News
GINGER BROWN CELEBRATES
MILESTONES THUS FAR
By Martin Steenkamp
I
t is with great pride and a sense of nostalgia that we at Ginger
Brown are being honoured and acknowledged by the RACA
Journal and Cold Link Africa in celebrating our 60 th anniversary.
Not many companies achieve this milestone let alone one that
has seen three generations but continues to grow as local industry
leader in terms of manufacturing, service and custom-designed
cooling systems.
Ginger Brown is not so much a family business but rather
in essence a business that is run by three generations of family
members. By adopting this philosophy, we ensure that sound
business decisions are made, and emotions are put aside as this
could be detrimental to our business and all involved.
The name of our game is to ‘get it right the first time’ and we
do constant research to make sure that we fully understand our
clients’ needs. I can proudly say that no job is too big or too small
for our knowledgeable, committed, loyal and accommodating
employees who have all adopted and embraced the principles of
our founding owner, Gordon Ernest Brown.
Ginger Brown has been built on the principles of honesty,
pride, humility, accountability, opportunity and perseverance.
I truly believe that this is what sets us apart from our rivals and
assures that our clients continue their long-standing business
relations with us.
We will continue to grow by thinking out of the box and taking
on new prospective employees as they are the future of our
company. Longstanding employees will continue to strive to pass
Martin Steenkamp, Ginger Brown MD.
6
RACA Journal I January 2020
on invaluable knowledge to our younger generation.
A special thanks to Isolde Dobelin of Open Trade Training
Centre (OTTC) for doing such a sterling job of training and
preparing highly skilled candidates to tackle our industry. We have
already acquired the services of some ‘diamonds in the rough’
with huge potential for the years to come.
A special word of acknowledgement and thanks must be
given to Warren Gordon Brown for his constant commitment
to our company that is so dear to him. His mentorship of many
individuals past and present has enabled us to keep growing
and ensure skills and information is passed on for generations
to come. He is a pioneer in our field and due to his constant
perseverance and researching of potential problems thrown our
way he has always managed to find solutions that many others
have failed to find. Warren Gordon Brown is the backbone of our
technical and design team and he continues to lift our company
to new heights as well as ensure that when it comes to custom
designs, we are second to none.
We all need to absorb as much as we can from him before he
rides off into the sunset and enjoys a well-deserved retirement
after dedicating almost half a century of his life to the industry
and Ginger Brown. My late grandfather, our founding member,
always told me that learning never stops and we should always
evolve to become better at what we do as well as understand
everyone's role within our company.
This is something I did from the onset of my career at Ginger
Brown. I learnt that every employee contributed to the running of
a well-oiled machine and everyone was equal. Do not take anyone
for granted as they could be the major difference within your
organisation.
Facing hardships in life is not uncommon for us and our
company, but without such hardships we will never grow and
adapt to the ever-changing world we live in. The hardships faced
in the last five years were the loss of Gordon Ernest Brown who
was a true gentleman, a person who would go against the grain
to do what was right and take the shirt off his back for anyone
that was in need. So many of us learnt valuable lessons from him
and although we all aspired to be the person he was, for most
it was an impossible task as there was only one ‘Ginger’, ‘GB’ or
‘Makhulu-baas’ as he was affectionately known.
Many others and I are what we are because of him and
his actions.
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