Local firm builds century innings

You may not have heard of it, but next month this business on Brisbane’s northside will celebrate 100 years, with a number of landmarks around Queensland still standing as proof of the firm’s enduring success.

HITTING A CENTURY

IT may have a low profile but one of Queensland’s oldest family-owned companies next month will celebrate the remarkable achievement of having been in business for a century.

TC Clarke & Son, the Northgate-based commercial construction, shop fitting and cabinet making business, was founded in 1919, the year a 27-year-old Thomas Charles Clarke returned from fighting in World War 1.

The young Thomas Clarke looked to the future and launched TC Clarke from the back room of his Clayfield house, and the rest as they say is history.

Among the company’s many achievements is the construction of several Queensland buildings that are now heritage listed, including the National Bank of Australia in Ayr and Mackay and the Goondiwindi Town Hall.

Geoff Clark and son Scott Clarke celebrating the family firm's centenary

Geoff Clarke, Thomas’ grandson who is now in charge of the company, says he knows his grandfather would be thrilled that the business remained in family hands. “I can imagine his delighted reaction if he knew that I was already planning to hand the reins of his thriving business to his great grandson, my son Scott,” says Geoff Clarke (illustrated). “This anniversary is very special to our family.” The anniversary event will be celebrated at the Tattersall Club on November 16.

BOWLING CLEVER

BORAL chairman Kathryn Fagg teared up at yesterday’s QUT Business Leaders Forum when recalling the junior sporting prowess of her father Lex who has suffered from polio since a teenager.

Fagg says her dad, now aged 87, was a talented cricketer before contracting the disease aged 18.

“After a marvellous day of Saturday cricket with his best bowling figures ever – 6 for 8 off 11 overs – he awoke the next morning to find that he could not move,” she recalls.

“He had been struck down by polio and from that day forward he has not walked unaided. For the last few years, he has used a wheelchair after many years of being on crutches.”

Boral chairwoman Kathryn Fagg. Liam Kidston.

REAL WELCOME

THE snazzy W Hotel in George St really lays out the welcome mat for its guests - several times a day in fact.

City Beat spies spotted a young hotel staff member just after midday rolling up a mat in the lifts that said “Good Morning” and replacing it with “Good Afternoon.”

Presumably the “Good Evening” mat is rolled out later.

W Hotel Brisbane.

CONE OF SILENCE

WE hear debonair bean counter Tony Schiffman is not demanding a corner office with city views after being elevated to the giddy heights of chief executive partner of BDO’s merged Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane offices.

In fact, Schiffman is well known for eschewing an office altogether, preferring to mix it with the other bean counters on the BDO factory floor.

When Schiffman does want some privacy for a meeting or a phone call, he goes into a cubicle. Sounds a bit like Maxwell Smart’s “Cone of Silence.”

SHIPS AHOY

BOAT making continues to be a bright spot for Australian manufacturing. Brisbane-based Aurora Global Logistics, which moves boats around the world, has in the last six months transported approximately 90 Australian-made boats, both privately owned motor yachts, sailing yachts and racing vessels ranging from 25ft to 100ft.

Aurora director Jason Roberts says the sector is being helped by a lower Australian dollar and appetite for Australian-made craft.

“We have ships going to the US, the Mediterranean, New Zealand and Asia,” Roberts says. “The total retail value is hard to ascertain, but they are priced from US$100,000 through to US$8 million.” Next week, Roberts will fly the Aussie flag at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. ‘FLIBS’, as it’s known, is the world’s largest yacht show, boasting more than 1,200 exhibitors and around 1,500 boats on display.