Graeme Hunt, Managing Director and CEO of Transfield Services, started his career as a metallurgy trainee for BHPs steel business. He spent 12 to 15 years in the steel sector before moving into transport, particularly shipping and port management. He then transitioned into the resources sector, holding roles with global responsibility before leaving BHP just after the global financial crisis hit. Graeme became CEO of PNG-based Lihir Gold, which had operations in PNG, Australia, and West Africa. Following the merger of Lihir with Newcrest Mining in 2010, he established his own successful consulting business and became a professional company director, joining boards such as AGL and Transfield Services. He eventually stepped down from the Transfield Services board to take up the MD and CEO role in November 2012.
”I’ve had lots of experience on both a global and a national basis across most of the sectors that this company now does work for. So I am very familiar with being a client and I am very comfortable around capital-intensive industries, be it infrastructure like roads, rails, and ports, or in mining, petroleum, or energy. It certainly gives me some insight into the customer’s view of the world, the challenges that exist on both sides, and the importance of getting the maximum out of the physical assets.” I also understand how to get the maximum out of the human assets that are involved in the running and maintaining of those plants and operations. Most importantly, I know what performance is needed to justify the original investment cases in those physical assets.
Transfield Services operates in a unique field as a global provider of operations, maintenance, and construction services to the resources, energy, industrial, infrastructure, property, and defence sectors. The company takes a very hands-on approach to ensure maximum quality and life span for all assets under management. ”Most of the time, you will find the twenty-odd thousand people that work in our business on our clients sites. So they’re out there, in some cases, with a rag and a spanner in their pocket making sure that the facilities continue to run. In other cases, it is project managing the delivery of a new facility for a client.”