Merx Group

ENABLING CLIENTS TO ACHIEVE THEIR ASPIRATIONS

MERX GROUP

The bar-lounge at Straits Clan, Singapore

2 | Asia Outlook issue 44

CONSTRUCTION

UNLOCKING ULTIMATE POTENTIAL The Merx Group continues to deliver projects for clients across Asia, from aviation hangars and office builds to hospitality landmarks Writer: Tom Wadlow Project Manager: Ryan Gray

W

hile a year may not be considered a long time in the grand scheme of business, a lot can happen in the space of 12 months.

Around nine in 10 new businesses fail within this timeframe. Sudden, momentous global events can happen at any moment and impact companies for prolonged periods – the recent outbreak of COVID-19 being a prime example.

For Singapore and Hong Kong based Merx Group, 2019 and the start of 2020 has been lively.

“Our strategy revolves around continuing to drive into the sectors, services and geographies we have identified. We will continue to offer end-to-end solutions and are always looking at new lines of services and to research new markets, combined with evolving the ways we work internally.

The foundation has been set for the next three years.”

These were the words of William Forwood when Asia Outlook last caught up with the Group CEO in October 2018.

Fast-forward to the present day, and the plan is materialising.

“Last year was certainly an interesting one for us with numerous opportunities and challenges along the way – we enjoyed a much improved H2 after a tough first half of the year,” Forwood says. “The Singaporean market I believe will continue to be strong this year, and Hong Kong I hope will continue to be as busy as it was for us in 2019.”

The aerospace segment was identified by Forwood as a promising new line of business for Merx, and two key projects that commenced in 2018 have made steady progress in the time since. The company is in the final fitout stages of both developments, for Bombardier in Singapore and Metrojet in the Philippines, with completion slated for mid-2020.

“There are some new clients and projects in the pipeline, although the opportunities in this space tend to Asia Outlook issue 44 | 3

MERX GROUP emerge a little slower when compared with office builds,” the Group CEO adds. “We have joined the Asian Business Aviation Association and are active within this community – the private business jet category is something we want to push further, building on the work we have done for Bombardier and Metrojet.”

In Clark, Philippines, Merx is delivering a design and build contract for a state-of-the-art business aviation parking and maintenance facility spread across 26,000 square metres, including a hangar which can accommodate up to 10 long-range business aircraft.

FROM HOSPITALITY TO HEADQUARTERS The successful inroads into representing aviation clients highlights Merx’s adaptability and agility and Forwood sees this as a driver towards the longterm success and sustainability of Merx.

What role do partners and suppliers play in the ongoing success of Merx Group?

William Forwood: “As client representative project consultants Merx is engaged to plan, oversee and manage all aspects of clients’ projects.

An integral part of this is the qualification, sourcing, tendering and taking into contract the consultants, contractors and suppliers on each project.

“All vendors are competitively sourced, and Merx has developed a tailored solution for its clients called ‘MerxProcure’ to streamline procurement and bring value and savings to the projects. The contractors, specialist suppliers and consultants Merx work with are high calibre companies that are expert in what they do.”

4 | Asia Outlook issue 44

Indeed, the company’s portfolio is as diverse as ever, with a new contract award gained in January 2020 adding another piece to its roster of projects in the hospitality segment.

“I’m very excited about this,” Forwood adds. “It is a signature development with a private developer to build a brand-new Club Med resort in Kota Kinabalu, in Borneo. This is the first new Club Med in Southeast Asia for many years, and ecology will lie at the heart of it.

“There is a sustainability focus to understand and respect the flora and fauna and marine nature of Borneo.

Reusing water, power generation, marine life and recycling will be very important.”

The all-inclusive resort will be located at Kuala Penyu Beach, just 90 minutes’ drive from Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and fitted with 360 rooms and 40 suites, as well as numerous sports and entertainment facilities such as tennis courts, kids’ clubs, circus trapeze, snorkelling and archery. It is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022.

Another promising development in the hospitality field has seen the company take on a broad consultancy role with Hong Kong-based Peninsular Hotels, a collaboration which will see Merx provide technical design assistance and wide-ranging advisory services.

Hong Kong is the second pillar within Merx Group and has leading expertise in the workplace/corporate office sector. Forwood describes this as the “core” of the business, given it represents around 50 percent of Merx Hong Kong’s overall revenue.

A recent Hong Kong office project was carried out for British multinational asset management company Schroders. Spanning 22,000 square feet, Merx served as project manager, quantity surveyor and construction administrator, delivering a sleek and modern working environment.

“We’ve completed a raft of projects

Goudie Associates Goudie Associates is an international company of 150 professionals specialising in Architecture, Interior Design, Management and Construction led by a multicultural team of architects, designers and managers.

After completing projects throughout Asia Pacific for major financial institutions e.g. JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, UBS, Citi, system wide first class lounges for Cathay Pacific and 22 centres in 20 cities in two years for flexible workplace specialists Regus further design studios were opened in Singapore, the Philippines and mainland China.

While the Hong Kong head office services both local and international clients in Hong Kong and regionally the Manila and Cebu offices have expanded to over 100 staff providing expertise to an ever expending clientele in the Philippines combining master planning and architecture with interior design and a very high level construction licence to complete award winning projects for resorts, offices, serviced apartments and the retail sector. Notable clients include Sun Life, IBM, WeWork, Google, Okada Manila , Solaire, and Raffles Residences.

Goudie Associates has seen a rapid rise in demand for their design and build services with clients requesting fully integrated services from a single experienced point of contact. This challenge has resulted in Goudie Associates achieving outstanding results and client satisfaction from all sectors.

As a member of Perspective Architectural Group (www. perspective-architecturalgroup.com), Goudie Associates also provides clients with services throughout Europe through a network of comparable professional practices.

All projects, large or small, are approached equally with enthusiasm, expertise, creativity and integrity.

www.goudieassociates.com

A young, dynamic, award winning, multi-disciplinary practice with a 35 year history 150 dedicated professionals including architects, engineers, designers and project managers successfully completing projects in over 20 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and North America

HONG KONG MANILA CEBU HANGZHOU SINGAPORE www.goudieassociates.com

MERX GROUP

CLIENT FOCUS

BLOCK.ONE Merx has been inspiring a series of workspaces for blockchain enterprise Block.one.

Having been engaged shortly before construction began on the firm’s first new office in 2018, Merx was tasked with overseeing all elements of the project including coordination, contract agreement, status and construction monitoring, the successful delivery of this first site leading to appointment across the entire Block.one portfolio.

Key to the success of the inaugural project was the ability to create a space suited to both young, tech-savvy employees and the company’s more experienced senior level business leaders.

The brief also required Merx to create a sense of place while relaying the client’s external image, both of which were achieved.

for multinational clients here over the years,” Forwood says. “This is a mainstay for Merx – we’re also carrying out a sweep of office projects in Singapore and we completed work in Yangon last year.”

REALISING POTENTIAL A common thread running through all of Merx’s collaborations with customers is the drive to help them achieve their ultimate potential by delivering new possibilities in the interaction between people and space.

Forwood points to recent internal developments which are helping to realise this vision, the first being the rollout of a new project dashboard 6 | Asia Outlook issue 44

CONSTRUCTION

Merx continues to add to its portfolio of luxury hospitality projects

system named Octagon.

“This is designed to help us better serve our customers,” says the Group CEO. “Essentially, the system brings all project status updates and actions into a single viewpoint, which is tailored to each client depending on what the organisation wants to analyse.”

A real-time portal capable of delivering insightful reports and analyses, Octagon offers complete client visibility over the entire lifecycle of their project, the system already producing positive results as it continues to be launched across the Merx portfolio.

Another breakthrough set to bring further customer benefit is a partnership with Australian project

management firm PDS, the two parties set to leverage each other’s expertise to better serve their client bases.

The move also opens up possibilities for Merx to explore new territories, a key part of Forwood’s plans for the next phase of the company’s development, which also involves consolidating the strength it has gathered in executing ever larger projects across Asia.

Looking ahead, he concludes: “Our ambition over the next year to two years is to create new footprints in another couple of countries and develop further and deeper into the larger projects we have taken on.

“As the company has been evolving,

we have been taking on larger, longer-term developments, so making progress on these is another top priority for us in the year ahead. As our depth of knowledge grows and our experience widens, we can continue to take on bigger, and even more ambitious work.”

MERX GROUP Tel: +65 6423 9664 enquiries@merxcm.com www.merxcm.com

Asia Outlook issue 44 | 7

MERX GROUP Level 12-01, Capital Tower, 168 Robinson Road, Singapore, 068912 Tel: +65 6423 9664 enquiries@merxcm.com www.merxcm.com PRODUCED BY ASIA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE