Message from the CE

Dear Readers

At a function to celebrate two of our recently retired executive directors, Millard Arnold and Terry Rensen, they both expressed how meaningful it is for them to be able to have on their resumés – “Retired in Murray & Roberts”.

There are two issues that are raised by this sentiment.

Firstly, by thinking of their resumés, neither Millard nor Terry accept retirement as signalling an end to their working lives. While Millard has extended his career for now as legal counsel to my office, Terry has planned a different future that gives him more time and flexibility to do the many things he and his wife Sue have planned together.

Secondly, by placing such value on the concept of “Retired in Murray & Roberts” both Millard and Terry have established a right to ongoing membership of an exclusive group of people who accept Murray & Roberts as an important community in its own right.

Murray & Roberts is itself an important member of a number of other communities, such as South African society, the engineering & construction sector, global mining, and many more. So when we do big things our presence is felt, but when we get hurt, others hurt as well.

In closing out the 2010 financial year, we have revealed a few defensive bruises inflicted by a sequence of external and internal body blows over the past 18 months. But we are not down and out and we have resolutely advanced forward and upward on a number of fronts.

This is Murray & Roberts. We are strong and resilient. We are not cowed by the challenges of major projects or the blows inflicted on us in the process. We learn and we grow. We fight for our rights as did those who have shaped our country and our company over more than 100 years, into what we are today.

We are Murray & Roberts – all of us. So thank you Millard and Terry for your contribution over this past decade and for reminding us as well, of the important role played by our spouses in particular and families in general, in our lives and careers.

Brian Bruce