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Consolidation of consultants is now all the rage, but as Donald Lawson, chief executive of Faithful + Gould, will tell you - his company started the trend. Long before Arcadis first made eyes at EC Harris or Aecom sidled up to Davis Langdon, consultant F+G partnered up with its own mega-bucks engineer, Atkins, in 1996.

Lawson, 52, who was heading F+G in Scotland at the time, remembers the buzz he felt on hearing the news - and not just because the tidy windfall from the deal enabled him to upgrade to a new car.

鈥淚t was exciting because it was something new,鈥� he says, sitting in his office on the 31st floor of the company鈥檚 Euston-based headquarters. 鈥淚t was good for us as this was a new development in the market.鈥�

Speaking in his soft, measured Scottish accent, the man who is just six months into the top job at the company where he has spent most of his career argues the case for consolidation and reveals how Faithful + Gould is weathering the recession and positioning for growth.

A new man in the driving seat

Lawson took over as chief executive from Richard Hall in May, after five years as F+G鈥檚 chief operating officer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very good to get my hands on the train set,鈥� he says with a smile. He has been waiting long enough. Lawson joined F+G in 1986 after brief stints as a QS first for architect RMJM in Libya, where he 鈥渨orked on a Tripoli museum job for Colonel Gaddafi鈥�, and then at Scottish consultant Blyth + Blyth.

Ten years after he joined construction project and cost management consultant F+G - initially to found its Edinburgh office - Atkins arrived. Having experienced working for a QS during the takeover of a big engineer like Atkins, Lawson is familiar with the arguments for and against such deals. He admits it鈥檚 a 鈥渓eap鈥�, moving from a partnership-type mentality to being part of a bigger business: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a slightly different change in the dynamic. It鈥檚 about helping to support staff through that change.鈥� However, Lawson believes the benefits are worth it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly worked for us being part of a bigger group. It gives you the ability to invest,鈥� he says.

With the leverage of its parent company to play with, F+G grew substantially after the Atkins takeover, with staff doubling from 800 to nearly 1,600 today, through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions. The firm now turns over 拢175m and has 51 offices worldwide. In the UK, F+G bought Silk & Frazier in 1998 and Yeoman Edwards in 1999, and in the US it took over consultant Hanscomb for 拢19m in 2002 - its biggest acquisition to date.

Lawson says that, following the Atkins takeover, F+G was not faced with the same difficult post-merger decisions that Davis Langdon has today, as the latter attempts to make a quarter of its directors redundant due to the downturn: 鈥淲e were in a growing market so it鈥檚 not the same situation.鈥�

Tough times

This is Lawson鈥檚 third recession and he says it is longer and tougher than any other. 鈥淭he world stopped turning in 07/08,鈥� he says. Turnover has dropped from 拢200m to 拢175m over the last five years. But he says F+G took early measures to 鈥渞ight size the business鈥�. This included the 鈥渄ifficult鈥� decision to reduce its US staff by 10%, with the loss of 100 jobs. And in the six months to September 2011, parent company Atkins let 878 staff go, mostly from its transport division. But F+G鈥檚 move to cut its cloth accordingly has stood it in good stead. F+G鈥檚 UK division in particular has defied the market to maintain turnover in the year ended 31 March 2011, with revenue down only marginally at 拢97.9m compared with 拢99.1m the previous year, and pre-tax profit rising from 拢4.9m to 拢7.2m.

Lawson says F+G鈥檚 diversity across sectors has also helped it weather the storm. 鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 have been in this stable and solvent position had we not been diverse,鈥� he says - the firm has made regular moves into energy, finance, the public sector and aviation in recent years, and has a strong presence in projects in north America, including on the World Trade Center redevelopment. He adds that the company鈥檚 overheads, including staff numbers, are under constant review. 鈥淐osts are at the forefront of our mind every day,鈥� he says. But after a period of retrenchment, Lawson says F+G has UK vacancies again.

The future for F+G

Having toughed out the recession thus far, F+G is now positioning for growth. It is not surprising to hear Lawson say that the UK won鈥檛 be the main driver of that any time soon as he does not expect growth here until at least 2013. 鈥淥ur outlook for the UK is very much steady state - it鈥檚 about maintaining what we have.鈥� Thankfully prospects look rosier in some of F+G鈥檚 other markets: the US, the Middle East and Asia.

In the US, F+G will look to build on its already established position in oil and gas, manufacturing, health and education, and Lawson also wants the division to target more work in project management. One of his first acts on becoming chief executive was to move the US business鈥� headquarters to New York and he hopes this will help facilitate this push into project management.

According to Lawson, the firm鈥檚 established position in the US will also help F+G with a strategy closer to home - the roll-out of building information modelling (BIM). BIM is already popular in the US and F+G has already used it on major projects there, including the extension of California鈥檚 John Wayne airport. Lawson believes F+G鈥檚 US expertise will help the firm train UK staff and drive adoption in its home division. 鈥淎merica is pushing [BIM] hard - it鈥檚 client driven,鈥� he says.

Another area F+G can draw strength from is the Middle East, where it has worked on some of the region鈥檚 most iconic buildings, including the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel and 360m-tall Almas tower, both in Dubai. The consultant will now target the infrastructure booms in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia, says Lawson. 鈥淭he price of oil is helping fund improvements and we want to be a part of that.鈥� Even Dubai seems to be coming back a little, he adds.

F+G is also targeting growth in Asia from its offices in Shanghai and Singapore. The consultant recently completed a large photovoltaic plant for US-manufacturer REC in inland Singapore and has bigger projects in its sights.

However, there are some pockets of activity in the UK. Nuclear in particular is a bright spot: F+G is EDF鈥檚 procurement partner and QS on its nuclear new-build programme and is involved in maintenance work on its existing plants. It is also working on a cutting-edge nuclear fusion reactor research project in France, with its parent company Atkins, which could stand it in good stead for targeting further nuclear work. Lawson also mentions a 鈥渧ery busy鈥� green consultancy division, launched in January, Although he adds that its future depends 鈥渢o an extent鈥� on the direction of government policy.

It鈥檚 a challenging market, but Lawson is in no doubt he鈥檇 rather be facing it with the weight of the UK鈥檚 biggest engineer Atkins behind him. He鈥檚 not surprised other QSs are following suit with similar deals. 鈥淭he thinking is the same - that combined we鈥檙e better; that 2 + 2 = 5.鈥�