UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

 

 

Describe FMG Engineering incorporating Burns Hamilton in one sentence:

FMG Engineering incorporating Burns Hamilton is a medium sized multi-disciplinary engineering company operating in the end to end services marketplace in Victoria and South Australia.

What are the three areas of expertise at FMG Engineering?

Our expertise are in the following three areas:

Urban renewal (commercial pools, commercial buildings, medium and high rise residential, forensic and environmental engineering)

Urban development (educational, sporting and leisure, housing land development, stormwater and water sensitive urban design, health and retirement living)

Industrial development (industrial infrastructure and buildings, materials handling, remediation, retail and process and manufacturing)

How does FMG Engineering differ to other engineering consultancies in the market?

By providing end to end services under one management model and risk framework we can deliver high level holistic strategic advice to our clients, across a full range of engineering disciplines. At the same time we can also offer the full range of operational services of our standard small to medium sized engineering competitors, which means our clients benefit from our big company services at small company prices!

FMG Engineering has recently merged with Burns Hamilton and Partners – what benefit does this bring to your clients?

Happily the customer focused culture I have referred to is so important to us and was what interested us so much about Burns Hamilton; their values were a good match for ours and it was backed up by their excellent reputation in the structural and civil engineering marketplace here in Melbourne. The merger provided greater richness and reach for FMG Engineering Victorian office’s structural and civil engineering services and an enhanced structure for Burns Hamilton to move forward into the future. Significantly it provided clients of both companies with the benefits of a larger and more diversified skill base.

What upcoming projects in Melbourne do you find interesting and why?

Melbourne has some really exciting infrastructure projects on the radar. Webb Dock (Port of Melbourne Authority) the East/West Link (Linking Melbourne Authority) and the expansion of the Melbourne Airport project means billions of dollars of construction projects are coming onto the market. We can participate in these ground breaking projects as part of the bidding consortia, or work on the flow projects for medium sized companies such as ours, so the future looks very positive. Certainly we are of the view that infrastructure is on the agenda for local, state and federal governments.

Your background is in the property industry – how has this strengthened your knowledge for the engineering industry?

The property sector is a quirky industry; one that operates on long term lead-times and short term expectations. In this landscape consulting firms need to be innovative, agile and flexible to meet changing client needs. I have worked both sides of the desk; as a property client and property consultant in a number of different roles. What I’ve learned is to listen to whatever it is that clients care most about. This is the customer focused service culture I have cultivated within the team at FMG Engineering incorporating Burns Hamilton.

What key areas in Melbourne do you see changing in the next 5-10 years?

Australia cannot afford to have underutilised assets in our cities, towns and regional centres. With the development of the Port of Hastings regional centres and towns, such as Frankston, Hastings and Flinders appear to be ripe for expansion, as do other areas such as Dandenong and the whole Docklands/Fisherman’s Bend region. The pattern of mixed development, that of housing, commercial and retail growth is for medium to high density living along the main transport boulevards with lower density moving further out from the transport hubs. In all cases new development initiatives will support affordable and sustainable construction types

What’s the best thing about your role at FMG Engineering?

I love working here in FMG’s Melbourne office. We have strong work culture based on value adding engineering and problem solving with a great diverse team. It’s not difficult to look after people who are passionate about what they do! We have a very strong team based ethos and a shared understanding of what we have to do and be to achieve our long term goals. I’m happy to be part of that journey!