Entering into the Australia and New Zealand markets in 2006, Dalkia is now well positioned to achieve robust growth. What does this mean for Dalkia Australia? CCN Editor Sandra Van Dijk finds out in an interview with company CEO, Stewart A. Wood.
Over the past two years, Dalkia Australia has been busy refining and enhancing its customer-centric approach, setting new priorities and implementing a tight regime of fiscal efficiency.
It’s a strategy that is generating results and is a reflection of the steadfast and disciplined approach typical of company president and CEO, Stewart A. Wood.
Since taking the helm at Dalkia Australia in 2011, Wood has exceeded 2012 calendar year profits by more than 120 per cent and is on track to double the company’s revenue potential over the next five years.
“My goal is to increase growth for the company at approximately 10 per cent per year during this five year period,” he says.
His determination has Dalkia Australia in ‘ship shape’ condition through his unwavering belief in a customer-centric business model.
He is a big believer in putting the customer first and sees merit in holistic product and service offerings that improve energy and environmental performance.
“Customer satisfaction is key. Everyone in business has a customer, even administrative staff within an organisation has customers,” he says.
While there is a hint of a Scottish accent, it’s the phrases adopted by Wood that really reveal his heritage as a Scotsman especially on the subject of efficiency.
“It’s like grandma says watch the pennies and the pounds will follow,” he says.“It been a difficult two years across the entire industry and we have had to cut the cloth according to what’s available,” he says.
Despite the tight economic climate, Wood says there has also been plenty of opportunities particularly in the education and health care sectors.
But it’s not just about identifying the opportunities but delivering products that add value.
“That is why we are taking a holistic approach to our product delivery, we are not just a HVAC company but an energy services company involved in every step of the energy chain with one goal in mind: to improve energy performance,” he says.
Late last year, the Veolia Group and EDF, Dalkia’s two shareholders announced the separation of Dalkia, whereby Dalkia France would become 100 per cent owned by EDF and Dalkia International 100 per cent owned by the Veolia Group.
Of course, the announcement is subject to regulartory approval from competition authorities in France and the European Union in Belgium.
Wood says its good news for Australia.
“The advantage for clients is that Dalkia and Veolia combined can deliver a complete environmental solution across energy, water and waste management services”, Wood says.
Key Dalkia accounts locally include the University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Macquarie Generation and the Polaris Data Centre.
Wood describes the Australian market as highly competitive due its small size.
“Competition is fierce and because of this some companies tend to commoditise their offering and chase the cheapest price, they forget the value equation,” he says.
“As a result there are some competitors out there who have paid the price from taking this approach because it just isn’t sustainable.”
Wood believes in the importance of investing in staff, it is central to customer satisfaction. Dalkia has more than 390 staff in 13 branches and Wood has met all of them.
“I work on the principal that the CEO should try to meet every single employee regardless of where they are located,” he says.
To prove his point Wood has trekked to some of the most remote towns in Australia including Whyalla in South Australia and Katherine in the Northern Territory.
“I hired a 4WD in Darwin and drove to Katherine to meet five of our staff,” he says.
Long before Wood began working here, he always referred to Australia as his ‘spiritual home’.
“I began coming to Australia in 1971 when the Opera House was still being built, and found myself returning regularly for business and vacation purposes,” he says.
“I came here in 2006 for new year celebrations, then my children moved here permanently so I decided to follow.”
Prior to his Australian appointment Wood was the CEO of Veolia Energy North America, based in Boston.
For Wood it was the land of spectacular achievement from very humble beginnings.
“I was sent on a fact finding mission to North America from the Paris office, we were tasked with finding an entry point into the US market,” he explains.
“Unfortunately, we arrived three days before 9/11 so we ended up just returning to Paris and doing nothing. The entire country was on its knees it was the worst time to try and break into that market.”
Wood waited 12 months and then returned securing a small contract in Texas.
“We began with four staff, then 16 and by the time I left six years later there was 700 staff,” he says.
The turnover was also impressive. By the time Wood left for Australia revenues had topped $407 million.
“The US really is the land of opportunity, if you are willing to work hard you can grow quickly over there. But you need support and backing from the parent company to make that kind of leap forward,” he says.
In Australia, Dalkia continues to grow its presence partnering with sister company, Veolia Australia. Working closely together, Dalkia has secured a number of energy saving contracts with key industrial leaders.
With such an exceptional track record with Veolia in North America, it’s not surprising to learn that Wood is a big proponent of hard work.
He says this comes from his traditional apprenticeship as an engineer.
He spent 12 years as a merchant navy officer before refining his white collar, management skills at IBM.
“It’s tough on board a ship, you have to fit in and work as a team,” Wood says.
Complementing the company’s energy solutions, Dalkia remains a leading supplier of large kW, commercially applied, chiller systems through its exclusive Trane distribution license which includes all Trane products and Trend and Tracer control solutions.
This year is a big one for Trane which has just launched a new air-cooled chiller known as the Stealth chiller.
It’s release follows many years of research and development to make the technological leap required to reposition Trane in the chiller market.
“There was a period when Trane wasn’t developing the latest technology but that has definately changed with the release of the Stealth,” Wood says.
“The Stealth represents a considerable achievement with ratings of up to 5.9 Integrated Part Load Value (IPLV) and 3.6 full load coefficient of performance (COP) at design ambient conditions.
“This release is big news for us in 2014 and it will also be joined by the release of a new variable speed water-cooled screw chiller; these are product announcements that will reposition us in the chiller market this year.”