OPINION: Finding a trusted partner has never been more crucial

By Don Davidson, Country Manager, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Finally, I have managed to return to Saudi Arabia after an extended absence and am fighting-fit and ready for a new round of catching-up with friends old and new.

While out of the country, I still managed to reach-out to many of our cross-border clients and contacts in the UAE and KSA, and during these encounters I noticed a common theme developing; the need or desire to have a trusted partner as we navigate out of covid.

Someone who is willing to go that step (or two) further to ensure their projects are a success and someone who understands, particularly in a pandemic, sudden changes to plans and schedules. A partner who will be honest about creating projects that speak to the challenges of the future, but someone who understands the realities of now.

A good partner will provide knowledgeable industry advice and give direction on market trends. A better partner will advise on balancing that with social responsibility, a greener approach and adopting new and innovative solutions. A trusted partner will keep your best interests at heart when explaining all of the above, but still hold you to the engineering trinity; cost, quality and time.

At chapmanbdsp, we are always improving our approach and applying new thinking to the individual needs of our clients. On projects, it starts with listening and then iteratively working with the client’s team to select the right partners who can deliver their expectations. We supplement this with our expert thinking, backed by refined processes, that find solutions to complex problems.

Our competitors claim to carry all this necessary knowledge in-house and consider themselves a one stop-shop for all things engineering. This, they say, is their key strength. However, I profess to the adage: knowledge is power, but knowledge shared is increased to the power of 2 (P²).

To this end, we provide a diverse mix of the most pre-eminent specialists in their fields to support our core disciplines.

We then carry out rigorous assessment of our partners, and rank them on their previous performance, to ensure they have the pre-requisites to deliver. We also ensure we have a team that is matched to the specifics of the project, and not just pulled from a team because they were available at the time.

In many of our recent projects and proposals we have brought together trusted teams for services such as, environmental, smart technology, traffic studies, master planning, structural and civil engineering, with each partner required to align with our agile approach and strict adherence to an integrated design approach.

In KSA, we have a strategic partnership with House of Consulting Office (HCO) and have imported this approach into the relationship. We know this has, and will continue to, bring mutual benefits to both entities and to our clients in KSA as it is an approach that has served us well in the UAE for the past 14 years.

Going forward, we are looking for our own trusted partners. Partners to develop framework agreements with and partners to build strong lasting relationships based on trust and openness.

We want our partners to challenge us to prove how our approach on integrated design, MMC and DfMA and zero carbon buildings, including embedded carbon, will benefit their projects.

If you believe we could be a trusted partner for you, or you for us, please get in touch.