1. Going to the Gulf Our Experience in Qatar Sam Murdock – Director of Water Services Enterprise Ireland GCC Trade Mission 7 th January 2014

2. Outline of Presentation Introduction to Byrne Looby Our Middle East journey Lessons learned and benefits

3. Overview of Byrne Looby 2014 9 offices, 5 international Ireland – 4 Middle East – 3 UK – 2 Middle East locations: Dubai Doha Jeddah Working in the water, marine and heavy civil engineering sectors

4. New Office - Dubai

5. Our work in the Middle East World’s Tallest Flagpole (Jeddah) Hodariyat Bridge (Abu Dhabi) Lusail CP4 (Qatar) Mesaieed Industrial City TSE (Qatar) Al Khor STP, Qatar Aqaba Port (Jordan)

6. Internationalisation – taking the big leap With contraction of the Irish market in 2008, we started developing new international centres to generate revenues and spread risk Middle East Libya UK

7. Growth… 2007 -100% of sales in Ireland -1 office in Dublin -40 employees -Turnover €4m Now -25% of sales in Ireland -10 offices -100 employees (>250 with JV partners) -Current annual equivalent revenue €10m

8. Our Middle East Journey 2009 – Entered Saudi Arabian Market Selling our traditional specialist services Tried to replicate what we did in Ireland 2011 – Learnings 2 years on.. Market needs were different from those in Ireland – needed value focused client services suitable for the market Our traditional services - low volume and not scalable Higher trading overheads – need a bigger turnover to be viable – work only on projects worth €20,000 or more in fees Needed to diversify, win bigger projects and break even or leave

9. Water Services and Qatar Revised strategy 2011 Diversified service offering Identified significant opportunity to deliver water services particularly in Qatar New business plan Supported by Enterprise Ireland

10. Route to Market 1)Team building -Build a water services team to supplement existing skills working between Ireland and Qatar -Purchased PH McCarthy Consulting Engineers in Ireland to supplement capability in late 2012

11. Route to Market 2) Market entry – partnering, business development -Partnered with local company ASCO -New joint venture partners -ASCO have over 40 years experience in the Qatari market -Excellent understanding of local conditions, market, customs, planning requirements as well as client expectations and Qatar Construction Standards

12. 3) Quick Wins Initial Short term Mid term Long term -Design elements -Small EPC contractors -Stretched large consultants RELIANT ON CONTACTS AND INTRODUCTIONS -Small/medium design elements -Medium/large EPC contractors BUILDING ON EXPERIENCE AND REPUTATION -Sole designer -Water authority/large EPC contractors CONTINUE BUILDING REPUTATION -Clients advisor on asset management -Water authority ESTABLISHED REPUTATION Route to Market

13. 4) Win Bigger Projects Route to Market Lusail Expressway (Doha, Qatar) First service tunnel in Qatar Working with ASCO Qatar Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (Abu Dhabi, UAE) Over 40km of sewers across the city Treated Sewage Effluent Upgrade (Mesaieed Industrial City, Qatar) QAR 7.5 million water infrastructure project Working with ASCO Qatar

14. Our Vision Top 10 middle east water and infrastructure consultants in next 10 years

16. Ingredients for success in Qatar On the ground presence Careful partner selection Understanding the market Firm commitment to the market Cultural understanding and respect Clear understanding of financial model and strong financial management

17. Ingredients for success in Qatar Need great people committed to the cause – Qatar is a complex market with global players, staff work very hard Willing to travel and live abroad Relevant technical expertise Non-technical management/leadership skills (sales, business development) Opportunity for staff to up-skill through working on projects beyond scale in Ireland

18. Ingredients for success in Qatar Enterprise Ireland Networking (Irish Diaspora)

19. Benefits Developing new skills which can benefit the Irish market in the future Recently announced 50 new jobs Grown to 90 people New opportunities which allow for future growth of the business

20. Thank you