精东影视

Paul Dollin has only been at WSP for four months, but sitting in the company鈥檚 Chancery Lane office, he already seems remarkably at ease. Perhaps that鈥檚 because there鈥檚 one question, at least, that he鈥檚 expecting. 鈥淧ut it this way, if I had a pound every time I鈥檝e been asked it since I鈥檝e been here, I wouldn鈥檛 have needed the job,鈥� he says.

The question, of course, is how WSP compares to Atkins - its rival engineer, its closest peer on the London Stock Exchange and Dollin鈥檚 employer for the past 11 years, latterly as managing director of its design and engineering business. 鈥淵ou know, although we do similar things, we鈥檙e pretty different. And that鈥檚 about history and heritage. WSP came from the private sector and breeds a different culture as a result of that.鈥�

Different is also a word you could apply to Dollin. In a corporate world, where many managing directors seem almost interchangeable, the new head of WSP鈥檚 UK business stands out for his straight talking and roguish personality - a juxtaposition of extreme confidence and self-deprecation.

But does this character - who once gambled all his money in a start-up business venture, harboured dreams of becoming a nuclear physicist, and is just shy of his 40th birthday - have what it takes to achieve what he has been hired to do: in his words, 鈥渕ake the UK division of WSP bigger and better than it is today鈥�?

Dollin is in no doubt about his first priority at WSP - and that鈥檚 to better position the UK business for the current market. 鈥淩ecessions can produce a lot of navel gazing, but we鈥檝e got to get into the position where we recognise this is the market we鈥檙e in, not use it as an excuse and start finding clever and innovative ways to improve the business despite the difficulties,鈥� he says.

WSP delivered a steady performance in its last set of results - for the six months to 30 June, group turnover was 拢354.4m (拢376.9m in 2009), and profit before tax and exceptional items was 拢17m (拢17.7m in 2009). Of this, the UK accounted for 拢4.4m on turnover of 拢111.8m.

Dollin says that in the short term, he is focused on 鈥渋mproving efficiency and the company鈥檚 margin and cash position鈥�. This last is something he feels particularly strongly about, after an ill-fated attempt at running his own consultancy in the City in the nineties. 鈥淚 had great fun for a short period and learned lots of hard lessons,鈥� he says with a smile. 鈥淭hat included the importance of cash. We didn鈥檛 run out of profit, we ran out of cash. And there鈥檚 nothing like spending your own money to remind you of the good old saying, 鈥檙evenue is vanity, profit sanity, and cash is king鈥�.鈥�

To achieve these aims, he says WSP will take a more focused approach to the sectors it works in. This will include a push into infrastructure, namely the rail and energy markets. 鈥淚 think we can do a lot more in rail. Our culture is based very much around working in the private sector, so as some of the public and quasi-public clients in sectors such as rail are
struggling with funding, we can help because we鈥檙e used to working for quite challenging and demanding clients, and coming up with innovative solutions.鈥�

He says the company鈥檚 skills are readily transferable to growth in the energy sector. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got lots of good civil skills we鈥檙e used to employing in the transportation field, and know how to deliver a cost-effective solution. That will be applicable in a lot of large-scale thermal opportunities - read nuclear.鈥�

He says the UK division will harness WSP鈥檚 global expertise in this area - the company is working on the Olkiluoto power station in Finland - to aid its push into the market. WSP is not yet tied into alliances, but Dollin says he 鈥渨ill look at opportunities as they come up鈥�. These might be 鈥渕ore European than they are UK鈥�, he adds, reflecting the uncertainty that surrounds the new build programme under the new government.

Another area where WSP is making a move is the green retrofitting sector. The company recently formed a joint venture with Brookfield - Brookfield Green - to push into the market, and Dollin identifies this as an area where the company can really move forward. 鈥淐apital has dried up, but people still need quality accommodation, whether residential or commercial, and people will be looking at how they can adapt their existing assets. Obviously, there is a big driver now on being compliant and minimising the impact on the environment.鈥�

The company, like a growing number of firms in the consultancy sector, is also operating a small management consultancy arm. 鈥淚t offers us a good opportunity because it鈥檚 something we do already, particularly around advisory services for raising funding and structuring deals. Obviously, finance with a technical bent is going to become increasingly important, as there鈥檚 not as much money around as there used to be.鈥� Doing more in these sectors, particularly infrastructure, means the company will become more selective in the property sector - traditionally one of its main stamping grounds. The commercial glamour projects, such as the Shard, which have become synonymous with WSP鈥檚 engineering skills are also inevitably going to take a back seat in the current climate.

鈥淚鈥檇 love to be able to say there鈥檚 a market for lots and lots of Shards around the UK - but it might be a little bit limited,鈥� says Dollin, who lists the Renzo Piano-designed tower as his favourite building. 鈥淏ut,鈥� he almost shouts in his enthusiasm, 鈥渢he world market is there! We work round the world from the UK as well, and where we have world-class skills, or are following existing clients around the world, we鈥檒l do it.鈥�

Dollin believes it will be 2013-14 before there is a private sector market in the UK 鈥渢hat works again鈥�, but says he is seeing signs of green shoots. 鈥淧eople will start thinking about investing today to get in a position for that sort of timescale in property. Whether it will offset any downturn in the public sector - well, it鈥檚 difficult to say it鈥檚 going to balance that out.鈥�
WSP鈥檚 UK business is roughly evenly balanced into thirds between the public, private and regulated sectors, which Dollin describes as 鈥渁 good platform鈥�.

Although, like all firms, WSP has been hit by public sector cuts - Dollin attributes 50 redundancies made in July to the public sector downturn - he does not expect 鈥渕uch more material impact鈥� on the business. He will not rule out more redundancies, though, and says, 鈥淛ob security is a concern for everyone, and you can never say never鈥�. But he emphasises that he wants to take the focus 鈥渙ff downsizing as soon as there鈥檚 not enough work, and focus on winning the work鈥�. He adds: 鈥淲e鈥檙e a people business and we need to fight for job security, because without our people and motivation we don鈥檛 have much.鈥�

After significant international expansion, the UK now only makes up 30% of turnover for WSP as a whole. But Dollin insists the market is 鈥渧ery important鈥� to the group. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a UK listed business, and there are lots of skills we鈥檝e got in the UK that will help us to develop and grow other geographic regions around the world.鈥� When asked if this proportion could change in future, he smiles with characteristic assuredness. 鈥淚鈥檓 here to grow the business and make more money. So fingers crossed for WSP that it stays at 30%, because everyone else will be growing their part of the business at the same time.鈥� He pauses: 鈥淵ou never know, we might become bigger again.鈥�

Here he points to WSP鈥檚 track record for expansion. 鈥淲SP has grown enormously. It understands how to grow through acquisition and organic growth. By doing some relatively simple things that I鈥檝e talked about, we鈥檒l improve our cash position and make ourselves much stronger. We鈥檒l go through the current UK market ups and downs, and in a year or so we鈥檒l come out in a good place and be looking for growth again.鈥�

Dollin says he is 鈥渘ot surprised鈥� by the consolidation now taking place within the consultancy sector. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been talked about for as long as I can remember, and it鈥檚 actually quite nice when it starts happening as it鈥檚 not just about a talking shop.鈥� He says he fully expects CH2M Hill, the US engineer, to continue its hunt in the UK after its failed bid for Scott Wilson, and says he has 鈥渘o doubt鈥� that the current trend for purchases by overseas firms, and those from the US in particular, will continue.

So where is WSP in all this? 鈥淲SP is mindful of it. We have to demonstrate through performance that we are delivering value to our shareholders, and we鈥檝e got to look for growth. But, he insists, 鈥淲SP is not for sale.鈥� From his point of view, this is definitely a good thing. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 want to wake up American tomorrow. It would really defeat the point of coming to WSP. And I don鈥檛 think we need it - we can do well on our own.鈥�