In-sector diversity and strategic development form the foundations for the UGM Group’s growth in coming years as the mining services company continues to invest in its people and processes.
The CEO Magazine recently spoke to Paul Hartcher, Managing Director of the UGM Group, about how the company has evolved since he assumed leadership in 2005 and what lies in store for the rapidly growing business.
The CEO Magazine: How did you redefine UGMs strategy and transform the structure of the business?
Paul: We took the focus away from a cash-driven outcome, which was really based upon immediate returns to the then shareholders, to a growth strategy that targeted longer-term objectives that we’re focused on building value in the company. That was a major change back in 2005.
We initially invested back into our people, and then we started to invest in equipment. But we never lost sight of the need to maintain that growth within conservative funding limits. We always kept our gearing levels related to the size of the business, and we we’re always aggressive with debt reduction. That’s meant that for quite some years any money we made was put back into the company.
On the way, we invested in some start-ups and weve made some acquisitions. We went down that path to get some diversity, and weve maintained that diversity in our sector, which we call mining services. Weve done quite well with that.