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Allies or competition?

Strange things going on in the industry. I note that CIBSE can now count EC Harris as members. EC Harris would generally be seen as allies of building services engineers, being primarily project managers, quantity surveyors and land development experts. It’s a trend I see more and more. At the larger end of the market, companies are tending to try to offer all things to everyone, rather than ’stick to the knitting’. However, at the other end of the market, it is increasingly becoming fragmented, with lots of tiny breakoffs, usually one or two employees, who specialise highly.  The middle of the market is starting to look a little odd too, with companies such as ESD and XCO2 diversifying into carbon credits and wind turbines.

Whilst all this diversification is a great way to mitigate against the peaks and troughs endemic in the industry, the consequences of all this toe-stepping could find those who were traditionally allies competing for the same crumbs should another recession ever hit.  Is this a good or bad thing for the industry?

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