In 1967 Boral had been persuaded to buy a 50 per cent share in Norman J. Hurll and Co. (Victoria). This had originally been intended to be a silent shareholding and was a highly strategic move for Boral, as Norman J. Hurll had an agency for gas reforming plants from a European company and supplied these units to gasworks throughout Australia. However, Norman J. Hurll was family-owned, and the company ethics were very different to those of a public company such as Boral. The two proprietors had very different views on management, and before long there was a major dispute between the parties. By the end of 1970 Norman J. Hurll was operating at a loss and Boral management recommended it be sold off. However, the contract of sale was unattractive to Boral and Neal, with his experience as general manager of the Gas Supply Group, was asked to give his views on the company. Griffin sent Neal to Victoria to spend time looking at the business. His instructions were, `You can let the sale go through, you can close it down and not let the sale go through, or you can operate it - the decision is yours'. Neal came back to Sydney at the end of the fortnight and reported back to Griffin that he felt the company, properly structured with some management changes, could make money, if it concentrated on what it knew best. Griffin said, 'Right, you're the chairman of the company,' to which Neal responded, `I don't want to be chairman, as long as I have the authority to make the changes.' Griffin countered, 'If we make you chairman of Norman J. Hurll and Co., there'll be no doubt about your authority.' The family sold out and Norman J. Hurll became wholly owned and directed by Boral in 1972. Boral paid the company's creditors and recovered the tax losses on Norman J. Hurll within a year and a half. By this time Boral had acquired the Brisbane Gas Company and Norman J. Hurll had been turned around. But there were problems with Glen Iris Bricks in Victoria, which Boral had acquired in 1970. As well as managing the Gas Division and Norman J. Hurll, Neal was put in charge of Boral's Brick and Concrete divisions. In January 1972, Boral formally withdrew from its joint venture with Total by selling its 50 per cent shareholding in Total-Boral Limited to Total Holdings (Aust) Pty Ltd. This ended nearly twenty-five years of direct involvement with the oil refining industry.   Aerzener blowers at Shellharbour sewerage plant in New South Wales. The blowers supply clean oil-free air to the waste effluent to maintain the oxygen level required for the sludge treatment process. The blower assemblies were designed, built and commissioned by Norman J. Hurll and installed in 1976 (with permission Norman J. Hurll).         »»