Top 100 CEO Interviews
Issue No. 40 - April/ /
Reborn at Osborne
Former St Peter’s College student and Adelaide lawyer Guy Roberts is a young CEO on a mission – to revitalize the operations of one of SA’s oldest manufacturers.
The ex-Orica Group senior executive recently completed his first year as CEO of Adelaide-based Penrice Soda Holdings – a period that has seen Guy and his senior management team focused on transforming Australia’s only manufacturer of soda ash and sodium bicarbonate into a more dominant global player.
Immediately on taking the helm, Guy began a comprehensive review of the Penrice business. Soon after, he implemented a multi-million dollar, ongoing expansion and upgrade of its manufacturing plant at Osborne to improve productivity and output.
Guy has taken a ‘re-birth’ approach at Penrice. An important component of his strategy is to introduce advanced, environmentally responsible manufacturing processes to reduce the Company’s ‘green’ footprint.
Next he successfully renegotiated several supply contracts, including those with Pilkington Australasia, Australia’s biggest float glass manufacturer and a major soda ash customer and Amcor Glass, a leading wine bottle maker.
And the new leadership team has won new contracts in the booming Australian and international mining and resources sectors – a new and profitable growth area. Penrice overcame international competition to win a soda ash supply contract for the US$2 billion Goro nickel mining project in New Caledonia and a 10-year, $100 million deal with Precious Metals Australia for its Windimurra vanadium mine in WA.
“The past 12 months have been an extremely challenging and rewarding experience for everyone associated with Penrice,” Guy says.
“Establishing the right strategies to successfully grow the business has been vital, but more importantly, having the right people to get the job done is essential. Already we have seen improvements in the performance of ...
