1965

This year the company is seventy-five years old and, coincidentally, it is the centenary of the birth of its founder, my father the late Mr. Robert Marriott, who was born on the 4th December, 1865. Thus this year marks a significant milestone in the progress of our enterprise.

However, I believe that the importance of the occasion lies not merely in an arbitrary matter of dates. Rather it lies in two things. First it is only the good things in any field — art, music, industry etc. — that survive the acid test of time. This we have done, and consequently it is a testimony to our policies and our work that each year we have gone from strength to strength. Secondly, and in parallel, this constant record of successful building is a tribute to the men, past and present, who have worked for the company and made it what it is.

Today the yardstick of a good firm of building contractors lies not merely in size, resources and plant, nor yet in the quality of work alone. The real criterion is in the ability to lay down a fast, economic schedule of construction, and then adhere to it. This is the basis of building something far more important than any one edifice — it means building a reputation: the reputation for integrity and keeping one's word.

Since the very outset this principle of keeping faith with the architect and the client has been a fundamental in the policy of Robert Marriott Limited. Allied to this was the high standard of quality laid down by the founder who would never compromise with second-rate work.

In the early days my father established a reputation for fine work. Indeed many old buildings which form part of our heritage in the Midlands feature the results of the craftsmanship and skill of Marriott workmen. As examples one may quote the internal alterations and repairs to Hatfield House, work on the restoration of Long Melford Hall in Suffolk and, more recently, the oak panelling in Barnwell Manor, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

So the reputation of Robert Marriott Limited was born: born of the genius of the company's founder to thrive on the loyalty and skill of its craftsmen. At the same time the pattern of success was established in the relationship between management and men, the key being fairness which at all times must be mutual.

Naturally it is also a matter of considerable gratification to me personally that in an era of business changes there has been continuity in the family nature of the company. Here 1 should like to pay particular tribute to my late brother, Major R. A. Marriott, who preceded me as chairman of the firm. Not only did he devote some forty years to the company, but he also played an important role in the civic affairs of Higham Ferrers. Today his two sons are on the Board of Directors and, with my own Son, we have three members of the third generationof the family in the firm.

When, in 1948, our founder, Mr. Robert Marriott, died there was no break in the continuity of the company's affairs.

One epoch of the firm's history closed, another began.

After the 1939-45 war conditions in the building industry changed, more emphasis being placed on housing and indus-trial building. To meet this situation we began a gradual process of building up an organisation that was at once versatile, efficient, and geared for high-speed construction.

This build-up within the company covered a period of years before the ultimate high-speed efficiency we now set could be achieved. It meant instilling everyone, from the managing director's office to the shops in the yard, from the site agents to the men on the site, with the spirit of admitting no difficulties or delays, with a pride in achievement and, overall, it meant building up a team spirit.

This esprit de corps extended to our suppliers and sub-contractors, each of whom soon realised that once a Marriott schedule was drawn up it was adhered to rigidly. They knew that the planning of the job had been studied with care and that Marriott's part of the work would be executed on time. They, in turn, were expected to conform to the overall plan—in effect a Marriott job meant priority. Delays were not allowed.

This policy of pre-planning, sound organisation and site efficiency soon had an effect. 'Marriotts of the Midlands' gained a unique reputation for high-speed building, and as one project followed another so that reputation grew. A £200,000 school in Aylesbury was built in 12 months to the day; a £100,000 office block in Leicester was completed in similar time, while a £440,000 Luton College of Technology project was carried out in half the time originally envisaged. These are just examples; there are many other similar jobs, and they are all a direct result of the policy underlying the planned build-up of the organisation—the policy that led to the establishment of the phrase 'Marriott build—fast', not as a myth, but as a fact proven in bricks and mortar.

Now the past is dead, except as a matter of history from which we may learn lessons, and as a matter of memory that may give us pleasure for there is much in our first seventy-five years in which we may take a just pride.