FERGUS Adams joined engineering consultancy firm Dougall Baillie Associates in 1993. Communication and camaraderie have been at the forefront of its response to lockdown and homeworking
Name: Fergus Adams
Position: Managing director
WHAT’S THE BUSINESS CALLED?
Dougall Baillie Associates
WHERE IS IT BASED?
East Kilbride
WHY WAS THE BUSINESS SET UP?
THE company was formed by Willard Dougall and George Baillie in 1985. It is now in its fourth generation of ownership. George was a neighbour of my family in Burnside, south Glasgow, when I was growing up.
He started the business when I was at school and, following the death of my parents, he took me, along with my brother, on holiday to St Andrews with his wife and his own children.
Some years later I chatted with him at a 21st birthday party and asked him if there were any jobs going. By then, I was a graduate civil engineer and had an interview with Willard.
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In 1993, I started in the transport department, then moved over to the civil engineering side. In 1999 four associates in the firm agreed an internally funded management buyout of George and Willard, who remained for a while as consultants. I became an associate in 2004 and, with Robin Duncan and Norman MacLean, staged a second buyout in 2009.
In December 2018, I bought out Robin and Norman and appointed three directors and three associate directors, all of whom have share options in place. Following that third buyout, the new management team has been helped a great deal by Kirsty Bathgate whose Gearing for Growth programme focuses on people working together for the same shared vision.
Before the lockdown, we tested our systems to ensure that we could effectively work remotely. This involved upgrading our IT systems and some software packages. Once lockdown was confirmed all 41 members of staff began homeworking.
We adopted a rigid communication structure, with each department holding programming meetings on a Monday morning. This then feeds into a management meeting in the afternoon, at which time directors and associates discuss the current workload, opportunities, future projections and any industry/client news.
All meetings are held via Zoom or Teams. We have constant discussions via Teams to maintain camaraderie and for information sharing. This helps manage loneliness, which could affect those who live alone. It also maintains the staff bond. This is further enhanced on Friday afternoons when work stops early and we meet (virtually) for a pub quiz.
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The situation has undoubtedly improved our communications and programming across the business, ensuring that all members of staff are fully employed, wherever possible. No matter how hard you try, there is no substitute for face to face contact, even if it is just to show off my lockdown beard! Despite it all, I am tentatively positive and keen to re-commence our growth plans, alongside maintaining high quality professional standards, once the economy start-up again.
WHAT IS THE TARGET MARKET?
ANYONE who wishes to build. Most of our clients are major national housebuilders, including Barratt, Bellway, Cala, Lovell, Miller, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Stewart Milne. Private housebuilding represents around 70% of our work and infrastructure projects the other 30%. I would like to grow the infrastructure and public-sector sides. In the before-Covid era, the Scottish Government, via Homes for Scotland, was targeting 35,000 new homes a year.
I would like to see a revived determination to achieve that goal.
HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
IT may be a cliche, but we are small enough to care, but large enough to offer an excellent service. With more than 40 staff, we are fairly large in the marketplace in which we operate, so the clients have the knowledge that we have the resources to take on new projects, to meet challenging deadlines or to tackle complex design challenges.
The directors are well-known to our clients and are always contactable, thus retaining the values of a smaller organisation.
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WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
OUR team: we are a very team-focused business. It is they who make the company so successful, so my role, in part, is I make sure the business environment is one where they enjoy coming to work. By working closely everyone pulls in the same direction. A big part of this is our success in recruiting the right graduates and school leavers who we can train, educate, and mould. We almost always promote from within.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?
THE first-choice civil engineering practice in central Scotland.
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