Coming together for the greater good

MIKE WESTBURY • March 17, 2017

Coming together for the greater good

I read with interest last week about the acquisition of Hawkins Construction and Hawkins Infrastructure into the Downer business. First of all well done to the McConnell Group owners – they built up a business and have sold it to allow it grow further – great result. But what will this mean for suppliers to the business? What about the current Hawkins staff? How has the internal communications been? Always hard with a buy out as you can’t really say anything until it has been confirmed.

The merging or joining together of two cultures and brands is always an interesting and challenging proposition, can be done well, but not always. A similar situation appears to be happening in the French Top 14 championship, where Racing 92 is possibly merging with Stade Francais…..this is a simpler equation, 30 players on the field this weekend, only 15 next season. Now Hawkins Construction will stand alone as a separate brand and business, with only the infrastructure division being merged into Downer – fair call.

It will be interesting to follow both of these merger/acquisitions over the next 12 months to see the positives and negatives play out. I have a lot of time and respect for the Hawkins business having worked with Matt since their Wellington inception about 10 years ago – I wish them all the best.

As for Dan Carter and the Racing 92 crew, at least it is safe to say that Ali Williams won’t be a part of the new super team next season.

< Older Post

Newer Post >