licences sold in 90 countries. His role as General Manager with Steele Wrobel is to manage our internal business administration, and to implement systems and procedures in support of our service delivery and company growth objectives. This includes business planning, marketing management, operational systems development, human resources, staff training and development, and IT systems.