Growth spearheads awards exposure

AWARDS are a handy recognition when growing a business.

No one visiting the Perth office of mining industry science and engineering specialists SRK Consulting over the past two years has been left in any doubt of the burgeoning growth and change within the organisation.

The Perth office is SRK’s Australasian headquarters and now that the office has been named a WA finalist for this year’s Telstra Small Business Awards, SRK managing director for Australasia Peter Williams is convinced even further the restructuring and refocusing of the past two years was worth it.

Over this period Dr Williams says the consultancy has increased productivity by more than 70 per cent and revenue by almost one third.

Staff increases meant a move to larger premises within West Perth late last year, but the combined expertise, excellence and employee "ownership" have also driven the productivity and revenue outcomes.

These results have come from five main factors, he says, listing retaining and hiring industry leaders, and technical and commercial excellence as two of these.

However, combined with strategic targeting of key market areas, these have complemented two other important drivers.

One - industry consolidation - SRK recognises as fortunate circumstances.

The other was far more strategic: diversification to offer more of what its market was wanting.

This diversification included an additional word on the SRK shingle outside the newer Hay Street offices: "environmental".

SRK Perth has had a long-term working relationship with Wolf Martinick’s environmental and resource consultancy, including on due diligence reviews, feasibility studies and mining approvals in almost a dozen countries.

Last year the environmental business also experienced somewhat of a transformation, becoming Martinick Bosch Sell, with the addition of new directors Kristy Sell and Lance Bosch, and trading as MBS Environmental.

In March this year, SRK Consulting (Australia) and MBS Environmental further cemented their relationship, with SRK acquiring 30 per cent of MBS Environmental.

Market demand also led SRK to develop a specialist mining geotechnical team within its Perth office. The WA Telstra Small Business Awards winners will be announced next month.

State winners will then go on to compete in the national awards, to be presented in August.