Sir Eric Neal.     Griffin stepped down as chief executive in October 1973. This was a difficult task for him, as he had managed the company for twenty-seven years. Neal recalls, 'It's fair to say that during the succeeding months he was somewhat loath to give up the reins'. Griffin was now deputy chairman, but he still occupied the same office and came in every day. Neal's first year as chief executive demanded extreme tact and patience. 'At the end of 1974 I had the reins fairly firmly in my hands and Sir Elton was relaxing. It was probably just as well because he was told at that time he had a terminal disease and never returned to the office. He only survived about six months, and died in June 1975.' When Griffin retired, John O'Neill paid him this tribute: 'It was the hard work and genius of Sir Elton which had projected the group from its small beginnings to the position it occupies today, during which time the assets of the Group have increased from $3,270 000 to $1,118,637,000 in 1973, and the profit before tax in 1949 (its first full year of operation) of $81,494 to a profit before tax of $12,613,891 in 1973'. Griffin had always had a reputation of being fairly hard-nosed and volatile within the business community. He expected a lot from his staff, often sacking on the spot those who didn't agree with his decision or dared to venture an opinion contrary to his own. On one occasion, a financial journal ran a piece about Griffin's management style in which it posed the question `What would be the definition of an optimistic Boral employee?'; the answer being 'A staff member who arrived at work in the morning with a cut lunch'. O'Neill was not amused by this but Griffin could see the humour in it.         Sir Elton Griffin and Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen at the upgrading of Newstead gasworks in 1973, just before Griffin stepped down as managing director.     Gerry Wells, who worked closely with Griffin in the early days, comments, 'Griffin was a very forthright person who ran the company with a very strong hand and sometimes what appeared to be a very gruff exterior, but credit must go to him for the initiatives taken in the early years of the company's progress. He could also be a compassionate man, as many faithful employees found out over the years.' Eric Neal was appointed chief executive on Griffin's retirement. He had been managing the resources and gas divisions - most of Boral's operations. He had also been appointed to the Boral board during that year. As the new chief executive he was keen to expand but it was a difficult period. A Federal Labor government came into power at the end of 1972, and Australia was going through a period of raging inflation (especially in 1973-74). Even so, Neal could see there were a lot of opportunities for expansion. The building industry was growing and, despite the inflationary climate, Boral decided to increase its operations in this area. Boral expanded heavily in brick making, quarrying and new steel and concrete products. The Kiama quarry was opened in March 1974; Glen Iris Campbellfield brickworks had two kilns added in December 1974; Albion Reid's South Australian quarrying operations were expanded; a new factory was built for Steel Mills Queensland and Boral doubled the gas-making capacity of the Brisbane Gas Company.   The cover of Boral's 1975 annual report. The company used these graphics for some years to illustrate the diversity of their businesses.     »»