Calling the shots

The company has a stellar list of government clients in the GCC and overseas.
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For Scoble, success in this field is more about specifying the membranes. “It’s really understanding how far you can push the project and how you can integrate it into a system. To get the maximum value out of a product, you have to systemise the whole thing and get it bolted together into a coherent plan; that’s how you get your savings, and that is exactly what the client is trusting us to do.”

Another major project that MWH is hoping to win is the ADSSC deep pumping station contract at Al Wathba. A consortium led by Kharafi National, and which includes MWH and a number of other contractors, will construct a pumping station around 100 metres below ground in order to receive, screen and pump water from a new tunnel being built from Abu Dhabi island.

“There are only a few manufacturers who can design and build pumps that big,” Scoble says. “We’ve done similar pumping stations at the same capacity or depth in Kuwait and Hong Kong and the people who designed those projects are actually on our team. We’ve got a couple of features in our tender that we think will be appealing to ADSSC.”

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But MWH’s portfolio is not limited to just the UAE. Through its joint venture with Gulf Consult in Kuwait, the firm has won a number of complex sewerage projects, including a recent US$17 million four-year contract to assist with sewerage and new trunk mains pumping stations in Kuwait. In Jordan, MWH has just won a $2.5 million contract with the Millenium Challenge Corporation.

With regard to the key Saudi market, Scoble says that has been something of a hiatus in the company’s activity. “We used to be one of the biggest consultants there and we pulled out about 10 years ago, although we’re now looking at going back in again,” he states.

“We will try and build strong relationships and develop our business organically, focusing on core clients such as government bodies or their agencies, or with firms like Saudi Aramco.”

The MWH executive adds that there are a couple of projects the firm already has its eye on, including water transmission schemes. “Our contacts in Saudi Arabia want to bring us into the country – I’ve fielded some calls recently over the flooding crisis in Jeddah – and there’s no doubt that the Kingdom is a huge market.”

Scoble is also keen to highlight the benefits of Libya as an emerging market. MWH is working on two types of project in the North African nation; infrastructure projects for quasi-government clients, and specialised water modeling and irrigation design for clients such as the Great Manmade River Authority (with which MWH won a $5 million contract).

“We’ve just opened an office in Tripoli and have seen no downsides to working there,” Scoble indicates. “Naturally you need to be Arabic-speaking, but that’s something that our business has to adjust to.”

The issue of language clearly reflects greater efforts on the part of MWH to build closer relationships with its client base. Scoble says that from a recruitment perspective, the consultancy needs to be able to communicate and participate more effectively in local business dealings, and has plans to recruit more Arabic-speaking project managers.

“That’s probably a reaction to more indigenous consultancies springing up,” he explains.