Pair of pioneers

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Low points in the economic cycle often herald industry consolidation, and no more so in the Gulf and in construction.

Firms large and small may seek new countries to retain a decent backlog, but the general trend is for companies to either hunker down and see out the tough period, or merge with a peer to pool resources. The mergers of consultants Davis Langdon and Aecom last year, and Halcrow and CH2M Hill this year, are evidence of the latter.

Two men woven into the fabric of the region’s engineering industry have done the opposite. Mark Whitby, previously founder and chairman of Whitbybird, the UK engineering firm that had many successful years in the region, and Peyman Mohajer, a former colleague in the company, have struck out together and established a new design engineering outfit.

Whitby & Mohajer Engineers is a classic entrepreneurial set-up – a currently small operation run by the two men that leverages their combined decades of engineering experience and a bursting book of contacts of former clients and associates still active in the region. Based in a modest first office in Dubai’s Al Barsha district, which it is about to vacate to accommodate its first recruits, the firm aims to deliver the specialist designs for structural and MEP work to clients, allowing its size to work closer and more flexibly with clients.

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FEATURED COMMENT All the best for your new venture. It really great to see both of you together once again, all the best.   1 Comments Read more comments »

The high levels of enquiry already for the pair’s new venture has been amazing, says Mohajer, and it almost brings the company full circle. “Mark and I are very confident about what we have started, and feel a little nostalgic about the early days of Whitbybird when we started in the Middle East. The response has been enormous; we have been so encouraged on the back of the Whitbybird brand we had here.”

“People have picked up on the old brand and said: ‘You are back!’” Whitby adds, picking up the thread in an instant. “In many respects, it is very exciting. I think what it is that clients are looking for is that, as more and more companies are merging and becoming part of larger companies, there is this specialist, personalised advice.”

The pair worked together at Whitbybird before it was bought out by Danish consultant Ramboll in 2007. Formed in 1983 by Whitby and a non-engineering investor, the company enjoyed explosive growth in the Gulf in the last decade as the region developed.

With the merger, Whitby became chairman of Ramboll’s UK office, with Mohajer installed as regional director of the Middle East. A London-raised Englishman, and established professor and lecturer in his field, he says that entering into a bigger firm through being acquired had the inevitable effect of reducing his personal contact time with projects.

“Both of us were casualties of what happened when Whitbybird merged. What I anticipated is that, as businesses grow, you get to the point of being totally removed from being engaged in the [project] work,” says Whitby. “And I am passionate about design. One of the advantages of setting up the business is to be able to return to being able to work with clients on their projects. It was more difficult to do [after the merger],” he says, adding that his former employer had nevertheless “done brilliantly” in winning the quantity of work it has worldwide.

A new firm puts the two executives right back at the coal face. They add that there is nothing like putting your name on a company – and thus your personal reputations – to regenerate that hands-on responsibility reminiscent of the fledgling Whitbybird years ago.

Their aim for the firm is simple, though it has a number of elements. As former clients that had projects in Dubai and other markets, the company wants to follow and service them on current projects. It will also engage with new potential clients. The flexibility of a small operation allows them to accept projects and peer reviews as far afield as Libya and the Levant, the Gulf and Iraq, Iran and India.

“What I find is clients call us – for example, we are bidding for a good job in Turkey,” says Mohajer. “These are our clients who used to be active in Dubai that have gone out and are coming back to the people they have known and worked with, and trust, and say, ‘we have this job, can you help?’”