With a number of projects on the go and a strong legacy on which to build future business, things are looking bright for Concor Western Cape.
Concor Western Cape, formerly known as Murray & Roberts Western Cape, has embraced its name change following its recent acquisition, along with a number of other Murray & Roberts assets, by a consortium led by the Southern Palace Group.
Mark Fugard, managing director of Concor Western Cape, says that the company’s heritage goes back to the formation of Murray & Stewart in Cape Town more than 115 years ago, which was later merged to form Murray & Roberts. He adds that Concor, also a recognisable brand in the South African construction industry, was established in 1948, and acquired by Murray & Roberts in 2006.
Significantly, the majority of the iconic structures in the Cape Town CBD were built by the company. One of these is Portside, which at 139 metres is the tallest building in the CBD, and was constructed using a plethora of novel construction methodologies as well as a few South African technological “firsts”.
Fugard says that it is business as usual for Concor Western Cape. “We will continue to focus on meeting our clients’ needs; the future will see us becoming more agile and flexible, enabling us to continue meeting changing market demands,” he says.
Through the new ownership structure, Concor Western Cape is now part of the leading black owned construction business in South Africa, and this further strengthens the company’s historical commitment to employment equity and skills development. Prior to the acquisition by Southern Palace Group consortium, Concor Western Cape already had an established reputation for its commitment to various education, training and development initiatives and Fugard says this will continue unabated.
“We have always considered our people to be our most valuable resource, and importantly, our management structure and core contracting teams will remain as is. This will give our existing clients and the market place the reassurance it needs to continue working with us.”
Despite the effects of tight economic conditions, Fugard says a number of exciting projects have come into the market with a healthy pipeline of future opportunities. These include city centre high rise developments, retail centres, offices, apartment blocks and at least six new hotels to cater for the growing tourism market.
“There is a large development focus on the residential segment at present, including many inner city apartment opportunities,” he says. “This is leading to substantial development of both new as well as the redevelopment of existing buildings into residential and/or multi-purpose spaces.”
Projects recently completed by Concor Western Cape include the Century City Bridge Park Tenant Installation and Tokai Retirement Estate, while ongoing projects include Tsogo Sun which houses both Stay Easy and Sun Square Hotels, the Radisson Blu Hotel portion of the Triangle House development, Aurum Presidential and Luxury Suites, a high-end private home in Nettleton Road Clifton and Neotel data centre.
“We are all excited about the future; Concor Western Cape has a strong team in place and we are confident of continuing to maintain a strong position in the Western Cape,” Fugard concludes.
