Scottish Water International (SWI), the subsidiary set up in 2012 to offer specialist consultancy services to overseas clients including governments and utilities, has achieved a turnover of more than £2 million in the last 12 months.
As water industry leaders gathered in Edinburgh for the start of this week’s World Water Congress on Monday, SWI announced that it had won a new assignment to provide advice and support to Adelaide-based SA Water.
This will see the Dunfermline-based public utility link up with global engineering and construction firm KBR to provide strategic advice, including expertise on asset management in South Australia. As part of the assignment SWI will share knowledge and make recommendations based on its experience of delivering an annual investment programme in Scotland worth around £500 million.
The contract win follows the recent completion of SWI’s major assignment to help improve water services in the Canadian city of Calgary. A team of five Scottish Water consultants, backed by other specialist staff, identified efficiency benefits worth up to C$5m per annum (£2.7m) for The City of Calgary’s Water Services business unit.
This followed a 12-month review of the Calgary unit’s operational activities, drawing on the Scottish Water team’s expertise in operations and maintenance, service delivery, benchmarking, project and change management.
Nigel Ayton, Managing Director of Scottish Water International, said:
“An increasing number of international clients are looking to Scottish Water’s experience of transforming the delivery of water services – by raising standards and reducing costs – for the benefit of customers here in Scotland.
“Last year we exported more than £2 million of our services to international clients, showing that the people of Scotland own a globally-recognised company in Scottish Water.”
Nigel Ayton said the firm was also exploring other opportunities that would build on the success of recent assignments such as Calgary.
SWI is continuing its work in Doha as part of a five-year drainage improvement project, which will enhance waste water treatment and collection systems across Qatar.
Scottish Water International was established in 2012 to develop business opportunities abroad using the skills and expertise in Scottish Water to offer specialist consultancy services to utilities, foreign governments and other international clients.