Guy Roberts joins Nobles

ONE of Adelaide’s oldest industrial companies has been paired with one of the state’s most experienced executives as it prepares to embrace embrace an increasingly digital future.

ONE of Adelaide’s oldest industrial companies has been paired with one of the state’s most experienced executives as it prepares to embrace embrace an increasingly digital future.

Guy Roberts, former managing director of Penrice Soda Holdings and previous to that a long-term Orica executive will take the MD job at 105-year-old South Australian company Nobles in early April.

The Kilburn-based company supplies lifting and rigging products and services nationwide, and in recent years has worked on projects such as BHP Billiton’s Clarke Shaft Recovery at Olympic Dam, BHP rail infrastructure in the Pilbara, and the Abbot Point shiploader for John Holland.

Mr Roberts has been charged with getting the company fighting fit following the mining downturn which has ravaged all and sundry in the resources supplier sector, and then helping it transform into a company with a strong digital presence to complement its century of maintenance and supplying know-how.

The company started as a supplier of wire rope but evolved into a company supplying both the commodity side of the business, as well as services.

“It’s a family-operated business which is still majority family owned and has been trading for over 100 years,’’ Mr Roberts says.

“It’s found a niche which it has done really well in, supplying lifting and rigging services and products to a range of industries.

“It grew from there and today it’s the largest supplier of lifting and rigging services to industry in Australia.’’

The company now has more than 200 employees and turns over more than $60 million.

Its customers range from, as Mr Roberts says, the “fabricator around the corner’’ to massive liquefied natural gas projects which involve Nobles running on-site teams to ensure the rigging and lifting assets are properly maintained and supplied.

Mr Roberts is the first managing director to have been recruited from outside the business, and says his role is to get the company on a strong footing after the turbulence of recent years, then plot a path to growth.

“The business has very effectively ridden the mining boom, a large and important market has been the mining industry and the oil and gas industry,’’ he says.

“We’ve ridden the boom and now we’re experiencing the challenges you’d expect to see in a service provider to the mining industry.

“There’s the need to do some transformation work to get us fit.’’

“The first part of that is about leveraging technology and systems better.

“We will be looking at investing more in technology as it pertains to how we deliver our services in the field and how we interact with our customers.

“We’ll be looking at investing more in senior leadership around marketing and sales, including digital sales.

“It’s getting the digital channel right and we’re not there.’’

Mr Roberts says while there is competition in the commodity side of the business — the ropes, chains and shackles -Nobles has the benefit of being able to supply the experience and advice, which can be crucial.

“We will create the convenience of a supermarket but will supply the specialist expertise of a providore, if you like,’’ he says.

“With all of these industrial suppliers there are infinite variations so it’s about getting exactly what you need, and given the criticality of lifting, it’s imperative that you find the rope or the chain or the shackle or the buckle that will do the job you want, because the consequences of it not being done well can be catastrophic and can really interrupt your business.

“We think that notwithstanding the commoditsation of the product range, our future is very much down the service path, adding service if it’s required ... in many industries where uptime is critical, there’s demand for a service provider that knows what they’re doing.’’

Mr Roberts was managing director of Penrice Soda Holdings for more than seven years before it was placed in liquidation in 2014. While the business failed, consensus is that he fought hard to keep it going in the face of strong challenges.

He is also a former director of Business SA and the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy.

The Nobles board has also been strengthened with the appointment of former ElectraNet chief executive Ian Stirling as non-executive director.