Specialist fire and life safety consultancy, Tenable Fire Engineering Consultancy (FEC), has announced a record first quarter, securing over US$1.73 million in projects, including a 120 per cent increase in the number of contracts won in Saudi Arabia compared to the same period in 2021. The increase in KSA-based projects has propelled plans for the company to open its first office in the kingdom this summer.
According to the US-Saudi Business Council, the kingdom’s contracts industry registered a 78 per cent increase in annual activity in 2021, and with additional Public Investment Fund spending on the country’s mega and giga-projects, Saudi Arabia’s construction market could return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. The surge in construction activity has been a key driver in Tenable FEC’s growth in Saudi Arabia and its plans to set up a base in the kingdom, with the specialist fire and life safety consultancy winning contracts across a diverse range of sectors, including commercial, cultural and heritage, hospitality and retail. The company believes the addition of a Saudi-based team will see continued growth in projects won and aid the kingdom in its construction developments.
Year-on-year growth has not been limited to Saudi Arabia, as 2022 has seen Tenable FEC increase GCC-wide revenues by 15 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. Headquartered in Muscat, Oman remains Tenable FEC’s largest market in terms of revenue, generating close to $1 million in the first four months of 2022. However, the organisation has also recorded significant growth of 46 per cent in the UAE, as well as winning more contracts for international projects, including several across Africa.
Commenting on the company’s performance, Sultan Al Maskri, Tenable FEC’s founder and CEO, said: “We are thrilled at the company’s growth so far this year, not just overall but across the majority of our serviced sectors. Our leading and accredited engineers ensure we are the region’s largest single-discipline fire and life safety services consultancy. By providing expert code consulting, fire system design, site inspections, and third-party verification, we are able to excel in projects across the region and worldwide due to our flexible approach to architectural design aspirations in the initial planning stages. By the end of 2022, we aim to increase the number of projects in key sectors and continue our growth and positioning as an industry-leading specialist.”
Mazin Al Yaarubi, Tenable FEC’s director – HQ, believes a major contributing factor to the organisation’s performance in the first four months of the year is an increasingly active construction market. “It is promising that, despite the difficulties faced globally due to the pandemic, we are experiencing more business opportunities and projects across the region come to fruition. Now the world is returning to a steady-state of business and growth, our priority is to ensure the fire and life safety of these new developments and projects are in line with the numerous codes and requirements — something we pride ourselves on being industry experts in.”
According to Sam Alcock, Tenable FEC’s Dubai director, hospitality currently commands the highest revenue within Tenable FEC’s existing portfolio, as the number of new hotel openings increases and the need to service existing locations for their ongoing fire and life safety requirements continues. The energy sector, including oil and gas, LPG, power and petroleum, and the industrial sector in general remain key sectors for the organisation as its portfolio of clients grows. Retail has been identified as a target growth area for Tenable FEC as new malls across the region open, including the Mall of Oman, which has been a milestone project for the fire and life safety consultancy.
To secure Tenable FEC’s continued growth, Alcock concluded: “2022 has the makings of being a record year for Tenable FEC, and we are committed to continuing along this growth trajectory. We offer a comprehensive range of fire and life safety consultancy services and shall be focusing on delivering our existing expertise into new sectors, further establishing ourselves as the consultancy partner of choice in existing sectors and achieving our ambitious international growth plans, with a key focus on KSA in-line with Saudi Vision 2030. Already in 2022, we have successfully accredited three of our engineers with Saudi Council of Engineers, further cementing our commitment to providing world-class fire and life safety engineering consultancy services adhering to the local regulations in the markets within which we operate. We are looking forward to continuing to ensure some of the region’s, and the world’s, most prestigious and groundbreaking projects are delivered with robust fire and life safety as a priority.”