Serving the Teesside Business Community | 35
Picture by Doug Moody
YOUR SUCCESS
IS OUR
RESOLUTION
Resolution experts - Chris Metcalfe (left)
and Andrew Drennan of HKA.
In the wake of the most unprecedented investment in the Tees Valley
for a generation, there’s a business that’s been operating in the
region for more than 40 years, acting as a trusted partner for clients
involved in the delivery of construction and engineering projects.
H
KA, a world-leading dispute
avoidance and resolution firm,
works closely with businesses
helping to ensure their projects -
from the humble to the extravagant - reach
a successful completion.
As a global business, HKA has helped
more than 5,500 clients resolve over
100,000 disputes valued at around £194bn
(US$250bn) throughout its 40-year history.
During this time, the organisation has
grown through several mergers, de-mergers
and acquisitions bringing together Hill-PCI
Group, Knowles and associated subsidiaries
under the new name of HKA. Its service
offering is vast, providing contractual and
commercial support, expert and advisory
services to anticipate, investigate and
resolve project disputes.
The UK has one of the highest value of
project disputes in the world, coming in at
an average of £23m and lasting an average
of 10 months. There are considerable flaws
in the way that projects are planned and
executed that lead to such disputes. This is
where HKA can help.
Partner and quantum expert Chris
Metcalfe has worked at HKA for more
than 20 years. He started his career as a
surveyor, gaining experience across the
building, shipbuilding and engineering
industries. For the last 15 years, he has
predominantly operated in the marine,
offshore and oil and gas industries. He
has provided dispute resolution and
commercial advice for a variety of project
types, including vessel construction and
modification.
He says: “HKA has operated in the Tees
Valley for over 40 years, and despite our
change of name, our reputation as trusted
partners to our clients has stood the test of
time.
“Our new name not only brings together
our rich history, it also uniquely places us
as a business that can draw upon global
expertise to resolve problems for local
clients.”
What makes HKA even more unique is its
integrated services – from concept to close-
out, HKA can help save clients time and
money with services suited to each step of
the project cycle.
Andrew Drennan, business manager
for Teesside and Scotland, said: “We
understand that businesses enter into
contracts with the best of intentions,
but disputes do happen. We can help to
minimise the risks that parties are exposed
to both pre- and post-contract.
“In addition, our expert services are
there for disputes that cannot be resolved
between two parties without professional
support. We have over 100 quantum,
engineering and delay (QED) experts
combining forensic technical, delay and
disruption, and financial quantum analyses.”
HKA also provides in-house training for
businesses using bespoke and standard
forms of contracts, such as FIDIC, ICE,
IChemE, JCT and NEC.
In 2018, HKA was named Construction
Expert Witness of the Year by Who’s
Who Legal and ranked number one in the
Global Arbitration Review’s Top 100 11th
Edition Expert Witnesses for the number
of construction arbitrations undertaken by
a firm.