Al Habtoor's Voyer: Civil to dominate our projects

Al Habtoor Leighton has bucked the 'doom and gloom' says Voyer.

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Al Habtoor Leighton is driving to increase its projects in civil engineering to make the sector 70% of its total work, according to an executive.

Laurie Voyer, managing director at the Dubai-based contractor, revealed the intended percentage in an interview with ConstructionWeek earlier this month.

Though the company may be more well known for its residential projects in the second biggest emirate, such as Executive Towers in Business Bay, and work on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi international airports, Voyer said now is the time to build the firm’s reputation in the civil sector as it seeks to diversify.

“We’re established here in the market for general buildings though there is also scope to develop our name in civil engineering, as there might be more jobs in this field than in buildings,” said Voyer, who in June celebrated his first year in his current role after transferring from Australia.

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“In future years I’d say we might be perhaps 70% to 30% for civil jobs rather than buildings.”

Al Habtoor Leighton – a merger of Al Habtoor Engineering and Australian contractor Leighton - also tenders for contracts for rail, offshore oil and gas and mining.

Voyer explained that any change of emphasis or expansion into new markets would be in line with demand, and that the company’s backlog meant he was “not particularly concerned” on the continued slump in the emirates compared to previous years.

The company has a number of subsidiaries under the umbrella ‘Associated Businesses’, comprised of joint ventures with leading companies in their field. These include fit-out, steel fabrication and MEP work.

Voyer described Saudi Arabia and Qatar as “very strong economies” and is keen for expansion, despite the challenge of taking business away from the local players in the Kingdom. The year so far and the breadth of services appear to bode well for the company. “Probably a few months ago everyone was predicting doom and gloom - yet we posted a higher turnover,” he said.