Photo by: Duane Daws
Melbourne-based consulting engineering and project management firm Johnstaff celebrates its 22nd birthday this year.
MD Phil Johnston started the company after spending roughly ten years at Dillingham construction, followed by a spell at Leighton Contractors.
Johnstaff’s growth came organically, he notes, starting out with a payroll of two, to today’s 100 staff members.
The company is active in East Australia, as well as in Perth, in West Australia, where it has a strong focus on the health, education and research sectors.
Johnstaff does, for example, start-to-finish project management on university and hospital projects. The company has also worked on a number of general infrastructure, public-private partnership and commercial projects.
“We have also gained experience in a number of niche industries, such as bio-containment,” notes Johnston.
One of the company’s strengths is a system that can “appropriate the true cause of project delays”, which come in handy with the multitude of project disputes and delays suffered on modern global construction sites.
Johnstaff launched in South Africa 16 months ago.
“We considered that there were few growth opportunities left for the company in Australia, and then made the decision to start up an office here in South Africa,” says Johnston.
“We think Africa will grow hugely over the next decade, while the Australian market is quite mature.”
The principal for the African office, with a specific focus on Southern Africa, is Marius van Dyk. The office consists of two staff members, with the company using three consultants as and when required.
Johnstaff Africa has already done some work in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, says Van Dyk.
“We have an interesting opportunity to be involved in some projects for the North-West province,” adds Johnston.
He says the company is seeking to develop joint ventures – “to form the right alliances” – to tackle local projects.
“We have already seen some success on that basis,” says Van Dyk.
“We are here for the long haul,” adds Johnston. “We don’t assume success in the short term.”
He notes that Johnstaff would like to have already spent some time in the trenches when the African growth story starts to really take off.
“Over time, we will achieve our black economic-empowerment credentials,” he adds.