A year of success

by ArabianBusiness.com staff writer Thursday, 17 January 2008

It is safe to say 2007 proved lucrative for Drake & Scull. Embarking on a number of district cooling projects, namely in Dubai Investment Park (DIP) and Motor City, the company also found time to heavily invest in industrial water and power. Ending the year on a high, Drake & Scull's achievements were highlighted in December at the first MEP awards, where it collected the awards for Contractor of the Year and Medium MEP Project of the Year.

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"2007 was a very good year for Drake & Scull. We were overjoyed to win two MEP Awards, I just wish we could have had a bit more time to prepare for the submission, because we didn't really put through our pride and joy and biggest projects. This includes district cooling at Dubai Festival City and Jumeirah Beach Residence," says Qais Saleh, strategic planning director, Drake & Scull.

A leading contractor is one who can afford to be selective.
"The industrial water and power segment of our business in particular, is going really well. We have recently signed a big project in Saudi Arabia and another in Bahrain," he adds.

The Jumeirah Beach Residence project in particular caught the eye of many industry insiders. When Drake & Scull was the awarded the contract, it was the largest district cooling plant in the world. This mantle alone is a sharp indication of the scale on which the company operates.

Its traditional MEP services also progressed at a fast pace during 2007. "We delivered the Shangri-La hotel in Abu Dhabi in a record seven months, from walk-in to walk-out. The client was very happy," notes Saleh.

Looking to build on last year's success, Drake & Scull have high aspirations for the coming 12 months. Of global interest, the company hopes to deliver the Golden Mile on The Palm, Jumeirah. Stretching over one mile long and with a total of 10 buildings, tenants are expected to move into the unique luxury complex before the last quarter of 2008.

"The property boom in Dubai is crystal clear to everybody - there is plenty of business to go around. A sign of a leading contractor is one who can afford to be selective and attracts high profile clients who know what they are paying for. We have been very selective and on average respond to one in five enquires as we do not want to stretch our resources too far," explains Saleh.

It is possible to go and sign another two or three billion dirhams in work right now, everybody is hungry for a contractor to work on site.

With such fierce demand, Drake & Scull have been proactive in ensuring it has personnel to match the scale of their projects. The company admits this has proved a challenging task, having struggled to find mid-level technical staff. With technical resources continuously becoming more expensive, Drake & Scull has adopted a long term planning process.



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