Building bridges to the future after half a century

The Leeds-based group today marks 50 years of consultancy since it was first established.

After two years' painful restructuring, chief executive Paul Hamer said WYG can now look to the future with growing confidence, as increasing international orders begin to form a buffer against tough domestic markets.

"International has been the largest success story for us this year," said Mr Hamer.

"By 2013, we want international to provide 50 per cent of total group revenues."

Last year international revenues accounted for about 20 per cent of the group. By the end of this month, Mr Hamer said he hopes to have grown these to nearer 30 per cent.

WYG now operates in more than 40 countries.

In recent months, the group has won a string of international contracts, including its biggest-ever foreign deal.

Part of an international consortium, it won the second phase of a European Union-funded programme to restore and upgrade transport, environment and energy infrastructure across the Western Balkans – a four-year, 15.3 million euro project.

Combined with an existing 15.1 million euro project in the region, it represents WYG International's largest international order. The group now has nine projects underway in the Western Balkans.

Mr Hamer said WYG will use a tried and tested model of winning internationally-funded public programmes, moving to domestic public programmes, before building on these to win private work in new countries.

New countries where it has recently opened bases or hopes to imminently are Abu Dhabi, Croatia and South Africa.

Next in line will be a North African country and a former Soviet Union state – possibly Kazakhstan.

"It's great to be celebrating our history and the foundations that the business is built on, but my focus is the next 50 years," said Mr Hamer.

"Our staff are hellishly proud. Probably for the first time they recognise that they have got a huge opportunity to influence the future direction of the business.

"From a market perspective I don't think these tough times are going to disappear overnight. But there's a real realism in the business.

"We are busy preparing ourselves to be fleet of foot."

The group's workforce of around 2,500 will celebrate with a "low key" event, said Mr Hamer, after enduring a tough couple of years which saw hundreds of job cuts.

On entering the recession with a heavy debt burden and hefty exposure to the UK and Ireland's crashing economies, old management were cleared

out and Mr Hamer and finance director David Wilton led a restructuring that forced it into a debt-for-equity swap, with banks taking a majority stake.

WYG then changed its name from White Young Green when it completed the refinancing earlier this year.

"Last year was probably the most challenging in its history," he said.

"But during that period we did not lose one key client.

"That can only be down to the fact that people buy from people. It's testament to the staff."

WYG's banks Lloyds, Fortis and Royal Bank of Scotland, who hold 60.5 per cent of the company, are "good owners" with a "long-term view", added Mr Hamer.

He added while the pressure on the public sector purse will bring challenges, he also sees opportunities to help local authorities cut

costs and deliver "more for less".

Part of the private sector are returning, he added, such as housebuilding.

From White Young Green to WYG

THE WYG story started in 1959 when Ernest Green set up an engineering consultancy. The company has always celebrated its anniversary on June 10.

White Young formed in Leeds in 1964 as a partnership between Ron Young and Terence White. White Young and Partners operated as a civil and structural engineering consultancy until 1978 when the partners sold the business to Central and Sherwood. It then began trading as White Young Consulting Engineers.

In 1980, it acquired Prentice Royal, a mechanical, electrical, building services and process engineering consultancy. It bought a number of small businesses, before a management buy-out in 1986.

In 1997, the merger of White Young Consulting Group and Ernest Green Holdings formed a new plc, White Young Green, through a reverse takeover.

It then grew from a regional consulting engineering business into an international consultancy through organic growth and more than 20 acquisitions.

The acquisition of IMC Consulting and DeLeeuw International helped the company develop internationally.

However, the recession forced it to restructure in 2008, and in 2010 it rebranded to WYG.