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锘縄n the battle between Chris Cole and WSP, the corporate machine is winning. 鈥淲hat happens is this,鈥� says the structural engineer鈥檚 chief executive, in his chirpy south London accent, 鈥測ou build a business and as it grows, some of the things that are dear to you - for me it鈥檚 being on site, talking to people, meeting clients - become a tussle to keep hold of. When, like with WSP, you get to 10,000 or so people, you have so many demands on you that you get pulled away from the things you love. In the end, the company wins. And rightly so.鈥�

One thing鈥檚 for sure: WSP needs Cole鈥檚 full attention now more than ever. The firm issued a profit warning earlier this week after suffering a significant fall in public sector work and being forced to write off 拢5m worth of work in Libya. The group will now undergo a 拢4m restructure. And among all this, Cole must still see to the day-to-day task of keeping up with clients and delivering an extremely ambitious target: boosting the company鈥檚 turnover from its current 拢700m to reach 拢1bn by 2015.

Cole is confident of success, and he believes the only way to achieve it is to grow. He is eyeing bolt-on acquisitions worldwide and hints at future plans for consolidation. 鈥淭he industry will need to consolidate,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd WSP has always been a consolidator.鈥�

Adding depth

Profit warning aside, the firm is no stranger to expansion. WSP is arguably the world鈥檚 best known multidisciplinary engineer and over the past 30 years has grown from being a UK group with one office in Surrey to operating in six major world regions.

The first element of Cole鈥檚 growth strategy is for the group 鈥渇ill in the gaps鈥� in locations where WSP already operates - expanding through depth rather than breadth. In short, Cole鈥檚 plan is to make sure that the group offers just as many services in the US, Australia, Middle and Far East as it does in the UK and northern Europe.

Cole鈥檚 focus on WSP鈥檚 existing global success is no surprise. The group already has the biggest global footprint of any UK construction company with 拢480m turnover coming in from overseas, an order book worth 拢908m and 9,000 staff in 200 offices across 35 countries worldwide. It has won work on some of the biggest global projects around, including the World Trade Centre buildings in New York, the Shard in London and the Shanghai Business Park in China.

鈥淒iversity has put us in a good position during the downturn,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he Shard aside, the UK has been challenging. Having said that, we have had success in the private sector. Not everyone has been as fortunate. The private sector in London is improving but it was always a pipe dream that it would move fast enough to fill the gap left by the public sector downturn. Talk about optimism - that鈥檚 at the very end of the spectrum.鈥�

He adds that having just 30% of the group鈥檚 拢700m turnover coming from the UK business has been vital in keeping the group stable: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about the UK anymore,鈥� he says. 鈥淵es, London is extremely important. It鈥檚 like a country in a country, but there is a world beyond the UK that companies like ours derive the majority of their turnover from.鈥� Indeed, about 拢262m has been pouring in from the group鈥檚 European business - most from the firm鈥檚 outfit in Scandinavia. 鈥淲e are not there by accident,鈥� says Cole. 鈥淣orthern Europe has some of the best rail and infrastructure expertise in the world.鈥�

The sectors that will be the biggest growth markets for WSP are rail, infrastructure and energy. 鈥淭he plan now is to build up the business as a multidisciplinary company worldwide,鈥� says Cole. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 offer the depth of skills across all of our range and sectors so we elected that this was where our growth was going to come from. Australia is a good example. We went in four years ago but we don鈥檛 have all the skills necessary - mining skills, or infrastructure skills. We only really have real estate skills. So it鈥檚 an unfinished model.鈥�

Finishing these models requires making acquisitions. Cole is eyeing bolt-on acquisitions and is clear that this is top of the group鈥檚 agenda worldwide: 鈥淕rowth is non-negotiable. The way we grow is generally through acquisitions,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e will continue to grow in this way. There is an appetite for bolt-ons in Australia, where we need more mining expertise; North America, which we have identified as somewhere we want more infrastructure than we do now; and Scandinavia.鈥�

Consolidation

Cole isn鈥檛 just keeping an eye on acquisitions as global gap fillers. 鈥淲hen you get to a certain size, you have to find growth. Maybe that growth will come from expansion into the areas I mentioned - or it might be one particular transaction.鈥�

So is there anything immediate on the horizon? There is a long pause before Cole says carefully: 鈥淲e are always in talks with firms we think might be good to consolidate with. But not in relation to one meaningful transaction. But we鈥檙e looking at the landscape all the time.

鈥淐onsolidation continues to be an option for large consultants,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t is possible that, in the not so distant future, we鈥檒l have a group of a few very large consultants and then a big gap before you find a very large number of smaller ones. Look at what happened to the accountancy firms - they all merged and consolidated to the point where now you only have the big four really. And then lots of small firms. Medium is not a place to be in this industry at the moment.鈥�

It鈥檚 all about the clients

Underpinning any strategy for growth is Cole鈥檚 insistence on going out and meeting clients: 鈥淎ll of this means nothing if you don鈥檛 have a good relationship with your clients,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fundamental to success. If you don鈥檛 have a business that recognises what client service means both commercially and professionally, you don鈥檛 have a business, really. You can be as technically brilliant as you like and full of innovation but unless you understand that embedded dynamic of what the client wants, it doesn鈥檛 matter.

鈥淐lients have a choice all the time. And part of that choice is working for people they trust and people they like to work with.鈥�

Liaising with clients is clearly something he enjoys: 鈥淔ancy spending your life in your office, dealing with the problems that the industry creates, without getting out there and having some stimulus from clients and projects?鈥�

However, as Cole turns back to his computer screen, it鈥檚 just as clear that WSP comes first and so, for the moment at least, he is prepared to let the office win.