Profica provides expert design and build solution for ABSA bank’s innovative retail offering
Leading construction and property solution company Profica has recently completed a tenant installation and full fit-out for ABSA bank’s Umlazi Megacity branch in Durban.
This is just one of around 40 separate design & build projects that Profica is undertaking as part of ABSA Bank’s innovative Client Facing Network Programme, which will ultimately supply over 200 new or refreshed retail bank facilities around the country. For both Profica and ABSA bank, this signals an innovative shift from the traditional project delivery model, says Managing Director for Profica in South Africa, Matthew Renshaw.
“The ABSA project is a significant expansion from our core services as we predominantly focus on project and development management services,” says Renshaw. “This project encompasses our full design & build capability. As one of four companies that have been directly contracted by ABSA Bank to roll out the National Programme, we have assembled our own specialist team to provide flexibility and the right expertise required to deliver each project from concept design through to full construction and fit-out.”
Typically, ABSA Bank would undertake a substantial portion of the design aspect themselves, when developing a new facility. This Programme differs in that it is completely outsourced to independenent contractors, who take on full risk and deliver the finished product to ABSA Bank. Within this design & build model, Profica anticipates handing over approximately forty separate projects between now and the end of 2017.
To date, Profica has been allocated 25 primary sites. “The delivery timeframe for a primary site is between six and eight weeks; a refresh, a mere four days,” says Renshaw. Profica has already successfully delivered four primary sites, including projects in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mafikeng, Tshwane, and Gauteng. Umlazi Megacity in Kwa-Zulu Natal was one of the first projects handed over in May of this year. Profica will begin work on ABSA Bank’s flagship branch at OR Tambo at the beginning of September.
Renshaw says, “It is important that we understand the nature of running a capital programme. A programme such as this involves complexities that come with having to hit the ground running in different regions simultaneously, and to adapt to the requirements of the client’s internal service providers such as those associated with security and IT services. Over the first four projects, we experienced a healthy learning curve as we began to understand the client’s needs and develop a good working relationship. Now we’ve found our rhythm, and we are all set to roll out the remaining facilities.”