THREE GENERATIONS of father and son in the m.d. seat, and staff that have extra long service tell the tale of the 70 years of personal service to clients which ADB McGregor is now celebrating.
The Durban-headquartered customs clearing and forwarding company was established in 1929 by Alexander McGregor. His son, Atherden took over the reins in 1952, to be followed in 1965 by the latter's son, Mervyn.
At first it was eastern coastal ports which saw the McGregor line of offices opened. Then Atherden McGregor gave Johannesburg its first office in 1938, with Cape Town joining in 10 years later.
Current m.d. Mervyn McGregor worked in both the Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth offices before his appointment as the head of affairs in Durban.
We have a history of mainly import services which have seen us moving just about every form of general cargo, he says. Exports make up about 15%
of our current operations, though this is a developing sector.
Long service employees have added to the stability of the company. In Port Elizabeth Leonora Goosen has the company's record, with 42 years at that branch.
Present Johannesburg director Michael Kennelly joined the company in Durban 32 years ago and also saw service in the East London branch before his Reef appointment. James Ncanana came on board in Durban at the same time as Kennelly, and has remained as the Durban branch storeman ever since.
Company secretary William Clark has been in the Durban office for 22 years, one year longer service than Cape Town director George Hull.
When the Johannesburg International Airport office was opened in 1981 Alex Paddock took up the managerial role which he holds to this day, and Port Elizabeth manager Gabriel Diedricks has been in that post since 1984.
With them the company has moved with the times, today offering a full service in costing, customs bill of entries and document tracking on the Compu-Clearing Clearways system.
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