Project: Flexibility

Mike Berry and Jean Van Loggerenberg, CKR Consulting Directors.

Mike Berry and Jeán van Loggerenberg of CKR Consulting tell MEP Middle East that it is time MEP companies follow their lead if they want to survive in a tough market

South African firm CKR Consulting has been involved in the MEP industry in its home country for nearly 30 years. In 2001, the company made the move into the Dubai market, looking to take advantage of the construction boom in the UAE emirate.

That boom saw the company swell from an initial three directors to 55 plus staff in total. Despite the struggles caused by the economic downturn, not a single staff member was retrenched from the business.

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Ten years on and the company has seen it all, from the highs of the mid-2000s to the lows of the property market crash, and is still standing, looking to take the next step forward.

Helmed by Stefano Richards from the company’s headquarters in South Africa, CKR Consulting is regarded as one of the biggest MEP consultants in that country.

It has worked on some of the most prestigious projects, including the Melrose Arch mixed-use development in Johannesburg in 2001 and the Montecasino East End in 2007, the largest entertainment resort in Johannesburg.

The Dubai consultancy is run jointly by Mike Berry, Anil Menon and Jeán van Loggerenberg, who are the strategists, lead engineers and directors of the firm.

Since its inception in 2001, CKR has landed some of the biggest projects in Dubai including the Royal Mirage Resort in 2002, the Madinat Jumeirah Resort, the Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa, both in 2004, the Park Hyatt at the creek in 2005, Old Town Island, including Souk Al Bahar at the Burj Khalifa precinct in 2007 and the premier Capital Club at DIFC in 2008.

Since then, the company recently completed the Palm One and Only boutique hotel on The Palm Jumeirah. They have also branched out into Abu Dhabi, and are currently working on the St Regis Hotel on Saadiyat Island, which is expected to be handed over to the developer by November of this year.

However, despite these major projects, Jeán van Loggerenberg says that the focus of the company has shifted since the global financial downturn, with smaller projects now assuming a significant chunk of the company's project order book.

“What happened to us was that the markets changed totally, especially in this region. There are a lot of potential projects out there, a lot of potential leisure and hotel projects around Dubai and the coast here,” he says,
“But I think we’ve had to become more of a typical consulting practice as you’d find in other parts of the world, particularly in South Africa, where you handle a number of small projects, yes, you may have one big anchor project, but you do need small projects coming through the office quickly.”

Keeping this in mind, CKR Consulting is working on a number of so called ‘smaller projects’, including a warehouse, retail fit outs, car dealerships and fitness centres.

While this could be seen as step back in some quarters, Mike Berry says that it is anything but, and has in fact allowed the company to post a growth in 2010, when a number of other rivals registered declines.

“It’s the nature of our business; we’re quite flexible and have been able to do very large projects as well as very small projects. Our projects range from the St Regis project on Saadiyat Island to a number of shop fit outs. We’re doing warehouses and car dealerships and so on. We’re very flexible in what we can do. In South Africa, we’re probably more diverse than we are over here,” Berry says.