29
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JUNE
2014
PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
Eric Wisse, former managing director
of Concor Roads & Earthworks, heads
up the new business that continues to
operate from the Murray & Roberts campus in
Skeen Boulevard, Bedfordview.
The integration process began in March
this year and will be fully effective from July,
when the new financial year begins. Existing
contracts under the former business units
will run their course and new tenders will
be submitted under the name of Murray &
Roberts Infrastructure.
“Coming from the original Concor stable,
both Concor Civils and Concor Roads &
Earthworks have traditionally operated in the
infrastructuremarket with a fairly large overlap
in the type of work executed by these compa-
nies,” Wisse says. “There were a lot of syner-
gies between them and over the years these
businesses have completed many projects
together via internal joint ventures. While the
continuity of their capabilities is unaffected,
we anticipate an ease of doing business with
the new business in terms of having a single
point of contact. The new business offers a
broad range of civil infrastructure develop-
ment capabilities for both public and private
clients building on the 66 years of experience
of these two Concor companies.
“The shedding of the Concor name will
provide more clarity to our customer base
in terms of how this business fits into the
Murray & Roberts Group. As a Group we
frequently provide the same clients with a
variety of service offerings and we want to
make this experience as simple and effective
as possible. The integration of these two
businesses therefore presents a joint solution
under one banner.
“This development has already been posi-
tively received by the clients we have engaged
with to date and we look forward to delivering
on their confidence in the coming months
and years with the new brand.”
Wisse adds that the integration will also
have positive spinoffs internally, notably in
the area of career development for the new
business’ personnel. Members of the Murray &
Roberts Infrastructure teamnow have a broad
scope in which to pursue their career paths,
either as generalists or specialists, in one of the
many disciplines that have been combined
to create the new business. This exposure to
a greater range of disciplines will ultimately
benefit its client base.
Jerome Govender, Murray & Roberts
Group executive responsible for the Construc-
tion Africa and Middle East operating platform
under which Murray & Roberts Infrastructure
falls, says the new business has the Group’s
full support.
“We have absolute confidence in the
leadership of its team and we know that this
new offering will be of greater benefit to
clients,” he adds. “Very strong competencies
have historically existed in these two busi-
nesses − competencies that have been part
of the backbone of the Group. We believe
that the time is appropriate to merge them
and rebrand them to continue the Murray
& Roberts heritage and tradition that offers
an integrated solution to the clients that we
serve as a Group.
“Over the past 112 years that we have
been in existence, Murray & Roberts has
added value to South African society
through an offering that has been built
up over the decades through acquisitions
and integrations.
“The new Murray & Roberts Infrastructure
division continues that tradition within the
Murray & Roberts Construction Africa and
Middle East operating platform which today
presents a formidable offering to our client
base, covering a full spec-
trum of engineering and
contracting services,
from civil and building
construction, road-
works and earthworks,
to engineering and
opencast mining.”
BRINGING CHANGE TO
INDUSTRY
Murray & Roberts has announced the integration of its Concor
Civils and Concor Roads & Earthworks into a new single business
called Murray & Roberts Infrastructure. It is expected to entrench
the cumulative and collective legacy of these businesses by
enabling a more focused approach of combined services. This will
enhance project execution and the ability to adapt to changing
conditions in the marketplace.
Eric Wisse, managing
director of Murray &
Roberts Infrastructure.
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