June 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
14
marketplace
THE NEW BRAND
signature is more
than a slogan: it conveys both the force
of the Group’s ambition and of its strategy.
It expresses Lafarge’s vision, gives its ac-
tions both meaning and clarity, and marks
its difference.
“It is our ambition to contribute
to building better cities,” says Lafarge
Industries and Lafarge Mining Chairman,
and for the business to come together in
the WorleyParsons global structure,”
explains McNiff.
The transition process will be man-
aged by executives from both companies.
“The aim is to bring the people, systems,
tools, and capabilities together as quickly
as possible in a seamless manner so as not
to disrupt the business too much, while
capturing the synergies. We expect some
cross-fertilisation of key staff,” says McNiff.
“What we are building here is a bigger and
more far reaching business.”
Globalising and diversifying
“WorleyParsons’ entry into Africa goes back
a few years but was then more focused on
West Africa,” says McNiff. “It was clear that if
youwant to be taken seriously on the African
continent then you have to be serious in
South Africa. That was one of the key drivers
why we realised that we needed to have a
footprint in South Africa.”
“In South Africa you have a good pool
of highly skilled resources in the mining
sector – these resources are not too rich on
the ground in other parts of the world so
accessing those skills and resources are key
development areas.
“If one takes those resources and skills
with the capability and track record thatTWP
has with the global footprint, brand equity,
processes and systems that WorleyParsons
have, we have the ability to build up a world-
class execution centre here in South Africa
that can access local projects but alsoprojects
internationally,”says Townshend.
“Over the last years there has been a trend
for global companies to acquire SouthAfrican
companies – not just in the mining field.
Fairly soon there will not be a huge number
of South African engineering companies that
are not foreign owned and controlled.That is
recognition of the level of skills that we have
in this country and the attractiveness of the
various organisations,”says Townshend.
“For a long time now, TWP, while a large
organisation in the African space, has been
trying to getmore of itswork outside of South
Africa by growing its business elsewhere.
We have been reasonably successful in
Africa. Six years ago we opened up in Austra-
lia (Perth) and three years ago we opened up
in South America (Lima) where we have 150
staff with projects in Bolivia, Columbia, Chile
and a project in Canada that ismanaged from
Lima. But is has been difficult, slow and pain-
ful to expand globally from a South African
base,”says Townshend.
WorleyParsons hasmore than 40 000 staff,
and operates in 41 countries.
“The presence in all those countries
brings a new market to TWP, but more im-
portantly, brings in-country expertise. There
have been a number of projects that we
have been working on in conjunction with
WorleyParsons – for example in Kazakhstan
andMongolia.Those are countries we would
be a bit cautious of as TWP, but with the
in-country presence of WorleyParsons, we
will now gladly do projects in these regions,”
explains Townshend.
“In Africa,TWP is considered aTier 1 com-
pany, big enough to take on major projects.
The biggest undertaking currently is the new
Venetia Underground Project – it is just shy of
R20-billion. However, we are not considered
as Tier 1 on a global basis: globally, a project
such asVenetiawouldbe outsideTWP’s frame
of reference. With WorleyParsons being a
Tier 1 supplier to many of the mining houses
on a global basis, it opens up doors for TWP,”
emphasises Townshend.
“The objective to turn South Africa into
the global mining and precious metals hub
gives us the opportunity to what WorleyPar-
sons calls ‘work share’ around the world. We
can build up the expertise in South Africa –
which already has the necessary experience
– while it is also more cost competitive than
other areas in the world,”says Townshend.
“In the end it is a very good fit for both
parties,”concludes McNiff.
●
New brand positioning announced
Lafarge South Africa has announced the repositioning of the
international Lafarge Group’s global master brand to reflect the
increasing shift to urbanisation taking place throughout the
world. The new brand signature ‘Building better cities’ pledges
Lafarge’s commitment to help create sustainable cities and rural
developments that are desirable environments for all people.
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