After 18 years at the helm of CSA, it is with mixed feelings that I have resigned as Managing Director.
In 1993, I was fortunate enough to obtain three year’s leave without pay from CSIRO where I had worked for the previous twenty years. Starting out as a one man band in an empty warehouse, I was full of enthusiasm with little idea of the rollercoaster ride that was ahead of me. Throughout that journey, it has been a constant comfort to know that I have always had the full support and friendship of the Campbell Scientific group of companies behind me. This, combined with a product range of exceptional quality, has always meant that CSA would rise to be the wonderful success that it is today.
When we started in CSA in 1993, we were a barely known instrumentation name in Australia. Our goal from the start was to become the number one data logger brand sold in Australia and it is with great pride we can state that this goal was achieved several years ago. As the new kid on the block, we initially had serious competition from names such as Datataker, Mindata, MACE, Unidata, Monitor Sensors and Environdata. With prices significantly higher than the competition and a strong “Buy Australian” sentiment at the time, it wasn’t going to be easy. Our policy from the start was to provide exceptional customer service - a policy that we have tried to maintain to this day. For the most part, I feel we have been successful. We still regularly receive comments from clients, new and old, on the quality of service we provide.
As I recently cleaned out my office, it was interesting to look back over my diaries for the last 18 years and to see just how many of the early customers are still Campbell Scientific clients today. A significant number of our customers have become mentors, friends, colleagues and drinking partners over that time, and it is this side of the business that I will miss the most. Hopefully my part time role will still involve some customer interaction in the future.
Much of the credit for the success of CSA must go the incredible people that have worked for our company over the last 18 years for without them CSA would not have survived. Names such as Alex Thomas, Chris Kellett, Ron Russo, Jason Beringer, Chris Goding, Simon Leeds, Sue Lingard, Gavin Shaw, Corinne Malot, Michelle Douglas, Jason Gunders, Belinda Beer and more recently Dave Boadle and his intrepid team of application engineers are amongst those with whom you would be familiar. To these people I owe a debt of gratitude. You have made my role much easier than it would have otherwise been.
Finally, Paul Campbell, Bert Tanner and Keith Bristow have also played a pivotal role in the success and development of our company. Thank you for your counsel, your wisdom, and your patience as I have stumbled through the process of making CSA a success.
The recent passing of my good mate and mentor, Bert Tanner was a major factor in my decision to retire. Bert died not long after he had announced his retirement and before he could enjoy the fruits of his labour. It was a wake-up call that made me re-evaluate my lifestyle and decide to spend more time with my wife and grown up children, my grandson, on travelling and on hobbies that I had shelved due to lack of time.
I am indeed fortunate that CSA has given me the ability to retire at fifty seven and hopefully have quite a few more years of active lifestyle before I begin to slow down.
I thank each and every one of you with whom I’ve been involved while at the helm of CSA and thank you for your custom and friendship. I hope that I will see you around the traps in my semi-retirement. I say semi-retirement because I have accepted the role of Chairman of the CSA Board and part time Director so hopefully I will still manage to attend the occasional conference and customer visit in the future.