Our Team
Mr Angelo Farhat
Director and Legal Compliance
Mr Angelo Farhat
Mr Angelo Farhat is the director of Fortress Procurement Pty Ltd and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws degree.
Mr Farhat is an accomplished solicitor with over 12 years’ experience acting for domestic and international clients with a particular focus on commercial, government and contractual law; and advisory services.
Mr Farhat was previously employed with Allens Linklaters in their major projects and infrastructure division. During his time at Allens Linklaters, Mr Farhat specialised in the procurement, delivery, and operation of major infrastructure projects, acting for financiers, project owners and contractors across a broad range of sectors and delivery models, with a particular emphasis on major outsourcing transactions and Public Private Partnerships.
Mr Farhat has been involved with numerous high value projects, including:
The Government Wireless Network – due diligence and advising QLD government on the upgrade of emergency telecommunications infrastructure across Queensland and the procurement Wireless Network project, a State-wide digital radio communications network, and providing ongoing advice to the project team. Project value $400 million.
Gold Coast Light Rail Project – due diligence and advising the GoldLinQ Consortium on its successful bid for the Gold Coast Light Rail Project; and ongoing advice during project delivery.
Legacy Way Project – advising Transcity JV (due diligence and compliance) in its successful bid for the $1.5 billion Legacy Way project.
Mining and Exploration (Rio Tinto) – advising RIO Tinto in the early stages of a mining and exploration venture (power supply and infrastructure) and due diligence. Project Value approx. $330 million.
Water Infrastructure Upgrade (QLD) – advising various QLD Government departments, on the upgrade of water infrastructure (pipes and dams) and flood relief due to 2011 and 2013 QLD floods. Project Contract values of $50 million.
Virgin Australia – advising on facilities management contracts for the maintenance of Virgin Australia site offices in Australia and New Zealand. Project value $100 million.
Mr Zaid Latif
CEO
Mr Zaid Latif
Mr Zaid Latif has an accounting, finance, and project management background from chartered accounting, private equity firms as well as start-ups both abroad and in Australia. Mr Latif holds a Bachelor of Business Accounting & Legal Studies as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management. His primary roles were, preparation and evaluation of business plans, capital raising, corporate structuring, contract negotiations, and systems development.
Mr Latif is a Director at Crude Dynamics Holdings (CDH) Abu Dhabi. CDH supplies flow assurance chemicals to downstream and midstream operation. CDH is currently working with Kuwait Oil Company, South Oil Company, ADNOC, ADOC and Ministry of Oil Iraq. CDH has an aggressive strategy to expand throughout the Middle East.
He is a Director at Fortress Capital Ltd (FCL). FCL offers consulting services to Government and corporates. Specialising in project origination mainly in the oil and gas sector. He was also a founding partner at Egility Partners. Egility Partners setup a fuel trading fund in partnership with a sovereign wealth fund that successfully raised US$1.5B for fuel trading activities.
Mr Latif was a Director at GlobalTel Australia. Main responsibility included finance solutions, preparation of funding (debt/equity) proposals, negotiating finance structures, corporate structuring, risk minimisation, asset protection and due diligence.
Mr Latif was a Non-Executive Director of PetroAsian Energy Holdings Limited listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as well as Special Projects Advisor to EPI Holdings Limited listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, both companies’ main business was crude oil production in China and Mexico respectively.
As a Senior Project manager at SunWater (Government Owned Corporation), with the Project Development team working on water infrastructure projects, Mr Latif’s primary responsibilities included the end-to-end project management of all facets involved in preparing preliminary and final business cases for infrastructure projects given State Significant Status by the State Government. Including engineering design, budget and cost estimates, environmental approvals (including Environmental Impacts Statement), cultural heritage and native title as well as acquisition.
Dr Les Baxter
Chief Science Officer
Dr Les Baxter
Dr Les Baxter is currently a specialist in developing and implementing solutions for the commercialisation of botanicals and related products. He advises companies about the commercialisation of new products, technologies, and services; particularly in the biological sciences, food, and agricultural sectors.
Dr Baxter is an experienced technical projects manager. He has over 36 years’ experience in R&D management, project management, strategic management, direct Research & Development, industry development, and commercialisation in the public and private sectors. His specific areas of interest and emphasis include plant-based technologies, agriculture, horticultural crops and extractive plant industries; both in Australia and overseas. He began his career as a researcher working in plant breeding, agronomy, and plant physiology on fruit and vegetable crops.
Les was Director of Agricultural Research and Development with the Australian plant-based pharmaceutical raw materials producer, Tasmanian Alkaloids. In that role he was responsible for the strategic management of Tasmanian Alkaloid’s Agricultural R&D portfolio, which included traditional, molecular genetics and molecular research into opiate production in opium poppies and cannabinoid production in medicinal cannabis. This work included the development of new high-yielding cultivars and the IP management of this material. He has previously held senior management positions in AusIndustry (a business unit of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation and Science); and Horticulture Australia (a grower-owned innovation and research service company).
Dr Baxter holds the following qualifications:
PhD from the University of Canberra;
Masters Degree in Agricultural Science (University of Queensland);
Masters Degree in Business Administration (Southern Cross University);
Masters Degree in Applied Innovation and Entrepreneurship (University of Adelaide);
Honours Degree in Applied Science (Horticultural Technology) (University of Queensland);
Diploma in Agriculture (University of Queensland);
Diploma in Rural Techniques (Agriculture) (University of Queensland);
Diploma in Mathematics and Computing (University of Southern Queensland); and
Diploma in Law (Southern Cross University).
Mr Allan ‘Al’ Ritchie
Director – International Marketing
Mr Allan ‘Al’ Ritchie
Allan ‘Al’ Ritchie has served as a director of several private and public listed companies and is a principal of his own firm where he focuses on asset acquisitions and off-take arrangements in the energy, resources and infrastructure space. Allan is an investment banking professional with a career spanning 30 years of origination and structuring. He held senior positions at Westpac, ANZ Bank, HSBC and BNP Paribas in London, New York and Asia Pacific.
He engages with the chief executives of major corporations and state-owned enterprises spanning the global resources, energy and infrastructure sectors. He was previously voted number one in the BRW Magazine poll of Financial Markets, bankers in Australia. Allan graduated from the University of Technology Sydney with a Bachelor of Business and has a post graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from FINSIA.
Mr Peter Turnbull
Director – Finance
Mr Peter Turnbull
Peter Turnbull is a well credentialed investor and corporate advisor with strong experience in property development, having successfully completed numerous large-scale projects across Australia in residential, commercial properties as well as being Deputy Chairman for Scarborough Developments Australia, which is a UK-based multi-national development corporation with assets under management of over $1 Billion.
The position of respect and trust that Peter has developed over many years with his Asian network was instrumental in prioritising manufacturing capability and securing an ongoing supply of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for a number of Fortress Procurement’s Government contracts. As the demand for PPE grew significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter activated his extensive Asian manufacturing and finance networks to secure critical long-term supply channels of PPE for Australian state and federal governments, as well as assisting to establish working relationships with entities in the private, public, and government sectors to ensure supply.
Peter was the founder of the respected mid-tier accounting practice in Sydney with offices in Parramatta, Penrith, Castle Hill, and Norwest. He is the founder and former Director of the Australian Hyundai a League Club – Sydney FC and the former Chairman of the Central Coast Mariners. Peter is also a Director of a Wharton Capital and is well versed in financial services requirements.
Mr Darren Thomas
Director – Compliance
Mr Darren Thomas
Darren brings a wealth of experience and qualifications to the Fortress Procurement executive team forged within the finance, financial planning and property industry over the last 30 years. He formerly worked for Financial Wisdom under the Colonial First State banner one of Australia’s largest fund managers with over $130bn funds under management. He was an Authorised Representative that specialised in managing the financial affairs for his private retail clients. Previously, he has personally owned and developed large residential sites in Australia. Darren has transacted over $1bn in property and finance assets.
Prior to entering the private sector, he was a decorated Federal Agent with the Australian Federal Police; and worked with a variety of domestic stake holders and national government departments. He had high-level interaction with foreign law enforcement and foreign government agencies and served internationally with distinction with the United Nations. Darren has developed extensive global networks within the trade and finance industries.
Darren is a champion of children’s wellbeing and welfare, holding numerous board and advisory positions with both Australian charities and also charities in developing countries.