UGL has selected former UWA graduate and Clough executive Russell Waugh to lead its engineering business, which is set to become a listed company in its own right following a demerger.
Mr Waugh joined Sydney-based UGL last November, with an initial focus on seeking growth opportunities in Asia.
Since then, UGL has decided to demerge its RTZ property business, which accounts for about half group revenue.
The demerger will take UGL some way back to its origins in Perth as United Engineering, a business jointly established by current Monadelphous chairman John Rubino.
Mr Waugh said UGL Engineering had been through a major restructure this year, with a focus on six industry sectors – water, rail, transport, defence, power, and resources.
All of the service areas, such as construction, engineering and operations and maintenance, operate through the industry lines.
“We’ve taken out a lot of layers of management in doing that,” Mr Waugh told Business News.
He said the group would continue to focus on the six industry sectors, which formed the building blocks for the group’s growth.
After the demerger, which is due to be completed in FY2015, UGL will have annual revenue of $2.3 billion and employ 8,000 people across six countries.
Mr Waugh said the WA market accounted for about 20 per cent of total turnover.
Major projects in WA include BHP Billiton’s Jimblebar iron ore development.
UGL managing director Richard Leupen said that adding growth in Asia was a “key strategic initiative” for the company.
“We see longer term opportunity for UGL to build a strong presence in India and Asia by utilising the skills and capabilities we have in Australia,” MrLeupen said in a statement.
Mr Waugh is an engineering graduate of the University of Western Australia and has legal qualifications from Macquarie and Deakin universities.
He spent 17 years with Clough, working in Perth, Brisbane, Pakistan and Thailand, among other locations.
That was followed by eight years with Leighton, including as managing director of Leighton Welspun Contractors in India.
