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Positioned for strong progress in 2012


Weir CEO Keith Cochrane reflects on a successful 2011 and focuses on the Group’s priorities for 2012


Weir’s performance in 2011 demonstrates the success with which the Group has advanced its strategy, extending its positions in the mining, oil and gas and power markets and adding business capability. An excellent full year financial performance was the reward for


a great deal of hard work from all colleagues across our growing business. Nearly 14,000 people now work for Weir as we have added employees in support of our growth plans. My thanks go to you all for your continued hard work.


It is worth bearing in mind that our strategic pillars of innovation, collaboration and global capability were rolled out in Spring 2010. In many organisations, a fresh strategy can take time to fully embed. Not so with Weir. I believe that our strategy has had strong momentum from the outset, with firm evidence in the last year coming in the shape of new products taken to market, bottom line benefits from cross-divisional collaboration and a strong expansion of our global presence, particularly as we add to our capability in the world’s emerging markets. We have also invested in engineering resources across our divisions, recruiting more engineers and developing Group- wide technology initiatives. This is of fundamental importance. We must continue to produce solutions of the highest quality and innovate to stay ahead of our competitors. New members were also welcomed to the Weir family. Seaboard and Novatech joined the Group, exciting developments that progress the Oil & Gas division strategy and grow our position in a fast-growing market. HIM Tech, now Weir International, a South Korean valves manufacturer, extends our emerging markets presence and Power & Industrial’s valve portfolio. Strategic progress has been supported by an ongoing


focus on operational excellence. Improving scores in the Weir Commercial System, Weir Production System and Net Promoter methodology demonstrate a continued focus on customer needs and the application of a lean philosophy across our operating platform.


One of the priorities I have taken a particular interest in has


been progressing Weir’s people agenda, in terms of development opportunities for current employees, and attracting the best external talent to our business. That is of great importance to our ability to deliver sustainable success as we continue to grow. During 2011, key senior management appointments were made, focused on operational support and talent development and across the divisions a number of important posts were created to drive growth and add to our existing skills. A consistent management and leadership development framework aligned


to the Weir strategy was established during the year, creating a talent pipeline to support the present and future needs of our global operations, from graduate level through to the Group’s senior leadership. Keeping Weir people safe remains a key priority and


our performance in 2011 was disappointing. A number of developments during 2011 reinvigorated our safety focus following a decline in safety performance. An Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) excellence committee has been established under the leadership of Gavin Nicol and the committee has introduced a number of important initiatives to ensure adherence to high and globally consistent standards in health and safety practices across our operations. Weir is, of course, a business that guards against complacency and we must seek to build on a strong 2011 performance by continuing to effectively deliver against our priorities. In 2012 the challenge is to continue to grow in an uncertain economic environment. I believe that we are positioned to achieve this. In 2012 we will continue to grow by successfully integrating


Seaboard and Novatech to leverage our products, skills and geographic reach. We will ensure the smooth execution of capacity additions at Weir SPM and support growth plans in the Minerals division. At the same time, we will build on 2011’s strong new products momentum with a specific focus on Oil & Gas Forum initiatives. Operationally, we will look to develop the performance of our supply chain as we seek to increase efficiency and our responsiveness to customers. As we deliver these priorities, we will improve safety performance through the work of the EHS excellence committee.


As we focus on our objectives for 2012, I am tremendously


excited about the short and long term future of our business. There is a great deal of work to do to achieve our ambitions but we are well positioned to progress this year, as we continue to focus on the strategy and adding the capability that is vital to ensure enduring success for our Group.


Keith Cochrane Chief Executive


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