Murray Surveyors: Steeped in 75 years of tradition, founded on small-town values

Murray & Associates Nambour office staff including directors, front from left, Ian Smith, Blake Bell and Andrew Campbell.

The Murray Building in 1980. The company is still head-quartered in the same premises.

Fred Murray

Iconic Nambour company helps build the Coast, grows throughout  State

Nambour’s Murray & Associates is one of the oldest and most respected surveying and town planning specialist firms in Queensland. Their work on private and government projects has shaped local communities and helped forge the development landscape across the Coast since 1946.

This year celebrating its 75th Anniversary, Murray & Associates reflects on its involvement in the defining moments of the area, such as the Bruce Highway and the Sunshine Coast airport.

Director and Sunshine Coast Branch Manager Ian Smith said the anniversary was an opportunity for current Directors and staff to honour the integrity and work ethic of their forebears who established the company in its first 30 or 40 years.

“They laid strong foundations and they were very important and stoic people,” he said.

“We’re proud to continue those traditions. And we like to think, just as they paved the way for the Sunshine Coast, we are playing our part in forging the Coast of the future.

“Since 1946 this firm has been involved at every turn when something big was happening on the Coast. It’s pretty remarkable.

“I guess we’ve grown with the Coast and with Queensland from solid foundations laid in the tradition of Fred Murray.”

Lasting values: Positive environment maintains high employee retention

A friendly work environment and commitment to its people has resulted in exceptional employee loyalty at Murray & Associates.

In fact 73 percent of almost 50 staff have been with the firm more than 5 years; 47 percent for more than 10 years; and several for more than 20. There are also four married couples working in the company.

“I don’t know what it is,” said Sunshine Coast Branch Manager Ian Smith. “But we’ve just got so many husband and wife teams, or sons of previous surveyors and grandsons of previous employees that came from Fred Murray’s era, still working here now.” The ‘family’ feeling is comforting to many in the company. “It’s nice that there are different generations working here. There always have been. I was with the group that took the reins from Fred in 1996 and we’d all worked here prior.

“We’ve always provided a lot of security for our staff and their families and we’ve prided ourselves on that.”

Continuing that tradition, Mr Smith’s 18-year-old son is in his first year of studying surveying at the University of Southern Queensland. “So that family involvement even happened in my family,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith said the industry tended to keep staff grounded. “We have a lot of staff who have spent time living, working and even camping in the bush when we’re doing rural surveying work, so there’s a lot of intrinsic old-school bush skills and attitudes that keep everyone fairly down-to-earth.”

At the end of the day the commitment to its people means the team at Murray & Associates are satisfied, work hard and are able to deliver results to their clients. Additionally the five current Directors of Murray & Associates actively manage all facets of the business day-to-day, to help ensure client needs are handled efficiently.

Company expands from Surveying to Town Planning and Project Management

Since 1946 Murray & Associates has been providing surveying services across Queensland, but changing demands meant the firm’s evolution and expansion to town planning over 20 years ago was a significant value-add to its clients.

The different planning acts made work more complex and extension was required into town planning. “Town planning and surveying both go hand-in-hand in this more complicated world,” said Branch Manager Ian Smith. “Once upon a time we could do it all just on our own, but now you’ve got to have another discipline to look after the approvals.”

Director of Town Planning Blake Bell said the firm covered projects in residential, commercial, retail, industrial, energy and resources sectors.

“We now have five dedicated Town Planners operating throughout Queensland,” he said.

“Every engagement, no matter how small or large, is important to the company. The experience and knowledge we have developed over our long history, together with our strong network of consultants and key government personnel, means we can challenge and negotiate on our clients’ behalf and that can mean the difference between a successful development or not.”

 Meanwhile, the licensed cadastral team of land surveyors use modern software and equipment to deliver accurate and cost-effective solutions. “We maintain open lines of communication and a flexible approach,” said Director and Manager of Field Operations Andrew Campbell. “This way we can produce personalised service and tailored CAD solutions optimised for the benefit of our clients.”

 Murray & Associates also provide consultancy and management for a range of projects from private developers, builders, engineering firms, landscapers and architects to councils and service authorities throughout Queensland.

Seven offices serving regional Queensland

Founded by Fred Murray in 1946 in Nambour’s Currie Street, Murray & Associates now boasts seven branches across the state including Maroochydore, Caboolture, Gympie, Roma, Chinchilla and Emerald.

The firm expanded from a purely surveying focus to now cover Town Planning and Project Management, and while some major projects are undertaken in Brisbane, its roots have always been grounded in regional Queensland.

“The majority of large firms our size would generally be Brisbane-based,” said Ian Smith.

“Whereas we’ve always prided ourselves on the fact that we’re a regional company and we serve Queensland country.”

About Fred Murray

Fred Murray, pictured above, was one of the Lands Department’s top contract surveyors and was President of the Society of Registered Surveyors. 

In 1974 he turned his attention to Local Government administration and served as a Maroochy Shire Councillor for Division 3 from October 1974 to March 1976 and from 1979-1985. He was elected Chairman of Maroochy Shire Council in 1985 until his retirement in 1994. 

Mr Murray was awarded an O.B.E. for his service to the Maroochy Shire community. He died in January 1996 aged 76 years.

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