Only by attracting the right kind of professionals to its ranks has SRK been able to anticipate market demands and offer solutions that its clients need, whether economic times are buoyant or depressed.

As a practice built on high-performing and entrepreneurial individuals, SRK’s global vision prioritises the maintenance of an environment that attracts and retains top talent over quantitative aspirations, says SRK Global Group CEO Andy Barrett.

“If we also ensure that we continually add value to clients’ projects, our long-term sustainability will always be built into our DNA,” Barrett says.

The consultancy’s network of businesses empowers its consultants through responsibility for business development, and technical and managerial decisions.

While SRK insists on strict quality standards, it takes a minimalist approach to bureaucracy.

The group is owned by its staff, with participation at local and global levels.

Broadly based ownership has been a key element of its business philosophy, and one which has withstood several “eye- popping” purchase offers made by larger engineering corporations over time.

An example of value addition is at the ‘front-end’ of projects and Barrett regards getting the concept right as being essential to the long-term cost-effectiveness of any project.

In this sense, he sees SRK as being more of a consulting company than an engineering company.

Although it does provide detailed engineering in several disciplines, clients particularly value its ability to assist them to understand options as well as the implications of their choices, prior to their making substantial capital commitments.

This is where the depth of expertise of individual con- sultants and the breadth of disciplines across the group make SRK stand out.

“We work hard at making sure that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts by exploiting the synergies between our different service offerings,” Barrett adds.

The need to deliver superior value is also essential to SRK’s model of avoiding competition that is solely price-based.

For a consulting firm, rates are essentially a function of salaries, so trying to compete through reducing rates undermines salaries and therefore the quality of individuals that can be attracted and retained.

Given the cyclical nature of its primary client industry, it needs to be able to adapt quickly to changing needs.

Its closeness to market trends and its understanding the challenges that arise at every stage of a project or cycle are part of what it sees as being essential to the industry that it serves.

The technical demands of the mining sector are seen as going well beyond the mining, process and environmental issues at the mine site.

A mining project is sometimes described as an infrastructure project with a mine at the one end, says Barrett, who sees the integrated nature of any mining development as highlighting the importance of the ‘broad view’ of project elements, especially in the early stages.

The group has evolved histori-cally by adding new skills sets to meet these broader demands.

Its early specialisations in the fields of geology, geotechnical engineering and mining were broadened into a range of others, including environmental and social impact assessment, planning and mitigation.

More recently, SRK has added capacity in rail development in its Southern African operations.

Its strong role in many develop- ing countries means that it will now have another important string to its bow, in the field of rail transport and related infrastructural needs.

“While we all prefer to be working in a strong economic climate, there are always going to be downturns which require all businesses to adapt the way they work.

“We have built a business that recognises these challenges and allows us to work with clients as confidently on cost containment and mine closure processes as we do with exploration, new projects and expansions,” Barrett adds.

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