Turner & Townsend has revealed a plan to plug gaps in its expertise, which are preventing the firm from bidding for work. The strategy comprises acquisitions and a targeted recruitment drive, stretching from Northern Ireland to Southern Africa.

Tom Harrison, UK managing director, revealed he was trawling T&T’s Southern African operation for staff. The company has 14 offices and 200 employees in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Harrison said the standard of quantity surveying in Southern Africa was excellent: “Many QSs there are English-speaking and the contract and procurement system is similar.” T&T already has at least 30 South Africans working in its London office.

Harrison said he had resorted to the strategy because T&T was having problems recruiting in the UK: “On some occasions we have had to say we can’t bid for that job because we don’t have the requisite quality of staff.”

The company will be hiring new people in every office in the UK. It will also improve its resources through acquisitions.

As a first step, T&T has bought a QS and project management company based in Northern Ireland, Roy Kirk Associates, which has a turnover of £400,000 and eight members of staff.

T&T has a small team of just four people in Belfast and has co-operated with Roy Kirk on projects for the past six years.

Growing gets more difficult as you get bigger Tom Harrison,

Harrison said the acquisition was aimed at expanding his firm’s geographical reach and picking up bigger bits of work in Northern Ireland. While T&T had expertise that was in demand in Northern Ireland, in order to win work, he said, “we needed local knowledge and connections on the ground”.

Roy Kirk specialises in PFI work. It is anticipated that this will continue, but, with the backing of its powerful new owner, the firm will now take on more ambitious projects, including major private sector schemes.

Roy Kirk’s name will eventually be changed to Turner & Townsend. Its two partners, Ronnie Little and George McCamish, have become directors at T&T.

Roy Kirk recently won a framework contract for road-building projects from Northern Ireland’s Department of Regional Development and it is also working on a £13m regeneration programme at five sites for Belfast City Council.

Harrison confessed that “growing gets more difficult as you get bigger”.

Source

QS News