Welcome back and hello to 2024. The year ahead of us is certainly going to be exciting, and very busy. I do hope that you were able to relax over these past few days and take the opportunity to spend time with your families and loved ones. Once again, a special mention to our friends down under, many of whom had to work over the recent Christmas break. From your friends “Up above” a big thank you and also a big thank you to anyone else who had to work over Christmas.

We start the year in very good shape. Our order books are strong, and we can already see long term projects continuing into 2025 and beyond. This is a far cry from just a few years ago but our many framework contracts go a long way to securing future opportunities. This is a result of a lot of hard work, but it is a great advantage for the company.

To cope with our growth and increasing sales we have recruited many new employees to our businesses. We need to embrace our new friends and welcome them to our already established teams. We hope you will be happy and motivated in your new roles but above all please be assured that we want to help your own development and training. The strength of Centura is the breadth of experience and knowledge that is shared amongst so many people. That strength is well recognised in our market sectors and is the envy of all our competitors. What is most important is that we offer and maintain a safe and secure working environment. We must be fair to all our people, we must be inclusive and we must never discriminate.

Our technical expertise is second to none. But the world is changing. Our resources are finite and our impact on the environment can never be ignored. Much of the work carried out by Group companies is entirely sustainable. The impact of our projects on the environment is a tiny fraction of most alternatives. But we still have an impact and we must continue to reduce our use of valuable resources. It makes sense in our community and it makes good business sense.

A strong order book and excellent future prospects are a great place to start 2024. Increasing sales inevitably leads to increased costs. Therefore we must maintain our momentum and effective management in a fast moving marketplace. Our order book is good but we will quickly complete our contracts and we will always be searching for new opportunities throughout this year and beyond.

Centura comprises a number of businesses and importantly many professional teams, both providing services to our clients and also in supporting roles. We must all work closely together to support each other and maintain the loyalty and enthusiasm that is such a strength of Centura.

2024 will be busy and challenging. We start the year in great shape. I know it will be a prosperous 12 months.

A very Happy and Healthy New Year to you all.

Tony Rimoldi