Cyril Sweett

Cyril Sweett is a world class, global construction consultant
Sweett solutions

Cyril Sweett is a leading global construction consultancy

Cyril Sweett is a world class, global construction consultant. Operating from 63 offices in 27 countries, Cyril Sweett’s 3000 professionals are focused on clients’ needs to maximise value to businesses and projects. The consultant’s reputation is founded upon a commitment to consistency and service excellence combined with effective delivery and local knowledge.

Offering expertise in project management, cost consultancy, building surveying and a comprehensive range of specialist consulting services, Cyril Sweett understands that every project is uniquely different and therefore tailors each project to its clients’ needs.

Geoff Warke tells Construction Today Europe more about Cyril Sweett’s operations in Ireland: “I am the operations director in Ireland – I helped set up the Belfast office in 1999 – and I am excited by the challenge the role represents. We are now up to approximately 35 people in Northern Ireland and around 30 in our Dublin office. We are trying to recruit more people, with a target of around 100 over the next three to four years, so that we have adequate resources to cope with all the work that is on the horizon. We are also looking to open some new offices in Ireland as well as part of the expansion.”

Cyril Sweett’s objective is to build a long-term relationship with its clients to promote repeat business and referrals. In order to achieve this the global construction consultant provides a single point of responsibility ensuring that all issues are resolved efficiently and quickly, works in partnership with the client’s team so that it understands requirements, effectively organises clear and short chains of communication and leads by example to prove that professional commitment and co-operation can be obtained.

“Close co-operation with the customer is essential,” says Geoff. “We simply talk to them and find out what they want. It essentially boils down to meeting with clients, having discussions about relevant topics and having an open attitude; it is all common sense really. We are not arrogant and seek feedback on our service delivery. It is also equally important to work closely with colleagues in the industry – especially in the construction sector.”

He continues: “We offer a full range of integrated services and independent project advice, which provide added value. What we are aiming to be is the best in our field, as well as the first person people think of when they need a piece of work carried out. Obviously, we need to get the quality right, as I believe success is all about delivering the right levels of quality so that we can build long-term relationships and promote repeat business.”

Cyril Sweett is unique within the industry as it is a wholly employee owned company. It is felt this helps build a sustainable and profitable business, providing careers, personal development and opportunities over the long-term. “Our philosophy is simple: to be the natural choice for construction consultancy services by being the best at everything we do,” explains Geoff. “Cyril Sweett’s mission is to be a recognised leader in our chosen sectors. Our services are geared to the differing needs of each sector, while our portfolio, with a balance between public and private sector commissions, is focused in business space, retail, healthcare, education, PPP/PFI, transport, residential and leisure.

“We offer a very high quality service and, perhaps more importantly, we deliver what we say we will. We also have the right experience, resources and know-how to meet the expectations of our clients on every project. What’s more, we have highly skilled staff, which is another key ingredient.”

The future will be full of potential, opening up a number of business opportunities for Cyril Sweett. Talking further about the market potential, Geoff adds: “I have 30 years experience in Northern Ireland and the opportunities open to us at the moment are the best I have ever seen in my life. There will be £16 billion worth of expenditure in health, education, residential, industrial and commercial, while all government expenditure is going to go through the roof. Indeed, these are opportunities the likes of which we have never witnessed before and southern Ireland is going to be the same.”

He continues: “We need to grow the business so we can have adequate resources to meet the future workload. One way we are thinking of doing that is to open some regional offices throughout Ireland. That will then give us additional opportunities because in Ireland there is a lot of money being distributed into the regions and we will be best placed to pick that up if we had greater coverage.

“Delivering the huge expenditure is going to be a major challenge for the industry as a whole and that is really why we will make such investments – it will help us deal with increased opportunities. I suppose another major challenge is ensuring we deliver what we say we do, across the whole of Ireland; that is vitally important,” he concludes.