Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
HEAVY engineering company Bradken’s decision to base its $18 million-dollar new global headquarters in Newcastle is symbolic of its future growth and that of the Hunter, its chairman says.
Officially launching Bradken’s high-tech ‘‘corporate technology centre’’ at the Steel River industrial estate yesterday, Nick Greiner said the sprawling, ‘‘futuristic’’ building was symbolic in more ways than one.
‘‘It is important for the company and for Newcastle, because in some ways it is an indication that large public companies can choose to make their head offices here and do so effectively,’’ said the former Liberal premier and Infrastructure NSW chairman.
Bradken chief executive officer Brian Hodges said the premise was ‘‘built for growth’’ and expanding staff numbers within the company, which develops wear parts for the mining, freight rail, steel making, smelting, transport, cement, oil and gas, power generation and sugar industries.
Bradken was incorporated on March 20, 1922, by BHP steelworks employees Leslie Bradford and Jim Kendall after they got lucky at the races and used their £15,000 winnings to start a steel foundry business.
Mr Hodges said the fact the new headquarters sit on a once-swampy site that the steelworks reclaimed and filled with slag to allow its current use, there was a sense of ‘‘coming home’’ for the 175 staff who were previously split between offices in Lambton and Mayfield.
Listed in 2004, Bradken has 59 manufacturing and sales and services facilities globally and 6200 staff.
The new corporate centre will house the executive teams and product development teams from its mining products, mineral processing and rail divisions.
Mr Greiner said Bradken was ‘‘halfway or more’’ along the journey to become a global champion in its field.
‘‘That’s what we aspire to be and that effort will be masterminded from this building,’’ he said.
‘‘We chose to stay here because it is close to our roots and the industry that is our market.’’
Both Mr Greiner and Mr Hodges said the new building – designed by King Street firm EJE Architects and project managed by Hansen Yuncken – would be a ‘‘magnet’’ for skilled professionals based in the region and abroad.
‘‘This facility is built with the next 20 years in mind for Bradken, we see the resources industry growing strongly and we particularly focus on production-related equipment for the resources industry and there’s a huge global market for that,’’ said Mr Hodges.
‘‘A lot of our business has grown from here, we have good relationship with the university, access to skills and a good lifestyle, so people from around the world are happy to come to this region as well, which is important.’’