PERTH-BASED project management firm PCS will formalise its national alliance with east coast-based Primavera Australia later this month.
The alliance is part of parent company Primavera’s push to become a leading provider of project management solutions.
Established in Perth in 1988 by Jim Fairchild, who is now managing director of Primavera Australia, PCS was formally purchased by Primavera in September this year after a number of years as a partner brand, but has remained a separate business unit.
Mr Fairchild and his business partner, PCS general manager Bazil Roberts, have been growing the Primavera brand during the past three years through acquisitions in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
“At the time, Primavera Australia wasn’t struggling so much as looking to achieve growth ambitions, but the company didn’t know how to get there,” Mr Roberts said.
“So Jim and I finally agreed that the price was right, the people they had on board were right and it was time for us to expand from the shores of WA to a truly national organisation with some opportunities to expand internationally as well.”
As was the case with PCS in Western Australia, the Queensland unit was also run separately as Project Management Solutions Australia by then business partner, Kieran Keleher.
Part of the re-branding was prompted by a realisation that Primavera was perceived by the market to be a software company, which Mr Fairchild said only accounted for one third of its business.
“We sell software to support our clients in improving their project management capability, but the majority of our business is training and professional services,” Mr Fairchild said.
The entire Primavera network of staff and partners will gather in Melbourne later this month to launch the company’s new brand and identity.
The company hopes to double its annual revenue to $50 million in the next three years and grow its workforce from 80 to 150 across the country.
“Queensland is now starting to boom with LNG and mining projects so we’re looking at offering some opportunities for our Perth staff to support those projects, because [Queensland’s] main strength has been in state government contracts,” Mr Fairchild told WA Business News.
Mr Roberts said the national merger was already in its execution phase, but expects it to be at least one year until a “one company, one culture” identity is achieved.
“If we haven’t achieved our growth ambitions within two years I’ll be pretty disappointed,” Mr Roberts said.
“But the thing that’s in our favour is that WA and Queensland are booming, and NSW and Victoria are spending big on infrastructure.”