WAUGH NICHE SPREADS NATIONWIDE
What is it that makes Waugh Infrastructure Management so successful specialising in a sector where cost effectiveness and ratepayer scrutiny can make or break a supplier?
Ross Waugh has a simple business philosophy for his colleagues: “make sure it is always a two way street with our clients.”
Ross knows his stuff in the local authority sector. He has run a successful consulting business in the sector for ten years and before that, he worked for a number of Councils for a similar period. His company, Waugh Infrastructure Management Ltd has undertaken projects for almost 50% of New Zealand’s local authorities.
“We work in a specialised field with our clients who are usually from similar backgrounds. That’s why it is important to be operating as partners in the truest sense and promoting a best practice methodology for the good of the whole sector.”
“Often we find ourselves mentoring our partners in new ideas and methods so they can apply them with their own resources, that’s what we mean by a two way street. We ensure we invest in our clients as much as we provide consulting expertise.”
The local authority sector in New Zealand is big business. Some 90 agencies manage $80 billion in assets and generate almost $6 billion in annual income. Each Kiwi household equates to $40,000 in fixed assets under management by local authorities. Significantly, local authorities control a similar portion of the nation’s fixed assets at $60 billion as does the Crown.
It’s in the asset management arena that Waugh Infrastructure Management Ltd is carving a niche. They are specialists in developing and updating asset management plans to reflect current practice and meet all external and legislative requirements.
They also develop asset management improvement programmes. Often these are specific to unique organisational needs and can be prescribed for a number of years. The approach may require Waugh Infrastructure Management to:
- Conduct asset analysis for the updating of lifecycle plans;
- Apply a holistic approach that integrates capital renewal and operational expenditure projections;
- Incorporate changes to legislation;
- Assist with integrating service level planning and demand management;
- Advise on best practice to support the client’s asset management team.
Ross says that once the statutory round of asset management plans is completed, his team also gets called in to undertake peer reviews on plans they have not had a hand in.
“We offer an objective analysis based on a template and recognised scoring system which is measured against national compliance data. This can result in recommendations for improvements to be completed for the Asset Management Plan, an opinion that has credibility based on best practice across the sector.”