Reasons to be cheerful How big are the opportunities for the new global Rail & Transit Engineering organisation within SNC-Lavalin? The sky’s the limit, according to Group Managing Director Richard George. Viewpoint caught up with him at the company’s London office Words Andrew Bennett Photos Kevin Nixon Feature Over the past few months, the combined expertise of around 1,000 Rail & Transit engineering specialists and their activities have been brought together under the SNC-Lavalin banner, following the rebranding of many of the company’s previous acquisitions. The new team – combining former Interfleet staff at its core with those in Kuala Lumpur, Montreal and Vancouver – offers clients the same world-leading skills as before, but it can now take advantage of the wider opportunities created by being an integral part of the SNC- Lavalin operation. Before the integration, SNC-Lavalin operated under many different brand names. These have now been consigned to the history books, and the future has a very positive – and aligned – outlook. Group Managing Director Richard George has some messages for staff and other audiences with an interest. ‘Branding for customers is important, and this is much more about providing coherence in the marketplace – about getting across the SNC-Lavalin name as a global offering – than about internal organisation,’ he explains. Skills in the business are in great demand around the world, and this is only likely to increase, so Richard encourages people to focus on the big picture. ‘I’m sometimes asked: are we part of Rail & Transit, or are we Rail & Transit Engineering? The important thing is, this is all being done not for an organisational desire, but because of how we present ourselves coherently to the market. ‘We have always said that engineering, operations and maintenance, and the construction are separate business units. They need different sorts of management and remain different business units. ‘So I don’t manage rail and transit operations and maintenance – I manage the engineering teams. Likewise, I don’t manage the big construction teams; the new VP for Rail & Transit Construction, Rupert Holloway, does that.’ SNC-Lavalin will be pursuing consultancy projects of all sizes, and big design and build projects, and the reach of the company – across various sectors and markets – will open more doors. Making the relationship clear ‘Culturally, the company’s different offices are much more similar than they think they are, but the message here is: there is little we don’t want to do in terms of projects,’ says Richard. Discover our end-to-end expertise in Rail and Transit ‘There is no conflict in my mind at all about doing both consultancy and big projects. ‘The relationship we, as the engineering team, have with big projects is sometimes misunderstood,’ he adds. ‘Our job is to provide rail and transit engineering expertise to these big schemes. But they are never our schemes, as they almost always belong to joint ventures that are separate companies. ‘With huge amounts being invested in major rail projects around the world, the biggest challenge will be to recruit enough engineers with the world-class skills required to keep pace. ‘This is a big arena and we need more people everywhere. Do not think, for one minute, there is not enough room for our skills. With huge amounts being invested in major rail projects around the world, the biggest challenge will be recruiting enough engineers with the world-class skills required to keep pace Richard George Group Managing Director, Rail & Transit Engineering ‘I can’t think of a region where we are not actively recruiting – for instance, in Australia, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Canada. The latter is particularly challenging to recruit in, because there are a lot of ongoing major projects and they absorb a lot of people.’ Richard sees the SNC-Lavalin blue flag flying in some places where the company does not yet have a presence. However, he cautions: ‘There are some projects we will turn down – and there are some parts of the world I am not happy to send people to. ‘Some jobs, we won’t do; there are some places we won’t go, some risks we won’t take; I’m very happy with that. There are also some places we have to stop and think about before we go.’ Emerging opportunities Aside from work in countries such as Canada, Malaysia, the UK, Sweden and Germany, the Middle East is emerging as a huge opportunity for Rail & Transit. The company now has a bigger presence there following its acquisition, in 2014, of the former Kentz Group, which had a reputation for expertise on oil and gas projects. Another country of growing importance will be the United States, where Richard detects a sea- change in attitudes. ‘A number of places in the United States are just beginning to realise that some of their city regions need railways, not just motor cars,’ he says. ‘There are high-speed lines being planned in Florida, Texas and California that, 10 years ago, would have seemed impossible.’ Whatever the challenges ahead, the SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit engineers look set for an exciting ride. Richard contributes another encouraging thought: ‘Some things are the same wherever I go, including huge technical competence and confidence among our staff, and a love of the railways. ‘Wherever you go, people are deeply committed to rail and transport – and to its development and growth, and to making rail better. That is fantastic.’ viewpoint@snclavalin.com snclavalin.com Video to blow up to this size