Christopher J. Browne

Christopher BrowneSenior Managing Director, Facilities ManagementTel: +44 207 182 3535chris.browne@cbre.com

Chris Browne, a former managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle's facilities management business, has rejoined CB Richard Ellis as senior managing director and global head of that firm's facilities management business.
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"Chris has proven himself as an expert in our industry, and we're confident that his appointment will help us in remaining the FM provider of choice.

Christopher Browne , Sr. Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis Global Corporate Services - Facilities Management

In that follow-up, Christopher J. Browne, global head of facilities management for CB Richard Ellis, and Michael Mire, senior managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, expressed their belief that, in all, their firms weathered the '05 season well.
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Most of the communications failures "were due to the loss of cell phone service," says the Atlanta-based Browne."As a result of Katrina, and as we moved into Hurricane Rita, we bought satellite cell phones for a number of our accounts with a heavy presence across the Gulf region."Browne explains that each of the major accounts bought at least a couple of units, one for a senior management executive and one for a regional manager in the field.
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While communication was obviously key to ensuring the safety of employees, vendors and clients, Browne and Mire agree that both firms also needed to step up their coordination of vendor activities.
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"We thought Rita was going to nail Houston," recalls Browne, "but it hit almost into Louisiana.There was more uncertainty than we thought when we were trying to coordinate our planning and recovery capabilities.So we started focusing on identifying a broader range of suppliers.Instead of looking at a projected landfall we look beyond those boundaries."Browne says his team focuses now away from the water, sometimes as much as 100 miles away."We coordinate it centrally and provide our account teams data on who the suppliers are," he says."Then each team can make the determination on whom to call."

Preparedness doesn't come cheap, but it's an expense both client and provider see as vital.Browne says that it's tough to put a cost to preparedness since it varies by client need.

"We've got one financial-services client that put in place a $300,000 contingency budget," that wasn't there last year."But costs vary widely from client to client."

In all, Browne believes, "We feel better prepared because we've improved our communication and our network of suppliers and we've already negotiated for the whole range of supplies from flashlights and batteries to plywood."

Mire's approach is similar, and he's locating vendors out of the potential strike zone as well.He also says that costs are client specific, but he puts it at anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 for tech upgrades alone for one major client C&W maintains in the Gulf region."That's just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall preparation cost," he adds.

But is he ready?"You do the best to anticipate the unexpected," he states.

NEW YORK CITY -- Industry veteran Chris Browne has rejoined CB Richard Ellis as senior managing director and global head of the firm's Facilities Management business.

Prior to rejoining CBRE, Browne was a managing director with Jones Lang LaSalle's facilities management business.He managed the firm's Northeast region.

In his new position, Browne will oversee the overall operation, administration and growth of the Facilities Management service line.In addition to supporting existing accounts, his team supports the client development process and manages the transition of new Facilities Management business throughout the world.

Browne worked for CBRE during the mid-1990s as an account executive, responsible for supporting the operations of the company's Midwest-based facilities management clients including Carlson, Dow Chemical and Marathon Oil.

Christopher BrowneSenior Managing DirectorGlobal Facilities ManagementT 212.984.7114chris.browne@cbre.com Learn More About Facilities Management

Christopher Browne, Sr. Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis Global Corporate Services - Facilities Management