The energy and infrastructure market has changed a lot in recent years. Across Europe, energy security is back at the top of the agenda, driven by geopolitical events, ageing assets and the need to modernise our energy systems.
There is a lot of investment happening as a result, with much more still to come. But clients are thinking carefully about where they spend and who they trust to deliver.
Cost, programme and risk matter more than ever. One positive change we’ve seen is clients bringing delivery partners into the conversation earlier, before all the big decisions have been made.
“The best outcomes tend to come when there’s collaboration from the outset rather than everyone working in isolation,” said David Brennan, CEO of Eastgate Engineering.
That might sound simple, but on a major project it makes a real difference.
When it comes to critical projects, trust is probably the biggest thing a client needs from the people they work with.
You don’t build that trust through presentations or promises. You build it on the project.
At Eastgate Engineering, our teams are expected to be open about problems, raise them early and, where possible, bring a solution with them. David added, “Delivering what we say we will do is ingrained in the team’s ethos.”
Technical ability is obviously important, but so is how people behave when things don’t go according to plan. On complex projects, there will always be challenges. Clients need to know the people around them will communicate clearly, take ownership and get on with solving the problem.
Clients are becoming more open-minded about who can deliver major projects.
For years, large and complex projects naturally went towards the biggest names in engineering and construction. But size on its own doesn’t guarantee a project will be delivered well.
“Clients and EPCs are beginning to realise that bigger does not mean better.”
There is a real opportunity now for medium-sized engineering and construction companies to show what they can do.
We can stay closer to the project, make decisions quickly and keep experienced people involved from start to finish. For clients looking for more certainty around delivery, that matters.
Long-term relationships come down to reliability.
“You build a long-term relationship by doing what you say you’ll do and being out there leading from the front on a project when things get difficult, not just when everything is going well.”
Managing safety and quality while turning a design into a fully functioning plant takes a huge amount of work. When you’re doing it at pace, there will be difficult days.
Those are the days when partnerships are really built.
We’ve seen relationships at Eastgate start with one project and grow into several. We now have clients talking to us about future projects, risks and how they could do things differently, sometimes before there is even a defined scope of work.
That tells you the relationship has changed.
“For me, that’s when you know you’ve moved from being a contractor to being a trusted partner.”
And ultimately, that is what we want Eastgate Engineering to be: a team our clients know they can rely on when the job really matters.
