Rising demand for National Group’s mining equipment and services is expected to drive another year of sustainable growth.
National Group has had a strong start to 2024 as it beds down contract extensions and awards.
National Group founder and managing director Mark Ackroyd said there has been an increase in client activity in the first quarter of 2024, driven by both new and existing business.
“National Group has a very full pipeline of work,” he said. “January was extremely busy with tenders for future work and it hasn’t stopped since then. Every week, we’re doing more pricing for more equipment, which is a good sign.”
The esteemed mining services company expects to announce several contract awards and extensions this year, some of which will take the company in new directions. That follows record revenue for National Group in the 2022–23 financial year (FY23).
“We’re doing more work in the iron ore sector and expanding our footprint in the renewables sector,” Ackroyd said. “That’s part of our strategy to continue to diversify and grow National Group’s operations.”
In this Q&A, Ackroyd discusses National Group’s 2024 plans in detail.
What are some of National Group’s key goals this year?
The big one for me is ensuring we have the right people in the right positions, that everyone continues to buy into the company’s culture, and that we create opportunities for people to grow their career as National grows.
We’re looking at a lot of growth ahead, so making sure we have strong foundations to support that growth and maintain our service levels is an absolute priority for 2024.
Why has National Group seen an uptick in client enquiries?
It’s partly due to the strength of Australia’s mining sector and also because of National Group’s strong track record. We have successfully implemented several major contracts that were announced in FY22 and FY23.
Our clients continue to extend our work on certain contracts and build on their long-term relationship with National Group. We’re also getting more enquiries from new business which is pleasing.
What are National Group’s aims in the clean-energy sector?
Building a bigger presence in renewables projects is a long-term strategic goal for National Group as we look to support the decarbonisation of economies.
We want to contribute to the sector’s growth through equipment hire and maintenance at critical minerals projects, and also through other services, such as National Heavy Haulage.
Our recent contract award to transport batteries and inverters to the Waratah Super Battery project in NSW is an encouraging development for National Group.
There’s rising demand for equipment and services for clean-energy projects, and given our track record, we believe National Group can be key partner in the development and continuation of these projects.
How important is diversification for National Group?
A few years ago, we developed and implemented a strategy to diversify National Group by commodity and location.
Coal remains a very important commodity for our business, and we continue to be optimistic on the medium-term prospects for Australian coal, particularly for steelmaking. That said, we have recognised the need to reduce our reliance on coal over the long term.
To that end, National Group has increased its work in gold, iron ore and bauxite – and now in renewables through our work at the Waratah Super Battery project.
We expect to continue that work in 2024 and for coal to represent a lower proportion of our overall revenue over time. That change will be gradual: the world will need Australian coal for a long time to come, particularly in developing economies.
Why is National Group investing so heavily in its workforce?
This is partly to keep up with rising demand for our services and to ensure we are well prepared for several new contract extensions and awards that we expect to announce this financial year and next.
I believe National Group will need to double the size of its full-time workforce over the next few years given the size of our current and anticipated work pipeline. We have invested in more recruitment staff to help with that process.
Another reason for our recruitment campaign is to develop more people internally in the National Group way. We have one of Australia’s best maintenance teams in our field, so it makes sense to leverage that intellectual property through internal training, such as our expanded apprenticeship program.
We’re also giving our people more opportunity to learn new skills and take on extra responsibility.
How are you prioritising diversity and inclusion?
A highlight for me over the past few years has been the increase in the number of women working at National Group, not only at our head office on the Gold Coast, but also in our workshops and at mine sites.
We want to recruit more women, particularly for maintenance-related roles, and have successfully done so through our apprenticeship program. That work will continue in 2024 and beyond because it is good for National Group operationally and culturally.
However, it’s not just about gender. We want people from all walks of life to consider building a career at National Group. From Indigenous employees, to older people, or those who have never dreamt of working in mining – there’s varied career options at National Group.
What are your corporate social responsibility plans for 2024?
Our CSR work continues to grow and become more structured and resourced. National Group’s ethos has always been to support communities where our employees live and work. That often means helping community events in remote towns, and pitching in with financial or in-kind support.
Under Kain Ford’s leadership as head of marketing and partnerships, we’ve taken that CSR work up several notches in recent years, notably through sponsorships of Indigenous groups and health charities.
In 2024, you’ll see National Group supporting Indigenous rugby league teams, mining industry awards (to promote equal opportunity) and other community organisations. We want to do more in this area.
What are National Group’s safety objectives for 2024?
We’re very pleased with National Group’s safety performance but take nothing for granted. We achieved several important safety milestones in 2023, such as seven years LTI (lost time injury) free at the Caval Ridge mine site in the Bowen Basin, which covers the entire contract length.
Two years injury free at the Daunia mine site in Queensland and one year injury free at our new Moolarben Coal contract in NSW were other highlights last year. We intend to build on that safety performance in 2024 and beyond through our safety compliance processes, governance and training.
How are you maintaining your culture as National Group grows?
National Group’s competitive advantage is its agility, problem-solving ability and customer-centric approach. Because National is privately owned and founder-led, we can make decisions quickly and put customers at the absolute heart of what we do. The risk is that you start to lose that culture as the organisation grows and new people join.
I’m pleased to report this hasn’t been the case at National Group. We’ve worked very hard to ensure everyone here has the same customer-focused mindset, from the teenage apprentices right through to our executive ranks.
We have a really good crew of people who have the right ethics, attitude and willingness to work together, and to consistently do a great job for our clients.
Most of all, we have developed and maintained an organisational culture that encourages people to grow with National Group as it grows, and share in its success. If we continue to do that in 2024, National Group will deliver another year of sustainable revenue growth and help our customers deliver extra value.
This feature will appear in the April 2024 issue of Australian Mining.