Civils 2000 places great emphasis on delivering each and every project on time and to the required quality specifications, in order to ensure client satisfaction in both the public and private sectors. MD, Justin Spreckley tells Enterprise Africa that ‘over two decades of success, the company is now uniquely positioned to offer a diverse service offering across RSA’.
In 1992, as South Africa’s journey towards becoming a democratic nation was gaining momentum, two Capetonian entrepreneurs took the opportunity to start their own business in the construction sector – a bold move in an unpredictable time. Robert Starke and Colin Shapiro were keen to offer quality civil engineering services to a growing market and after initially excelling with projects in the private sector, their fledgling company began taking on larger projects in the public sector. Today, Civils 2000 is a multi-faceted commercial construction concern and in its 24 years has successfully constructed a host of roads, bridges, pipelines, building projects, renewable energy projects and other much-needed infrastructure developments throughout South Africa.
As the group grew and the founding members headed closer to retirement Civils 2000 sought new investors and subsequently partnered with Unipalm Investment Holdings, Ashraf Mohammed and Hussein Hirji. Given their individual business successes, this transaction introduced a new source of diverse business acumen and corporate governance, which has not only resulted in an improved BBBEE position, but has also resulted in a refocussing of the strategy, vision, and leadership.
“Around two and a half years ago, the founders sold a significant share of the business to the BBBEE consortium with a view to changing the demographic of the business and also to bring in new energy, new thinking and new funding for the longer term. Since then, all of the partners have been actively involved in changing this business into a more systemised and structured endeavour,” explains Managing Director, Justin Spreckley, who is tasked with driving the company on its growth path; transitioning from a medium-sized company to a diverse and resilient business that has a robust platform for continued growth and delivery.
Following the addition of the new partners, the business is going through a thorough workover and transition to lay the foundations for future success, focussed on plant, people, processes and quality.
“They started off doing relatively small projects and grew the business way beyond their initial expectations – it’s a very different operation today. For a number of years, we’ve been involved in projects not only in the Western Cape but also in the Eastern Cape in places like Port Elizabeth and Mthatha,” says Spreckley.
PROJECT EXPERTISE
Some industry commentators have dismissed the South African construction sector as an ailing one. Just last year the so-called ‘Big 5’ listed construction companies were struggling with loss of share price and demand drying up, but by harnessing its quarter century of experience, Civils 2000 has managed to meet the challenges thrown up by the economic climate and remains on a strong growth path.
“We believe it is essential to remain nimble enough to adapt quickly to work availability, type and location. We have really focussed on investing in our resources and business infrastructure over the past two years to ensure this remains a core strength,” says Spreckley. “Most of our clients are municipal and typically, municipal expenditure tends to increase by at least inflation every year so while it doesn’t necessarily guarantee a growing market sector, the same amount of work is still there year-on-year. That said, the social demand for new infrastructure along with the increasing pace of renewal required on ageing infrastructure should see growth in this sector. We have seen that private development has dried up slightly and that’s one of the reasons we focus on both private and municipal work.
“There’s a considerable amount of work to be done in South Africa. Our infrastructure is at a stage where its renewal rate is increasing rapidly and that creates opportunities. We are exploring opportunities with our neighbouring countries and when the right opportunity presents itself we will go for it. Ours is a good sector be in as infrastructure spending can have a positive impact on the economy. It creates jobs, stimulates demand and drives education,” he adds.
Working closely with clients and partners, the majority of projects undertaken by Civils 2000 involve road construction and concrete structures. In the Western and Eastern Capes, the road system is made up of an excellent network of highways and roads but there’s always work to be done and, in order to keep a diversified portfolio, the company continues to push into new markets such as general construction and renewable energy.
“Roadworks, bridges, pipelines – that’s our main type of work but we have a general building service offering as well. We also have a subsidiary of the group – RoadSmart Asphalting – which is focussed on asphalt surfacing.
“Recently completed projects include two bridges at the Pacaltsdorp Interchange in George, several projects that form part of the roll out of the IRT bus service for the City of Cape Town, improvements to the Sable Road Interchange, civils work at the Clock Tower Precinct at the V&A Waterfront, surfacing and waterproofing at the Strand-Adderley Street Intersection, rehabilitation of Hout Bay Main Road, Sere Wind Farm, John Tallant Road in P.E, and many more,” says Spreckley.
These are just a handful of the projects that this ambitious company has completed recently and there are many more high-profile jobs coming in the future.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Spreckley explains that there are a number of exciting projects on the horizon and, thanks to the change strategy that has been implemented over the past two years, the company is starting to achieve its new goals.
“Whist we are constantly on the lookout for work, we have a good amount of work for local and international clients in SA,” he says. To illustrate the groups diversity Spreckley offered up some of the company’s current projects: “We’re busy with the Burgan Fuel Terminal in the Cape Town Harbour; the coastal protection works in Strand for the City of Cape Town; various works for the V&A Waterfront; priority projects with Siemens and Eskom in Mossel Bay; work for SANRAL on and around the N2 in George; construction of the Mthatha waste water treatment plant and some significant building projects to name just a few.
“The last two years has been focussed on consolidation, building structures and systems, training, and capital equipment renewal to ensure the company continues to grow from strength to strength. We want to remain profitable, we want clients to enjoy working with us, we want to offer good value, and we want our employees and the public to have good experiences with us,” he says.
LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Companies within the Civils 2000 group are members of all of the relevant industry bodies including the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Saiosh), the Association of Construction Health and Safety Management (ACHASM), the South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP), the South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). The company provides SAQA/CETA accredited competency training, it is a level three B-BBEE verified business and is working hard to achieve further certification to enhance the quality base that has been built over the years.
“We’re registered as a CIDB 9CE/7GB company meaning that we can tender on unlimited value projects. We’re looking to focus on what we’re good at; we’re investing a lot in people, in structure, in systems, in equipment and subsequently in processes and quality, so we want to be as efficient as possible whilst delivering top quality. We’re moving towards ISO 9001 registration and these are all foundation exercises for a successful future,” says Spreckley
Although highly skilled practitioners are a given in the civil engineering industry, Civils 2000 is intent on maintaining and developing the skills of artisans and tradesmen who are equally as essential in this sector. “Sound trade skills are becoming increasingly hard to find as traditional apprenticeship training has largely stopped,” says Spreckley. “Quality bricklayers, carpenters and the like are not always easy to source, but we believe they are essential. More refined skills that require a Technikon diploma or degree are in reasonable supply. We make use of a lot of sub-contractors in an effort to not only keep ourselves nimble but also to encourage small and medium enterprise to provide trade skills. Education is obviously the key but you also need a thriving economy to employ everyone when they have been educated. We train internally or employ people to train and certify our people but these private sector initiatives will not totally eliminate the problem,” he adds.
With the government announcing in the budget that it intends to spend R865.4 billion on public sector infrastructure over the next three years (on projects including housing, roads, rail, public transport, water, electricity and community infrastructure, with R30 billion for provincial roads maintenance), Civils 2000 is perfectly placed to continue offering its customers quality, value and satisfaction while always developing its people and processes internally.