Project managment firm plans to open offices Dubai and Abu Dhabi focusing on banking, retail and leisure sectors

South-east based consultant Millbridge is moving into the Middle East.

The project management and QS firm plans to open an office in Dubai in the autumn and in Abu Dhabi later in the year. Philip Bray, business development director, will move to Dubai to run both offices.

Bray said: “With the market looking less buoyant elsewhere we see this as a natural step.” He added that the firm had plenty of contacts in the region, so he was confident of winning work, particularly in the banking, retail and leisure sectors.

Millbridge is set to operate as an LLC company in Dubai, a structure which entails being 51% owned by a local partner. It is looking to form the partnership in the coming weeks.

With the market looking less buoyant elsewhere we see this as a natural step

Phillip Bray

The Dubai office will open with a full time staff of three, plus two people who will split their time between the Middle East and UK.

In July Millbridge boosted its quantity surveying service offering when it bought QS LG Consult in a deal estimated to be worth £250,000. Bray said QS services would form a crucial part of the Middle East business. The firm also operates in Portugal and the Caribbean.

Millbridge has 65 staff and a turnover of £6m, 35% of which is from overseas business.

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