Tom Glocer upbeat at close of 'a particularly memorable year'

“This has been a year of unprecedented challenge and equally unprecedented achievement for Thomson Reuters,” the chief executive told the group’s 50,000 staff on Tuesday.

“Over the past 15 months, the world came frighteningly close to economic collapse. But even though all signs in the global economy and in our business suggest the worst is behind us, nobody knows for sure what shape the economic recovery will take.

“To cope with this economic uncertainty, we are building on our company's strong 2009 performance by continuing to invest in the key projects that will help us restart growth and deliver long-term value to our stakeholders. I feel renewed confidence in our ability to do this. I have just returned from visiting many of our offices and customers in China, the UAE, India and Japan, and at each stop I found new growth opportunities and met with employees whose talent and passion for the business convinced me that we will capture those opportunities. Even in areas where growth has slowed or stopped for the moment, we have opportunities to take share and the people who can make it happen.

“I’ll have more to say on this as the new year begins. But now, as we reach the end of a particularly memorable year, I just want to take a moment to say thanks. Your dedication, hard work and skill drove great progress on our 2009 priorities.”

Glocer listed these as

• “Integration – thanks to an amazing performance in Markets, we're running ahead of target and schedule on the Reuters integration program
• “Globalization – we've taken bold steps to expand our position in the world's fastest growing markets such as building out our Westlaw business internationally and expanding our Scientific markets
• “Whole greater than the sum of its parts – there have been many successes here including the growing impact of the Thomson Reuters brand, which entered the top 40 of the world's most valuable brands this year, and the development of best-in-class product platforms such as Cobalt, Utah and the Global Tax Workstation.

“You accomplished all this in the face of the toughest economic conditions any of us have ever experienced.

Year's end is also an appropriate time to reflect on all that you have done to benefit our communities. As I see it, being a world-class company isn't just about hitting our numbers, important though that is. It's also about the values we uphold and what we stand for in the wider world. On that front, I feel incredibly fortunate to work for this company.” ■