To say last year was a big year for FSC would be an understatement. We were lucky to avoid many of the challenges COVID presented (for the most part) due to our industry, allowing us to continue to grow our business – something we put down to the incredible work and dedication of our team, and the great relationships we have with our clients. 

Reflecting on 2020

Having always had a keen focus on digital transformation, we were able to adapt swiftly as things changed day by day. Everything we learnt in 2020 has not only made our service delivery stronger, it’s also brought us closer together. As a team we worked on over 50 projects, for over 22 clients. We grew our current business streams and our team is now over 50 strong.

We also launched FSC Range, an engineering design consulting business headed up by Nathan Burmeister. Nathan, a former Victorian Transport Manager and APAC Ports and Maritime Manager of an ASX-listed consulting firm, brings a wealth of experience that truly feeds our mission to create a different type of consultancy. 

The launch of FSC Range was a huge step forward for FSC, allowing us to go further in understanding both the design and construction aspects of infrastructure. We can now produce far more for our clients than just reports and drawings, with design capability across civil, structural, coastal, ports and maritime, utilities and temporary works. 

Of course, we’d be lying if we said every moment of 2020 was a joy. At times we struggled, and we don’t shy away from the fact that many of our clients, partners and more did too. In saying this, the resilience that 2020 has instilled in us will remain for a long time, and it’s something we’ll continue to reflect on as a group in the years to come. 

Looking forward to 2021

At FSC we’ve been working hard to build a different type of engineering consultancy, and 2021 will be no different. Largely, the three things that allow us to continuously improve are diversifying and building our capability, implementing the best technology and engaging great people. 

Expanding capability

This year we’ll continue to focus on expanding our capabilities within the design, project management, and environmental consulting components of our business. We are consistently adding to the technical capability of each part of the business, allowing the multidisciplinary nature of FSC to grow. 

The advantage of this is we’re increasingly able to deliver holistic solutions, timely advice and expertise across the whole project lifecycle – something our clients value highly. For example, when we complete design works, we are uniquely placed – given our core skill of construction project management – to deliver truly practical designs for our clients.

Technology and R&D

Our unique combination of skills across construction, design, and environmental consulting is underpinned by a continued focus on leveraging technology to produce better outcomes for our clients. Mark Andreesen wrote in 2011 that “Software is eating the world” and in 2019, the CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella proclaimed that all companies are now software companies, no matter what service they provide. We subscribe to this mantra.

Our innovation R&D initiative, Blue Sky Projects, where we fund the creative ideas of the FSC Team has produced our second original software package, PARMA, which solves a long held issue of productivity tracking in the construction industry.

We also continue to strengthen our BIM capabilities and are modeling for clients such as McConnell Dowell, Utility Mapping and Metro Trains. Our UAV capability and digital modelling skill set continues to strengthen and be used widely by the likes of John Holland and CPB Contractors. 

Our team is committed to continuing to use our knowledge and creativity to create new tools and techniques to solve old problems in new ways. This helps us build an innovation skill set that will grow over time and will allow us to apply learnings across our client base and deliver better outcomes. 

A place people want to work

One of our biggest focuses has always been to create a place where great people want to work, and we’ll continue to work to make FSC the best place to build your career. We do this through our unique professional development program that encourages our staff to build a career that works for their life, not at the expense of it!  

We are acutely aware that this gets harder to achieve as we grow and we need to double down on our efforts in this space over the coming years. Reflecting on last year, we’ve realised that we could be doing more in this space and we feel that it’s time for FSC to take our people first mantra to a new level. We want to really push the boundaries of what is normal in our industry.

Our training and development program continues to grow and diversify with fortnightly training and an online Wiki where we communicate lessons learnt and other training modules. We’ve also been regularly inviting guest speakers in from the industry to teach us how to be better. If you’d like to get involved we’d love to hear from you.

Beyond 2021…

We’re always committed to having a positive impact. Doing good is not a choice for us, it’s a necessity – and we’re looking to take this to the next level. We’ll be looking at ways to make sure we are more methodically and systematically doing good and having as minimal negative impact on the world as possible. We want this to be a part of everyday business, and make sure great outcomes for our clients, communities and the environment can be achieved in tandem. Exciting times!

If you have a project that you would like help on, we’d love to hear from you.

We help our clients take infrastructure from paper to reality. Get in touch today to see how we can help you.