LB Navana + SentryInteractive : Facilitating a Seamless Merger

Located in the City of London, following the recent merger of Lee Baron and Navana they required an efficient and cost effective new way to manage access control for their team of 160 people at their HQ. LB Navana manages 7,000,000 sq. ft of commercial space which equates to £5B of UK assets managed.

We sat down with Nathan D’Alessandri, Associate Director – Governance & Compliance Lead, and Charlotte Crawley, Chief Experience Officer & Lifestyle Director, to have a chat about how Sentry Interactive, powered by Doordeck has impacted LB Navana’s innovative approach to property lifecycle services.

Exciting times ahead following the merger! Can you share your thoughts on the future prospects and opportunities this brings?

Most certainly. Following our merger, LB Navana is excited to embark on a journey where we’re uniquely positioned to offer best-in-class services throughout the lifecycle of both commercial and residential property management. This merger brings together decades of experience and a shared mission to anticipate and implement future trends for the best client solutions. We’re enthusiastic about the opportunities this presents for our colleagues, clients and customers.

Why did LB Navana choose Sentry Mobile Access as a software solution for building access technology?

In being able to facilitate a seamless mobile access user experience for both Lee Baron and Navana employees, it made perfect sense to us to roll out remote access management capabilities from the outset, after the merger. In recent years the office has evolved and now requires a technology-first approach to building, access and facilities management. Our property lifecycle services provide future first solutions that embrace the benefits of technology through companies like Sentry Interactive that deliver mobile credentials to support our low carbon ESG credentials.

“Post merger, LB Navana faced the challenge of integrating staff from both companies with cost-effective and simplified approach to access management. We needed a scalable, efficient solution that could be quickly rolled out to our employees from both companies, without the logistical complexities of issuing physical fobs or cards”

Nathan D’Alessandri,
Associate Director, Governance & Compliance Lead

How does Sentry Interactive facilitate access control within LB Navana’s green initiatives?

Minimizing access control system ‘rip and replace’ of existing and perfectly functioning hardware goes against our sustainable ethos. By not needing to remove any of our old readers and access infrastructure it meant there was no need for electronic plastic waste, any rewiring, repainting and re-plastering. Also, we had a minimum order quantity of 1000 key fobs, and the hassle and administrative time involved in programming these fobs meant that updating our existing access control system with Sentry Interactive’s software-only solution made perfect sense from both a cost and ESG perspective.

What are the advantages Sentry Interactive has brought in terms of operational efficiency and user experience? 

Sentry Interactive has reduced the demands put on LB Navana’s front desk team. We are now able to mobilize our front desk receptionist by issuing digital mobile access permissions ahead of when a visitor arrives or for when temporary access is required. No longer are key fobs required to be issued and managed. Through being able to issue mobile entry ahead of visitors arriving or new staff starting, our front desk team don’t get the same level of front desk queues and can now focus more on community building and support. Our tenants can now enjoy fast, frictionless mobile access to spaces, via an excellent app-based user experience. Whilst our front desk team are able to minimize disruptions and maximize their productivity. 

As security is a key concern when adopting cloud-based solutions for a building, how does Sentry Interactive ensure secure access? 

We required a robust, flexible access control solution for a hybrid work environment to be able to easily handle irregular building usage and the influx of staff and visitors. Building security is enhanced with features like multi-factor authentication, banking-level encryption and remote access management. Sentry Interactive provides a secure and streamlined mobile-first user 4 contractors. We can manage and monitor mobile access credentials in real-time, without the security risks and expense of issuing and managing key fobs. Sentry Mobile Access’s cloud-based access control infrastructure provides a dynamic yet secure access solution, adapting quickly to changes in building usage without compromising on security.

William Bainborough

Board of Directors

William is an experienced British entrepreneur, founder, and accomplished board executive and advisor for a number of businesses. He is the CEO and co-founder of Doordeck, the world’s only true cloud-based access control aggregator. He is also the managing director and founder of Group Secure, a leader in providing security, CCTV, and access control solutions, products, and installation for high-net-worth individuals in the UK. 

William established his first business at just seventeen and brings 20-plus years of in-depth experience and industry knowledge. He has a proven track record for building businesses from the ground up—and then leading them to profitability and a successful exit across a myriad of sectors including hospitality, retail, security, telecommunications, and e-commerce. William’s leadership, vision, and experience in creating cutting-edge SaaS-based technology platforms will prove invaluable for Sentry Interactive moving forward.

Denis Hébert

CHAIRMAN & CEO

Hébert began his career at Honeywell International where he held several leadership positions including Managing Director for the Automation and Controls business in France and eventually President of the NexWatch Corporation from 1999-2002. Hébert led HID Global as President & CEO over a transformative 12-year period from 2002-2015, where he provided strategic guidance and grew the business tenfold through a mix of strong organic and acquisitive growth. Most recently, Hébert was President of Feenics Corporation which is a cloud-based access control company that was successfully sold to ACRE LLC at the end of 2021. Hébert also served on the Board of Directors for the Security Industry Association (SIA) from 2009-2020 and was nominated to be Chairman of the Board for SIA from 2016-2018. He is currently Chairman of the Board for Nightingale Security based in Newark, CA.

Stephen Taylor Matthews

Board of Directors
Stephen is a very accomplished attorney, member of the Texas State Bar, licensed commercial real estate broker, and an avid philanthropist. He is an experienced executive board member, serving in leadership positions for more than 20 community councils and corporate boards—ranging from Boy Scouts of America to the ABBA Business Leaders Council, and most recently the American Bank BOD, the Real Estate Council of Austin, and the Marbridge Foundation BOT. With more than 35 years experience, Stephen and his firm, Barrond & Adler, L.L.P. are devoted to eminent domain cases in Texas.

Jon Davis

Board of Directors

Mr. Davis is an Experienced corporate board member, having served on boards of public, private equity-backed, and venture-backed companies. Jon possesses deep industry expertise in dairy, food processing, food technology and manufacturing, and food, beverage, and entertainment services. 

During Jon’s tenure of 25 plus years, he’s led operations, research and development, and mergers and acquisitions. He’s served as CEO and has been the founder and active board member for many successful enterprises—from startups to billion-dollar corporations. While COO and CEO of Davisco Foods International, Jon built a state-of-the-art cheese plant which was awarded the United States Dairy processing plant of the year in 2005 by Dairy Foods magazine. Currently, Jon is active with several non-dairy projects, including investments in local real estate, the Wayzata Brewworks, and his latest venture the new CōV restaurant in Edina’s Galleria.

Joe Caldwell

Founder and Chairman of the Board

Joe is an American entrepreneur, investor, and accomplished executive. He has co-founded, founded, and led many successful businesses, including US Internet, a leading fiber internet service provider, Securence, a leading provider of email filtering software, and Ravon, an industry-leading digital voice communications service. 

It was Joe’s venture, Municipal Parking Services (MPS), that inspired him in 2020 to start Sentry Interactive, an advanced touchless and staffless detection platform.

Caldwell currently serves as CEO and Chairman of the Board for Municipal Parking Services (MPS), a global tech company based in Austin, TX responsible for inventing and patenting technologies that assist in parking and security enforcement.

Joe was named one of Minnesota’s 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders for the past two years—and is a seasoned corporate board member. He’s served on boards of public, private equity-backed, and venture-backed companies—and has deep industry expertise in all aspects of digital technology.

Jason Bohrer

Board of Directors

Jason Bohrer is one of the visionaries behind our mission to bring people back together safely and securely, in any environment, through Sentry’s advanced digital communications and detection platform. With over two decades of senior leadership experience, Jason’s track record of success spans across sales, operations, product innovation, strategy, and technology for domestic and global companies like Bexar Technology Partners, CPI Card Group, HID Global, and Motorola, Inc. Prior to launching Sentry Interactive, Jason was actively involved with several key technology transitions across multiple industries, including the contact and contactless EMV transitions in the U.S. payments industry and the adoption of smart card and mobile technologies in the global access and identity market. Jason was an inaugural member of the University of Chicago Executive Institute and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as the Executive Director for two industry-leading not-for-profit organizations: the Secure Technology Alliance and the U.S. Payments Forum.
Brent Terry

Brent Terry

Chief Operating Officer
Brent Terry leads the operations and solutions organizations at Sentry. This includes all product innovation, development, and operations management. A veteran in the technology space, Brent has more than 30 years of experience across a myriad of industries, like physical security technology and building automation, SAAS, hardware and software product development, internet, digital TV, interactive TV, digital media, telecommunications, and medical products and services. Prior to Sentry, Brent has spun up successful startups and led high-performing teams for some of the biggest global, Fortune 500 companies, including ARRIS, Conerco, Motive Communications, SeaChange International, and IBM. Brent holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana. He also is the committee Chairman and Program Director for a non-profit organization responsible for the rollout of smart cards for physicians and first responders.