Article from Northcroft Australia office
With borders opening around the world, Northcroft board members from Australia and Asia were able to meet in person to hold the 23rd Northcroft Asia board meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea. As close collaborators, the ability to meet together was something every board member missed throughout the pandemic. In fact, the last face-to-face board meeting was held in Fukuoka, Japan in 2019.
Northcroft Asia
Northcroft was presence in the Asia-Pacific since the late 1800s when Northcroft was the quantity surveyors for the constructions of naval dockyards for the British government around the region.
The story of Northcroft Asia started in the mid-1980s, when Northcroft decided to broaden its presence in Asia after winning several major commissions in the region, including working as the quantity surveyors working with Sir Norman Foster for the new HSBC headquarter in Hong Kong.
Chairman Lim Chan Hoe was the director of an independent quantity surveying practice in Singapore and Malaysia. He was approached by Northcroft UK to join forces with them in the early 1990s to broaden Northcroft’s presence in Asia and Northcroft Lim Consultant Pte Ltd was found.
Driven by the Chairman of Northcroft UK at the time, Mr John Chaffe and through the network of Chairman Lim Chan Hoe, Northcroft Asia was incepted in 1995 with the founding directors being Mr Lim Chan Hoe, Mr Foo Jin Ping, Sr Kent Kam, Sr Lai Chi Cheung and Mr James Loo and with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
Northcroft Australia became a member of Northcroft Asia in 1998 when our then director, Mr David Wallace, became a board member of Northcroft Asia.
In addition to Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Northcroft nowadays has offices throughout Greater China, in Cambodia and in Myanmar with projects all over the Asia-Pacific region.
Saying farewell to 3 founding directors
In addition to making decisions on strategy and operational direction for our Asia-Pacific offices, the board also farewelled three retiring directors who were instrumental in establishing our offices in Asia, Chairman Lim Chan Hoe, Sr Lai Chi Cheung and Mr James Loo.
Chairman Lim Chan Hoe guided the group through the 1990s and 2000s and has overseen the exponential growth of the group through the period.
Sr Lai Chi Cheung from our HK office and Mr James Loo from our Singapore office are both the founding directors of Northcroft Asia and both were instrumental in growing our presence in Greater China and in Southeast Asia.
In his parting speech to the Board, Chairman Lim recounted the day when he had his first meeting with Northcroft UK. He also spoke about the challenging times the group had weathered in the late 1990s with the Asian Financial Crisis and in 2008 with the Global Financial Crisis. But through it all, Northcroft Asia has grown and established an outstanding reputation throughout Australia and Asia.
The entire Northcroft team wishes Chairman Lim Chan Hoe, Sr Lai Chi Cheung and Mr James Loo good health and happiness in this new chapter of their lives.
“Global Vision, Local Knowledge” is our mantra
One of the reasons for Northcroft’s success is our ability to call on expertise from around the world while harnessing valuable local knowledge. This is part of Northcroft’s corporate DNA. As a result, we now have offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and of course, Australia.
With our experience with the Sydney Olympic, Northcroft was selected as the technical adviser for the Beijing State Owned Asset Management Ltd and was involved in a number of projects for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, including the “Water Cube”, the National Stadium and the athlete’s village.
Words of Wisdom
In his farewell speed, Chairman Lim left us with two quotable quotes. The first is from Confucius, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising after every fall.”
The second is well-known but absolutely relevant to all of us in both our working and personal lives, “We must have the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things that we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” – Anonymous
Working together to achieve client goals
With Northcroft’s global presence, we are able to provide a significant range of quantity surveying services wherever you are located. To learn more, contact us for an initial discussion.