Achieving the success for the business and all our stakeholders is dependent on driving through what we call our “Culture Goals”. These are:

• Embedding a delivery culture
• Creating a structured growth programme
• Driving Group-wide management development.

The first, Delivery, was initiated to ensure what is promised is delivered. The 2003 results marked a clear step in the right direction but they represented only a start. We are progressing this initiative through a strengthening of the central finance team, an increased investment in control systems, more comprehensive budgeting processes and monthly reporting disciplines, the continuation of the innovative LTIP and bonus scheme for senior executives.

The second culture goal, the Growth Pipeline, is a structured approach to organic growth, whether it be new products, geographic markets or ancillary services. Its intention is to identify opportunities that can benefit us in the short term or will take longer to have an impact but we are undertaking this in a more planned way than has been the case historically. We are complementing this by strengthening our selling and marketing personnel and investing resource in researching new markets and technologies. While such tools and the necessary cultural transformation will take time to embed, we believe that our sales growth in 2003 shows some early benefits and illustrates we can take our share in our often fragmented marketplaces.

The third, Management Development, is based around the recruitment, retention and development of a consistently high quality management group. It is our belief that this is vital for the medium to long-term delivery of our growth aspirations as well as our ability to absorb further acquisitions. In addition to a number of recruitments in the last few months, we have created a new role, Group Head of Management Development, to focus exclusively on this programme and the development of a range of training programmes. This is the first such initiative undertaken by Low & Bonar PLC for many years and will, we believe, significantly enhance our ability to attract and retain high calibre individuals.

It is our intention that by driving these three Culture Goals in parallel, we will meet our aspirations for short, medium and long-term financial growth and create the capacity to expand by acquisition as well as organically.