What more indeed? Clifford’s family – Sue and he were to have two daughters – has given him the emotional foundation that his career needs. Over the years he has visited 57 different countries (so far). It’s not surprising to hear him admit: “Many times I’ve woken up and thought, where the hell am I?”

Back at Broken Hill at the start of his career, life was more down to earth – one mine at a time. Was he ambitious in those days? “To a degree you’ve got to be ambitious, but keep your aspirations a bit private,” he maintained. “Keep your horizon reasonable but focus on the immediate – you need to make sure that you deliver in the short term.”

He’s also grateful to managers who gave him the chance to get ahead whilst he was young. “I try to reinforce that to people within the organization,” he stresses. “We shouldn’t be afraid to give talented young people opportunities. They’ll make some mistakes on the way and they won’t know it all, but in the end the organization will benefit. Sometimes a safe pair of hands may seem the right way to go and you certainly need them. But you need some attacking batsmen too.

“I think there’s a tendency to wait until people have had experience in everything before they get the next click up,” he continued. “However, talented people won’t hang around for ever waiting for seniority to kick in.”

So it was for Clifford at Broken Hill. Thinking that he might have to wait a while for further promotion, in 1976 he was tempted by another opportunity. Fortunately for the company and himself, he stayed within the Group, moving into coal where “a host of opportunities had opened up.” It was to prove a good decision – later, in his thirties, Clifford was appointed MD of Kembla Coal & Coke.