Global Engineering Consultancy
Hyder Consulting PLC is a design and advisory company that operates multi-nationally. They specialize in four segments in the market, namely transport, property, utilities, and environment.
Utilities: Hyder Consulting gives advice and design services to regional and national governments in the control and uncontrolled water markets in certain areas, for instance, asset privatization, desalination, and management of scant energy resources.
Transport: Hyder Consulting offers rail and Road design expertise and works with private developers and governments in infrastructure and transportation project planning in the various regions they operate.
Environment: Our environmental segment is a growing section of the group. It is a fundamental part of the group. Hyder Consulting continues to seek new ways to which they can add value to the environments in which they operate; they also seek to perform their various projects in ways that do not jeopardize environmental conditions.
Property: Hyder Consulting has specialized in the design of tall structures, including the world's tallest building; our expertise comprises of master planning, land development, architecture and the accompanying electrical and mechanical works.
Hyder Consulting's Vision
Client Focus – it handles each client with the same degree of importance, and they apply our tailored skills towards meeting their desires to the best of our ability.
Excellence – it goes all-out for excellence, recognizing that it is their customers that define excellence.
Trust – it focuses on building and maintenance of relationships of trust and confidence with their colleagues, clients, and business partners.
Teamwork – Its work ethic demands that they perform tasks as a team at all times.
Responsibility – it has made it their responsibility to make sure that their clients are satisfied with their services. Thus, it ensures that their performance is exceptional.
Hyder Consulting started operations 150 years ago, and since then, has set up roots in territories like Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In Europe, it has spent over 150 years, in Asia- 100 years, in Australia- 70years, and finally, in the Middle East, it has spent approximately 45 years.
Looking back into their history, Hyder Consulting traces their roots back to two companies: John Taylor & Sons, and Freeman Fox and Partners. This was in the 19th century. These two companies were famed with the design of the monumental bridge and highway projects such as Sydney Harbour Bridge, Victoria Falls Bridge, the Shanghai water supply project, the Severn Bridge, as well as the Humber Bridge. In 1988, the two companies merged to form Acer Consultants. In 1993, another company called Welsh Water acquired Acer Consultants. Come 1996, Welsh Water was renamed as Hyder Consulting. Today, Hyder is famed for their participation in the construction and design of extraordinary works like the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Tower Bridge in London, the Burj Khalifa, and the Taiwan High-Speed Railway. They currently employ approximately 4000 people all over the world who apply their expertise to come up with groundbreaking solutions in transport, property, environmental sectors, and utilities.
Outlook
Currently, the majority of Hyder Consulting's revenues come from overseas. According to statistics, 71% of Hyder Consulting's total revenues, as well as 75% of operating profits, are earned in the different continents in which they operate. This shows that the group has gained sufficient market stability, and will be able to weather instabilities in markets considerably well, because when one market is down, Hyder will still have support in another. Thus, for now, Hyder Consulting foresees steady growth ahead of them, and they expect revenues to continue to rise gradually.
Performance
As at 2011, Hyder Consulting's total revenue came to approximately £290.3million, down from £308.6m in 2010. The net revenue came to approximately £251.4 million, also down from £266.9 million in 2010. The year 2011 also saw the growth of the adjusted operating profit; it grew by 13% to reach a figure of £20.3million, up from £18 million in 2010. This was after foreign currency gains equivalent to £2.9million, and after absorbing redundancy costs totaling to £2.9million (Hyder Consulting 2011, pg 6). The overall net revenue margin after incorporating these items grew to 8.1%, up from 6.7% in the previous year. In 2011, there was an increase of 20% in operating profit to £18.2m from £15.2 million in 2010. This was after paying off on business combinations. There was also a 25% rise in adjusted profit before tax in 2011 to £20.3m, from £16.3m in 2010. Adjusted diluted earnings improved by 23% per share to 43.34p, up from 35.26p in 2010. After paying back business combinations, diluted earnings stood at 38.63p per share. The net cash that was available to the company as at 31 March 2011 was £13.1 million. The company produced an operating cash flow in 2011 of £19.2m, which was four million higher than it was the previous year.
In acknowledgment of the financial performance of the group, the directors suggest 6.00p per share as a final dividend. This will equate to 7.75p per share as a full year dividend. It will be 29% increment from 2010 when it was 6.00p per share.
Pestle Analysis
Political Analysis
Hyder Consulting has been able to penetrate many markets all over the world and perform projects in a great number of countries. Its reputation as one of the greatest property consulting firms in the world precedes itself. This reputation has opened up doors for it in Australia, the Middle East countries, Europe, and Asia.
One of the ways that Hyder Consulting has won the confidence of many politicians and governors, controllers in many countries is the fact that they provide numerous employment opportunities for locals. Hyder Consulting has made it a principle to have a majority of their staff in different countries being locals. It only brings in a number of international experts and a management team to train the locals on how to work. It emphasizes a culture of teamwork, responsiveness, client care, and adaptability.
In the European Union, governments require that employers should offer diversity in the employment opportunities that they offer. They should not just offer casual jobs or blue-collar jobs for residents, as many companies are in the habit of doing. Companies are not supposed to preserve positions of privilege for citizens of their own countries, except for the top management positions. Companies are supposed to not only offer casual jobs, but they are also supposed to offer part-time jobs, full-time jobs, highly skilled jobs, highly paid jobs, and centrally-located jobs. Currently, Hyder Consulting employs approximately 3,697 people across the different regions in which they operate. In so doing, Hyder Consulting's objective is to invest in the development of a client country's people to raise their quality of living and win over the favor of its political leaders.
One other method that Hyder Consulting has used to win over the favor of governments is using alliance contracts with key strategic companies in those countries. In 2011, through such alliances, Hyder Consulting has been able to realize good performance bonuses. It has also increased income and expertise of companies and individuals in those countries.
Economic Analysis
One factor that has influenced the number, as well as the size of the projects of Hyder Consulting in various countries in the world, can be said to be the degree of development of a country. Hyder Consulting's specialization is in the design of properties. Developing countries will have smaller and fewer property projects available as compared to developed countries. For example, a city in a developing country is likely to have property projects like five to ten storey buildings; in a developed country, on the other hand, it is possible for Hyder Consulting to get contracts for property projects that involve the design of 100 storey glass buildings, which have unique designs. It is also important to note that, in developing countries, the circulating money in the economy is less than that of developed countries. Thus, the size of these projects is limited. Because of this, Hyder Consulting has concentrated its operations in developed countries but still has continued to expand its operations even in several developing countries.
Hyder Consulting seeks to foster business relationships that are long-lasting. One strategy of fostering good business relations is to go into developing countries and offer new expertise and property and infrastructure design suggestions. In seeking to form bonds of loyalty, they should assist parastatals in these countries to carry out their projects. As a result, these parastatals will gain full trust in them. Thus, all property and infrastructure projects associated with these parastatals will end up coming to Hyder Consulting.
The cost of the services that Hyder Consulting can give is greatly determined by the costs it incurs in the prospective country. In some countries, the cost of setting up an office is very expensive because of high land rates and the high cost of equipment. Hyder Consulting imports a great deal of the equipment that it uses in these countries. This may incur great cost in some countries because of high taxation rates for goods imported. This would also affect the prices of their services. The rate of inflation would have a great bearing on the amount of money that Hyder would be able to pay its workers. However, if the rates of plays are government controlled, it would also affect their pricing rates for their services.
Thus, before venturing into a country, Hyder Consulting performs an analysis of the costs that will be involved in the entire process. It also gauges the available market for its products to determine whether there can be a sustained demand for them. It is only when they determine and confirm that they will be making a profit that they venture into a country.
Social Analysis
Hyder Consulting recognizes that if it wants to win over the loyalty of its clients, it needs to invest in the well-being, of the community. It recognizes that, with its reputation as a global company, it bears a certain social responsibility towards the people of that area. In addition, it is the desire of Hyder Consulting to a better quality of life of society in general.
Because of having such an objective, Hyder Consulting has been well received and accepted in the various areas and societies in which it has established itself. It has created a name for itself in terms of social responsibility; therefore, when seeking new territories to in which to establish themselves, they encounter limited or no resistance from those governments and the locals.
Some of the things that Hyder Consulting was able to do between 2010 and 2011 socially are as follows. This was part of their strategy to develop strong and long-lasting relationships with clients in the regions where they feel they have a competitive advantage. First, individuals across the group were able to raise over £102,000 between 2010 and 2011. It was to be given to charities as well as communities in areas where Hyder Consulting operates. Five group charities were chosen in these areas, and they were each given £50000. Theses charities were Sowers International (East Asia), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Middle East), Ingenieur Ohne Grenzen (Germany), Engineers for Overseas Development (UK), and WaterAid (Australia). An additional £52,000 was raised and given to other charities. The total amount raised for donations was an increment from the previous year.
The next thing they did was that regional managing directors mobilized their employees to offer their skills and expertise to assist the communities around the areas where they operated. 4400 hours of service to the communities were donated between 2010 and 2011. Hyder Consulting also sorts to accomplish sustainability of all projects.
Socially, apart from that, Hyder Consulting has experienced regulations that are sometimes set for international workers are sometimes restricted from relating with locals of the opposite sex or from having sexual relations with the locals. This is because some ethnicities do not desire to mix with other races; they desire to keep their race pure. Individuals of local races that relate with foreigners regardless of these warnings are banished from their communities and sometimes are harmed. Such cases can cause disagreements with the governments of those areas and can force international companies to leave the countries. Examples of countries that bear such principles are found in the Middle East. In the time Hyder Consulting has established itself in the Middle East, it has had to comply with the conditions of the host country in order for them to accomplish the task that brought them to those countries.
Hyder Consulting's Corporate Social Responsibility Policy
Hyder Consulting has made it its responsibility to give quality service for the benefit of its clients. It has also committed itself to doing business in a responsible and ethical manner. It has set the following principles in place to do that:
Clients: Hyder Consulting has pledged itself to continue to come up with innovative solutions for clients that will bring social, economic, and environmental benefit to society.
People: The Company desires to be an employer of choice in the various regions in which the company operates. It wishes to do this by instilling a learning culture that embraces diversity. It has also set in place a favorable health and safety policy that will ensure the well-being of workers at all times.
Suppliers and partners: Hyder Consulting have pledged to deal fairly and ethically with suppliers; where it can, it has pledged to assist them to develop their own social responsibility.
Investors: Hyder presents the chance for responsibility investment, done in an ethical way.
Local communities: Hyder pledges to support individuals and programs whose goal is to assist or add value to local communities in any way.
Professional communities: Hyder seeks to endorse employee participation and involvement in professional bodies and institutions.
The environment: Hyder has committed itself towards reducing the impact on the environment caused by its operations in the regions where it is based. It is working towards less wasteful and more efficient uses of available resources. One of the reasons for this is to reduce greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere significantly.
Technological Analysis
Hyder Consulting has sort to keep itself up to date with the latest technologies that can assist in the efficient utilization of resources and maximization of profits. In recent times, Hyder has endeavored into the use of plasma gasification technology for the purposes of conserving resources and reducing greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. Plastic gasification entails the transformation of organic refuse into reusable products and electricity. It offers a clean option for the production of electricity, and presently, current technology for the same rules out the requirement for landfills.
The plasma gasification procedure makes use of plasma (ionized gas) to vaporize domestic refuse and generate a synthetic super-heated gas (syngas). In the cooling process for the gas, steam is produced. With the use of a steam turbine and means of combustion within a gas turbine, the steam generates electricity. The reusable products produced in the process include sulfur and inert slag. The application of these is usually in building materials or as part of the compounds used in the making of an aggregate for road construction.
Hyder Consulting has worked with investors in setting up plasma gasification plants in various areas, which then will provide them with sufficient clean electricity to perform the firm's operations.
In addition, Hyder Consulting has endeavored in the field of nuclear science. It has trained professionals. Hyder saw the need for support services in the field of nuclear science, especially with the rise of numerous nuclear generation facilities all over the world. Most of these facilities, due to the limitation of funds, lack the facilities to dispose of radioactive waste properly. This is where Hyder comes into play. In the UK, there is currently a requirement for several nuclear power plants to be decommissioned. Hyder Consulting possesses the innovative technology and expertise required to perform the entire process. It can provide solutions on how to reduce waste volumes and can lessen its impact on local communities and the environment through performing effective recycling.
Environmental Analysis
In its operations, in four key regions namely Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia, Hyder Consulting has sort of performing its operations in a manner that causes the least damage to the environment. Their host countries recognize this in Hyder, and they respect it for this.
One of the projects that Hyder Consulting is using to accomplish this is plastic gasification. It enables the production of electricity in a cheap and clean manner, greatly limiting greenhouse emissions.
Another project undertaken by Hyder Consulting for the benefit of the environment is that of providing support services in nuclear technology. Hyder has partnered with Bradtec, one of the leading companies in reducing waste. In this project, these are the services it provides: it gives expert advice and innovation by means of provision of our specialist nuclear services for decommissioning waste volume reduction. In doing this, Hyder saves client companies a lot of money in what they offer. The next service that Hyder provides is projected de-risking; it assists client companies with technical know-how and on-hand support in every stage of the life-cycle of the nuclear project. In so doing, it greatly reduces the risk of mistakes being made in the entire nuclear project.
In 2003, there was increased pressure upon companies from the government and activists to take on responsibility for the environments and areas in which they ply their trade. They are supposed to take steps to better their environments for the better of the local communities. Hyder Consulting has been significantly active in launching projects that are for the benefit of the environment, one of them being the plastic gasification project (Hyder Consulting Expertise, 2008). Corporate social and environmental responsibility should also be done within full consideration of the stakeholders of a company.
Legal Factors
Different countries have different regulations and policies concerning the activities into which international companies are allowed to engage in different countries. Hyder Consulting has been able to penetrate many boundaries and do business in many countries. It has built a respected name for itself around the world. Because of this, many countries have received Hyder Consulting favorably, and have given them privileges in regulations that many other companies have not enjoyed.
One of the regulations that Hyder Consulting have encountered most is the requirement that the international company should offer the citizens of the country sufficient employment opportunities at all levels. Many international companies enter new countries and establish themselves in them with no intention of offering employment to the locals of the area. They come with their own staff from foreign countries. In view of this, many governments set it as a law that international companies must offer employment even up to managerial levels. This is to make sure that as these international companies use up the country's resources, the country would also benefit from the company. For a long time, Hyder Consulting has compiled and offers employment to locals of these countries at all levels. However, it reserves executive management positions.
There are also regulations concerning the pricing for services rendered or goods bought. Hyder Consulting has been able to comply well with this, offering reasonable prices according to the regulations set in a country.
Conclusion
Hyder Consulting has gone further than most as follows global business is concerned. It carries with itself 150 years worth of experience in engineering consultancy, and its presence is felt in the countries or regions in which it operates. It has a built a good reputation for itself and is recognized the world over. For Hyder Consulting, there is nowhere to go but up. The massive experience it carries in its line of business will keep it from making mistakes as it progresses. The next strategy that it needs to employ is that of expansion. It should start expanding its operations to the American continent as well as to African countries. The reputation that it has garnered over the years will open doors for it in these areas; Hyder Consulting could end up doubling its total revenues.
Hyder Consulting would do well expand its environmental segment. It should do this especially in the field of alternative forms of energy that are environmentally friendly. It has the resources to perform sufficient research. It has done well in extending its knowledge and expertise in the handling of nuclear energy. Its ability to provide support services to companies dealing with nuclear energy will prove to become one of its main sources of income. The plastic gasification project is also a phenomenal venture that with developing into a greater project. However, there are still other ideas and concepts in this field that have not been tapped. Hyder Consulting should be diligent in looking into this; in the end, they will come up with a revolutionary solution for which organizations from all over the world will come to them. Therefore, Hyder Consulting should not shy away from investing; it could end up reaping extraordinary gains.
