Dutco's UAE order book at Dh4bn |
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Dutco Balfour BeattyDutco Balfour Beatty
's order book continues to remain strong and this year the company has business for over Dh4 billion in the UAE, it said yesterday. "The Middle East accounts for somewhere under 10 per cent of our business across the world. This year the business will be over Dh4bn in the UAE," said Ian Taylor, CEO, Balfour Beatty. "We are looking to develop business across the UAE but our core market will remain Dubai. We have a strong order book, and as all contractors in this market we have the ability to deliver. But we have to be careful about what we take on."
Dutco Balfour BeattyDutco Balfour Beatty
yesterday inaugurated its new staff Training and Development Centre in Jebel Ali. The Dh2.5 million facility will offer a comprehensive range of courses, including health and safety (HSE), construction skills and general management training. Dubai-based Dutco Balfour BeattyDutco Balfour Beatty
is a leading construction company and operates throughout the UAE. The company has two shareholders - Dutco Transport CompanyDutco Transport Company (51 per cent) and Balfour Beatty (49 per cent). "For us, safety is core. If we are safer than our competitors, then we will outperform them. It is not about regulation. Our bar is higher than the legal minimum in any area," said Taylor.
The centre is certified by both the UK's CITB-ConstructionSkills Authority (a partnership between CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Construction Industry Council and CITB Northern Ireland) and the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) as an approved training provider for HSE courses.
The HSE programmes offered include Health and Safety Awareness, Site Supervisors' Safety Training Scheme, IOSH Working Safely and IOSH Managing Safely.
"We have already completed 11 IOSH training courses at the centre. Participants receive certificates from the relevant bodies and these courses will only serve to improve the HSE performance of the individual employees, our work sites and ultimately the industry as a whole," said Grahame McCaig, general manager, Dutco Balfour BeattyDutco Balfour Beatty
. The facility also imparts a comprehensive management training regime to effectively assist junior-level engineers and quantity surveyors attain the skills necessary for project manager and senior quantity surveyor functions.
DBBDBB
has, in terms of turnover, grown 12-fold over the past six years and its workforce has surged from 2,000 in 2002 to over 16,000 today. "The dynamic development of the construction industry gives way to a potential increase in incidents of unacceptable HSE practices and reduced quality across the industry. The overall skill level declines result in a drop in overall efficiency and productivity," said McCaig.He said work is in progress on the Sheikh Hamdan Awards building, which will be completed by March 2009. Interchange five-and-a-half will be completed by February 2009. "Other projects include the Lagoons and the Creek extension. Regarding the latter, we have almost finished with the phases one, two and three and are doing the tie-in between phases two and three. We are also working with Nakheel Waterfront and Tiger Woods Golf course project," he said.
"There are a numbers of tenders that we are busy with currently. Our scaffolding and formwork division is doing well on the Dubai Sevens contract at the moment, and the project will complete mid-November."
According to him, business is not slowing down. "Currently, there has been no impact on work. There are lot of rumours going around but they have no basis," said McCaig. "If you do take measures, you can work your way around issues."
Agrees Taylor: "We are going to see construction markets affected internationally. But most of our customers are government agencies and we are in a pretty good situation. As a company we have liquidity and an order book and customers whose plans do transcend individual cycles. So we are going to see that impact on us quite slowly and in a way, hopefully, which we can react," said Taylor.
"Each contract has its own contingency plans and we could react quickly but those issues are really about the basic disciplines in management," he said.
By Sona Nambiar
© Emirates Business 24/7 2008
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