The alliance, called the HOK Partnership Network, will enable the firm to work in four more European countries and service an increasingly important type of client: the global corporation demanding global solutions.
Launching the partnership network at last week's MIPIM property fair in Cannes, HOK managing director Ralph Courtenay explained: "In response to the requirements of our multinational clients, we have forged alliances with like-minded practices across Europe. HOK has delivered projects across Europe for our clients, and the network has been developed as a result of the preference for a local presence when these projects are being developed and built." With a network of 27 international offices and a number of alliances in place, HOK is able to offer clients such as US-based telecoms giant Nortel Networks a worldwide solution to its building needs. HOK's exclusive global contract with Nortel has spanned 2000 projects over the past five years, worth more than $5bn (£3.4bn) in construction costs and at least $100m (£68m) in fees.
Last year, about 32% (£136m) of HOK's total fee income came from multi-location work for multinationals, with its top 10 clients alone generating 69% of this. HOK is hoping to secure exclusive global contracts with IT giant Cisco Systems and oil megacorp Mobil Exxon.
HOK is not the only construction group signing lucrative deals with the world's largest companies. Last year, Bovis Lend Lease landed its biggest-ever contract: a £1bn-plus, five-year deal to manage BP's retail outlet building programme in 12 European countries, 40 US states and Japan. Bovis Lend Lease, which has 38 subsidiaries worldwide, also has deals with Coca Cola, Nokia and Lucent Technologies. Global deals now represent 15% of its workload, and the figure is expected to double in the next few years.
Consulting engineer Mott MacDonald, which has 50 offices and 5000 employees around the world, has also signed an exclusive global deal with an unnamed multinational. "All the major players are targeting the multinational clients," says Tony Powlesland, group business manager at Mott MacDonald. "It's the way that most major consultancies would like to take their business.
In the long term, it offers the potential for greater consistency of workload, refined design and a relationship of trust and respect." But servicing multinationals is no easy matter. They are demanding clients that expect projects to be finished on time and to high standards anywhere in the world. This means handling the local culture, planning regimes, procurement policies and building regulations to produce a product that matches corporate expectations.
"International expertise has to be matched with local knowledge," says Ian Macdonald, director at architect Aukett Europe, whose multinational clients include Benetton, Microsoft, Intercontinental Hotels and Oracle.
The trick is your dexterity in handling different organisations and types of design across time zones and cultural borders Ian Macdonald, Aukett Europe
Forging alliances with local firms, as HOK has done, is one way around this problem. Aukett has done the same, linking up with practices in the USA. And earlier this month, Mott MacDonald announced a deal with the Australian-owned Connell Wagner in a bid to target the Asian Rim.
An alternative is to buy your way into the global marketplace, something Mott MacDonald did last month by acquiring Killam, a US engineering consultancy with 12 offices along the east and west coasts. "We hope it will give us access to US-based multinationals," says Powlesland. Mott MacDonald is now targeting giant US clients, pitching for one-off jobs in the hope that they will lead to worldwide contracts.
Amec is also turning itself into a world player. Last year, it bought Canadian engineering and technology group Agra as part of a bid to transform itself from a low-margin contractor working on general construction projects into a high margin, technology-based global service provider (How Amec is using technology, above). "We have to act and think globally now," says David Paterson, Amec's senior vice-president of corporate affairs. "Our business goal is to be the preferred supplier and business provider for companies like BP and Shell. We've got to be proactive to develop a North American presence." But if you want to take on global clients, you have to be big – and you have to be organised. Without access to a pool of financial resources and staff at a moment's notice, you will not be able to respond quickly enough to a multinational's requirements.
"You have to be a certain size to benefit global clients," says Nigel Thompson, vice-chairman of multidisciplinary consultant Arup. It has 70 offices worldwide and a global business desk in New York to track current and potential corporate clients. Existing customers include pharmaceuticals group Proctor & Gamble, banking corporations Credit Suisse, First Boston and HSBC, and car giant Ford.
Servicing such major players means adopting innovative client management systems. Several firms, including HOK, Arup and Mott Macdonald, have copied an idea from the advertising industry, employing account managers to look after clients. Powlesland believes account managers are crucial to smoothing over potential problems: "It is important that they are always in touch with the client to ensure that delivery to deadline, quality control and problems are discussed and solved." HOK has about eight global account managers responsible for individual multinationals and a 60-strong programme management team based in Canada that helps to run outsourcing, administration and scheduling for Nortel.
In addition, three years ago, the firm set up an integrated corporate services group at its headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, to meet global clients' demands.
