Building on the huge growth prospects it sees over the coming years, the contracting major targets SR1 billion in revenues by 2020, says MOHAMMED ASHIF, Expertise CEO in an exclusive interview with OGN

Expertise Contracting Company, a leading Saudi-based firm delivering comprehensive industrial services, is planning to expand its business to Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE on the strength of projects related to petrochemicals, oil and gas and steel industries.

The versatile company, because of its growing name in the market, has been awarded projects worth more than SR250 million from major oil and gas companies. Building on the huge growth prospects it sees over the coming years, the contracting major targets SR1 billion in revenues by 2020, says Mohammed Ashif, Expertise CEO.

Expansion of business in a potential market is crucial for business sustainability and growth, he says. Expertise started with equipment rental business in 1999 and grew its portfolio in past 17 years and currently it has 13 strategic business units.

'We further plan to establish a strong foothold in all the cities of Saudi Arabia and we are moving forward with a GCC expansion plan, based on our success and experience over the past years,' reveals Ashif.

Ashif points out that fiscal year 2017-18 had been a tough year for contractors all over Saudi Arabia. 'However, Expertise accomplished its business targets that year with an overall growth of 20 per cent, because of which we hired more than 2,000 employees and purchased more than 1,000 pieces of equipment to cater to the demands of 2019,' he says.

Expertise is well established in the Eastern province with its headquarters in Jubail Industrial City and branch offices in Riyadh, Yanbu, Jeddah, Jizan, Turaif, Shaybah and Shuqaiq. The size of its first operational terminal was 6,000 sq m, the second operational terminal 125,000 sq m and the third operational terminal 65,000 sq m, besides facilities at various locations in Saudi Arabia accounting for 100,000 sq m. 'In total we have 300,000 sq m of land for our smooth operations,' he notes.

The company’s most important oil and gas client is Saudi Aramco along with its joint ventures such as Sasref and Satorp. As an eclectic industrial service player Expertise caters to the petrochemical, mining, drilling, steel, cement, power generation (water and electricity) and EPC segments.

Expertise’s high-profile clients include Saudi Aramco, Sabic, Farabi, Tasnee, Sadara, Sasref, Maaden, Sahara, Sabtank, Safco, Chemanol and Satorp.

To a question on Saudi Vision 2030 and Saudi Aramco’s IKTVA programme and Expertise’s compliance with them, Ashif says: 'We are in the initial phases of doing a market survey to set up a downstream manufacturing plant to create new jobs and further support the secondary industries of Saudi Arabia.'

Besides, the company is recruiting Saudi nationals, both male and female, to its various divisions including safety offices, business development, finance, HR and administration. Training programmes for Saudi nationals have been established in order to make them conform to international standards. Outsourcing of materials and services has been reduced in order to limit the outflow of money and thereby keeping it within Saudi Arabia.

On the second edition of TechExpo 2019, which the company is organising on April 24 in Jubail, he says the world is changing rapidly and technology is playing the most important role in transforming the lives of people. With the same intention, Expertise has collaborated with organisations worldwide to bring in their technical expertise to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 'We being a major local player, it becomes our rightful duty to bring the best of the world to our customers’ doorsteps,' he maintains.

The show will have reputable companies under the stream of operation and maintenance, engineering, process automation, decontamination and static equipment manufacturing showcasing and presenting their innovations and Expertise insists its business partners will take full advantage of this opportunity. The other highlight of the Expo is that Expertise is expecting an overall attendance of over 600 personnel from sectors including Oil & Gas/Petrochemical/Mining/Drilling/EPC to be present under one roof, which will also be a great opportunity for networking.

About how the principle of 3 Ps – Patience, Persistence and Perspiration – has helped Expertise win and retain clients, he says customer service and commitment require a lot of persistence and perspiration in order to succeed and retain clients.

Although business always has ups and downs, the key to survival is an extreme amount of patience, especially in the cut-throat market of Saudi Arabia. Hence, to retain clients and prosper in business all the three Ps are required in equal proportion to succeed, he concludes.