RLB in Hong Kong: 50 Years at a Glance 回顧利比香港五十載

6Founder’s MessageI have been privileged to haveour supportive clients, ourhardworking and effectivedirectors, our capable andresponsible staff. We haveachieved so much together, andwith its dedicated leadershipand its strength and competenceI am fully confident that thepractice will continue to achieveeven more in the future.I am extremely excited that Rider Levett Bucknallis celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year inHong Kong.After 36 years with Rider Levett Bucknall, I retiredfrom the practice in 1999.50 years is a very long time. The practice wasestablished before many of you were born, butlooking back over the years and remembering howthings used to be it seems hardly any time at all.The years have passed by so quickly.We could not have built our practice without thehardwork, care and deep sense of responsibility ofour staff, past and present, both technical andsupportive. It has always been sad to lose staff, buthappily we now have a very large number of RiderLevett Bucknall old boys and girls throughout allsectors of the property and construction industryin Hong Kong and China who still retain happymemories of the time spent with us during theirtraining, and who remain good friends.When I look at us now, 1500 staff in 20 offices inHong Kong and China, my mind goes back towhere it all started. Just 8 of us in two rooms inYun Ping Road, Causeway Bay. This was a longtime ago but I remember it all very clearly asthough it were yesterday. We have come a long wayfrom those modest beginnings. Thanks, therefore,to our clients who have always supported us.Thanks also to our directors, deputy directors,associate directors, associates and staff, the firmhas grown from strength to strength until we arenow one of the largest firms of quantity surveyorsin the world.At the time Rider Levett Bucknall was establishedthe quantity surveying profession was hardlyrecognised and accepted in Hong Kong. Theprivate practice firms were just hanging on by theirfinger tips, and two out of the first five firmspracticing here had to close down through lack ofbusiness.Since then the quantity surveyors, through caringabout their clients and striving to provide themwith a high quality service, have built up theprofession so that now it is fully accepted, and thequantity surveyor is looked upon as an essentialmember of the client's team.The firm has always been a major part of my life,demanding long hours, hard work and persistencein promoting quantity surveying services to clientsand architects which was very hard in the earlydays. I have always been very proud of our practiceand its people, and it has given me a deep sense ofsatisfaction to see us grow stronger and moreinfluential over the years.I have been privileged to have our supportiveclients, our hardworking and effective directors,our capable and responsible staff. We haveachieved so much together, and with its dedicatedleadership and its strength and competence I amfully confident that the practice will continue toachieve even more in the future.Denis G. Levett