Over the past eleven years, Bulldog Projects have worked tirelessly to become one of the leading providers of corrosion protection to the construction industry in South Africa. Offering rehabilitation and maintenance of existing petrol chemical plants, gas pipelines, railways and mines, Bulldog have a staunch dedication to excelling and expanding within their particular field. In the coming months, the company has their sight set on foraying into the area of power generation, bringing sustainable and reliable energy to South Africa and beyond. Enterprise Africa talks to CEO and founder, Mike Book to find out more.
As the construction industry in South Africa exponentially develops and diversifies, the demand and desire for products and services that can facilitate this growth is at an all-time high. Once the design and fabrication stages of any construction project have been completed, attention must turn to the protection and longevity of building components – the precise juncture at which Bulldog Projects step into the spotlight. Specialising in pipe, tank lining and heavy duty coatings, abrasive blasting and epoxy flooring among other things, Bulldog are among the leading echelons of corrosion protection companies in South Africa. Before founding Bulldog, Founder and CEO Mr Book has44 years of industry experience under his belt, having worked on a multiplicity of projects and sectors across the country. However, in May 2004, living by the adage that ‘boardrooms are for when you are bored’, Mr Book decided to personally create and take the helm of his own company. With his 100% stake ensuring that he has full control, Mr Book has successfully navigated his company through the highly competitive and often uncertain marketplace. As such, without hesitation Mr Book is proud to assert that he believes that his business ranks among the top 5 corrosion protection companies in the country; an impressive feat considering that Bulldog are privately owned and so must strive to compete with the large and affluent corporate listed companies that monopolise the construction industry.
However, being a small fish in a big pond is not the only challenge that Bulldog have had to face. Throughout the years Bulldog have faced their fair share of difficulties, but these have been met and overcome with genuine enthusiasm and determination to succeed. Mr Book declares that the 2014 was ‘probably the toughest year I’ve had in the 11years of Bulldog’, citing the mine and steel fabricator closures, labour unrest and the ripples of the global recession as contributing factors. He states that over the last 12 months, the construction industry has seen some turmoil and so ‘from an investor’s point of view, it’s seen as high risk investing in projects in South Africa’. He also attributes the cautiousness of investment to the fact that although there is a real drive for Black Empowerment across the country, many educated black citizens tend to shy away from subsidizing within sectors that fluctuate between stability and uncertainty.
However, undeterred by such a barrage of difficulties, Mr Book is pleased to say that the company are performing very well at the moment, with an order book that will see them through to the end of next year and a company currently working consistently at 70% capacity. Even finding a silver lining with the troubles faced by the South African steel industry, Mr Book says it would be the patriotic thing to say that he wishes less material had to be imported from China, but simultaneously, irrespective of source, steel needs protective coating and this is precisely the service he can provide. Up until 2013Bulldog applied corrosion protection systems to approximately 5000 – 7500 tonnes of material per month and they are currently operating with around 500 qualifiedstaff members. Mr Book expects this number to increase over the next few years, as their workload increases and the construction industry as a whole begins to flourish a little more. Bulldog are also extrapolating their presence throughout Africa; Their base is in Johannesburg, operations also take place in Zambia and Tanzania, business registration is occurring in Mozambique and Namibia and they are also heavily involved with projects in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ghana. As Mr Book notes, before Bulldog began carving out their niche, they would very often ‘piggy-back’ into these countries off the coattails of other corporations, but their increasing success and reputation means that they can now foray into these territories alone and show Africa just what they are capable of.
Already having made contributions to a number of large scale projects including the Medupi Kusile Power Station, the Congolese Copper Cobalt Mines and the Nseke Hydroelectric Power Plant (a R58 million scheme which will finished next month), Bulldog are already beginning to venture into a new arena; power generation. As the oil and gas industries rapidly grow in South Africa, Bulldog are striving to be at the forefront of this shift. Mr Book notes how there are water shortages, not enough dams and a lack of well-maintained gas and water pipelines throughout the country and that this provides a huge opportunity for his company to aid in the rehabilitation of existing power plants and the development of new plants. Furthermore, it is not just oil and gas that Bulldog wish to deal with, they will also be looking into the construction of solar farms and windmills, bringing sustainable energy to Africa. For Mr Book with these new avenues, ‘the sky’s the limit’, so much so that in fact he muses that in bringing power to the far reaches of Africa, ‘I’ll never see the end of what I started’. Such an admission is testament to the sheer scale of the whole scheme and indeed to the magnitude of Mr Book’s passion for success and devotion to his work, attributes undoubtedly shared by his daughters who will take over both the power project and the company when Mr Book retires. In this respect, Bulldog certainly seem to live up to their company motto that ‘our pursuit of excellence is a commitment, not a badge of achievement’, with their dedication not only spanning years, but generations too.
However, it is not just Mr Book and Bulldog that will benefit from this power generation venture. A paramount component of the Bulldog machine is the staff and the company have measures in place to ensure that their employees are not only experts in what they do, but that they are also receive superior training and development opportunities. The company has an excellent safety record and one of their key tenets is to ensure that those in their employ always have a ‘safe, clean and forthcoming workplace’. Bulldog also constantly endeavours to hire and train local people for their projects. Mr Book states that ‘we train them…and when we leave the area we actually leave the skills to continue the service and the maintenance’. As such, not only do Bulldog provide jobs and knowledge, they also help Africans to manage and contribute to their own infrastructures and economies on a more long-term scale. The example Mr Book uses to illustrate this point it the DRC schemes, in which the 100% Congolese staff were trained by 2 – 3 expert Bulldog managers to such a standard that once the project was over, they were able to take over the premises and several of them even later became senior managers themselves.
With an already packed roster and huge projects on the horizon, unquestionably the future for Bulldog Projects looks set to be a bright and prosperous one. For a burgeoning company within a highly competitive and often turbulent industry and marketplace, Bulldog have certainly demonstrated a proactive, intelligent and fearless approach to meeting challenges. As a company head, Mike Book clearly takes great pride in the business, its reputation, its work and the welfare of both staff and the wider populace. Thus, in all respects, Bulldog Projects are undeniably bringing power to the people of South Africa and beyond.