Duncan joined the Omni Telemetry team as managing director in February of 2019. After completing a Mechanical Engineering degree at Imperial College, he has worked for 20 years in IT and software development. He has held a variety of roles, including CIO, operating at board level. Also, he completed a MBA at Warwick University in 2008.

Duncan is passionate about the Smart Buildings sector and with Omni Telemetry intent on delivering material change through Digital adoption.

How did you become involved in the Smart Buildings industry?
I have spent the last 20 years working in IT across various sectors including Education, Telco and High Tech. My degree, a few years back now, was in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College. So I jumped at the opportunity to combine Engineering and IT, when I was offered the role at Omni Telemetry. It was especially appealing because it was in an engineering discipline, Smart Buildings, which is both dynamic and growing quickly.

What excites you about the Smart Buildings industry?
The potential outcomes are hugely exciting. The technology itself can be fascinating, but it is the correct application of the technology which will move the needle for the industry. Facilities can be become much more self-sufficient driving down the cost of their energy, maintenance and ongoing innovation; success will drive even greater adoption.

What services does your company offer?
Omni deliver cloud based applications that provide 'Facility Analytics' and 'Asset & Maintenance Management'. We reduce your costs by providing powerful management information, reduce your operational risk, improve your management control and enable you to operate efficiently.
Benefits include:

  • Reduce a Facility's energy consumption; typically, a 10% energy saving is achievable by employing low cost measures.
  • Monitor Facilities which don't have a full-time Engineering team.
  • Compare multiple Facilities through a single pane of glass.
  • Conduct faster Root Cause Analysis on a fault; by putting Live data in the hands of the Engineering team.
  • Extract a Facility’s data for further analysis and use in other applications.
  • Create rigour in the approach of a Facility's team using a broad feature set.
  • Reduce risk in managing a Facility by improving Security and Statutory compliance; our CAFM’s integration to SFG20 makes setting up and conducting Planned Preventative Maintenance simple.
  • Typically, improve by 20% the efficiency of the workforce by taking a targeted 'Digital Led' approach.


Are people aware of the regulations that they will need to comply with in the near future?
Potential regulations will create tougher targets for a building’s energy consumption. This is exciting for our industry because these exacting targets are only achievable if the building employs appropriate technology to manage and analyse performance.

What are the benefits of a smart building?
There are many and varied benefits which are possible by employing smart technologies in a building. In my opinion, the outcomes which are material benefits are:

  • Reducing the total cost of ownership (including energy consumption and efficient maintenance)
  • Supporting CSR objectives to reduce the carbon footprint
  • An environment with higher levels of comfort and promoting building wellness

Who has been the biggest influence in your career?
I have worked with and for a couple of great leaders. These aren’t people who talk a good game through a PowerPoint and then struggle to deliver (I have worked with some of them as well). By true leaders I mean people that can drive and inspire a team through challenging work to deliver to time, cost and quality; also most importantly the team at the end of the process is an even stronger unit. They know who they are!!

What is the question you are most often asked in your business life?
I quite often get asked about career advice; my theory on this is very simple: ‘Do something you enjoy’. Jobs which lose their lustre quickly become a less than optimal situation for the employer and employee. Just getting paid isn’t enough for most people and enjoying work creates purpose and direction which can be harnessed by an employer.

What are the best/worst things about your job?
Worst, is there just aren’t enough days in the week; we love working with our customers and building a strong rapport. Best, is working with the Omni Telemetry team who are bright and undeterred by the thorniest of problems.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?
As I am also starting out (relative to some of my colleagues) I would say talk to as many people as possible and build your network. I have met so many great people in the last nine months and learnt a lot.


What living person do you admire and why?
Siya Kolisi – an athlete driven to succeed whilst overcoming immense adversity.

Where would you most like to live?
South of France – great food, weather and rugby.

What is your favourite book?
Life of PI by Yann Martel

How do you relax?
Running, cycling, coaching rugby and acting as the family taxi driver…

What sports team do you support?
Leicester Tigers & England for rugby and Ineos (formerly Sky) for cycling.

What is your desert island disk?
Walk of Life – Dire Straits

What is your ideal holiday?
South of France with family and friends.