Traprain Opens Doors in Dubai
February 22 2010
Specialist commercial consultancy, Traprain Consultants Ltd, is consolidating its presence in the United Arab Emirates with the opening of an office in Dubai by Dennis Brand, who has long been one of the company’s associates in the region.
The consultancy specialises in offering a range of director-level services to industries including oil & gas, construction and energy through a network of top flight consultants. The company sees the move as offering further opportunities to increase its reach, and to service the activities of existing clients operating in the region from a local base.
Peter Foreman, Chief Executive of Traprain Consultants, said:
“This is a significant and very positive step forward for Traprain. The Traprain office in Dubai will increase opportunities for our network of consultants to access not only the UAE market, but also other parts of the Middle East. Despite recent turmoil, the UAE still represents an extremely valuable source of high quality contracts. Indeed, we believe that the problems in the construction market will provide us with opportunities. We also have a number of existing clients from Europe and elsewhere with operations in the region, and this will enable us to service these from a local base.”
Dennis Brand will head up the Dubai operation. His background is in commercial and legal areas, specialising in construction, development and energy projects. Traprain Consultants in Dubai will work in association with the UK-based company and act as a hub for all of Traprain’s consulting activities in the Middle East.
Dennis Brand has spent many years in London with major law firms, where he accrued considerable experience of advising on infrastructure projects in both the public and private sectors. He later worked with Kvaerner Hydrocarbons, then part of the Kvaerner Group, where he oversaw in particular its pre-contract and post contract award activities, and the preparation and negotiation of contract terms. He was later appointed Commercial & Legal Services Director and Company Secretary of John Brown Hydrocarbons Limited and subsequently held a similar position at CB&I John Brown Limited and its subsidiaries.
In 2005 Dennis relocated to Dubai to join the Construction, Development and Energy Group of the Dubai office of London law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer, with particular responsibility for its non-contentious construction and engineering practice. In January 2008, with others, he established the Dubai office of HBJ Gateley Wareing heading its non-contentious practice, which included construction, development and engineering projects as well as a range of commercial and corporate services.
Commenting on the decision to branch out with the formation of Traprain Consultants in Dubai, Dennis said:
“After some years in the area, I recognised that there is a market for good quality management consultancy services providing specialist contractual, commercial and corporate advice on a cost effective basis. There are large numbers of both indigenous and joint venture companies which need high order advice and training of the kind offered by the Traprain network: working with Peter and the other members of the Traprain network I envisage strong demand for the range of services we provide.”
A regular speaker at conferences and seminars, Dennis is a founder member of the Society of Construction Law (Gulf) as well as regular contributor to MEP Middle East.