A Conversation with KAEFER UK & Ireland’s CEO, Chris Foulkes
Join us for a question and answer session with our CEO, Chris Foulkes, as he shares his reflections on KAEFER UK & Ireland’s progress, challenges, and future direction – from the core business enablers to the commitment of our people, and the exciting prospects that lie ahead.
Reflecting on the Journey
Q1: As you reflect on the last five years as CEO of KAEFER UK and Ireland, and since the merger and acquisition (M&A) with Wood Group Industrial Services (WGIS), what are some of the key milestones and achievements that stand out to you?
When KAEFER acquired WGIS, it significantly expanded our footprint across the UK and Ireland, enhancing our service capabilities. This was a key driver in the acquisition strategy, along with the increase in employees and management strength that transferred under the consultation process. The transferable utilisation of people and assets across both KAEFER and WGIS sectors was another key driver.
My primary concern was the culture of the business. During the covid pandemic, we had to make some challenging decisions to ensure the liquidity of the business, resulting in furloughing half of our workforce in a short period. I believe this set us back a few years. Since then, we have been working hard on the culture of our business to aspire to be an employer of choice. KAEFER is on a journey to develop our culture and be recognised as a listening and learning organisation.
Over the past five years, KAEFER has delivered sustainable growth across our key sectors. This stability has allowed us time for strategic reflection and review, ensuring we are delivering our rolling five-year plan. We focus on four key sectors across the UK and Ireland, and some key points have contributed to our sustainable performance:
- Nuclear: Retention of Sellafield at the end of 2024 underpins other significant frameworks like PPP and DAR. Hinkley Point C is a key contract for KAEFER, establishing us as a key supplier in the UK Nuclear New Build programme through HVAC ducting fabrication and on-site delivery of critical path services. We are strategically positioning KAEFER for further opportunities within Nuclear, such as the SMR programs and the transfer of operating assets into care and maintenance across the AGR fleet.
- Defence: Retention of our major contracts, supporting mission-critical services to ensure the UK At-Sea Deterrent is available as required, and supporting the Type 31 Frigate New Build programme. We also provide key services for the Astute & Dreadnought class submarines and the Type 26 Frigate New Build Programme.
- Energy: Retention of our long-term strategic relationships has positioned KAEFER as a credible supplier to the energy markets, both onshore and offshore. This is further supported by other long-term major clients. Our mission to be the most reliable and efficient provider of technical industrial services drives ongoing business decisions.
- Industrial: Retention of our clients through our customer services focus, our portfolio of key clients keeps growing as we further establish our brand recognised for delivery.
The culture of KAEFER is evolving as we continue the trajectory that the business has enjoyed over the last five years. It is incumbent on all of us to remain true to the company’s values, contributing to the ongoing development of our culture at KAEFER.
When KAEFER and WGIS came together, it was critical to assemble a leadership team capable of supporting the aspirations discussed with shareholders and owners at the point of acquisition. The focus was to establish a diverse Executive Leadership Team that would support, learn, and challenge each other with a common goal of delivering on our plan and becoming a high-performing team. Over the five years, we have made strategic changes to our ELT to ensure we remain match fit. The strength of KAEFER UK & Ireland’s ELT team is that we act in the best interests of the business, not as individuals, whatever happens the mission will continue, demonstrating strong effective team alignment, governance and leadership.
High Performing Teams
Q2: 2025 will be another record-breaking year for KAEFER UK and Ireland. What do you attribute this success to, and how has it impacted the company?
2024 was another record-breaking year in both growth and profitability, reflective of every year since 2021. This success comes down to several factors, but our enablers embedded within our strategy back in 2021 laid the foundations for the growth we have seen and will continue to see over the next five years.
- People: We have some super smart employees who go above and beyond daily. I am personally so proud to lead an organisation with such a vast quantity of talent who genuinely care for each other.
- Customers: Across the Nuclear, Defence, Energy, and Industrial sectors, we operate a diverse customer portfolio with no single point of dependency, giving us a solid foundation for success.
- Brand: We need to ensure that the KAEFER brand is associated with reliability – “Count on us” – simple but effective.
- Processes: We live in an age that is changing daily with an ongoing technology revolution, and we need to ensure KAEFER stays up to speed as a first adopter of best practices, not just an innovator.
- HSE: We cocoon our business with HSE to ensure we focus on a clear belief that everyone goes “home safe, to what counts.” This is non-negotiable at KAEFER.
Customer satisfaction is a key contributor to sustainable business performance. Therefore, it was crucial to understand our customers’ perception of KAEFER. The launch of “Your Voice Counts” was an effective way of collecting and understanding customer perception through clear data. I would ask everyone to support this process as we are hungry for data on how we can improve, avoiding unnecessary surprises.
KAEFER Values & Our Mission
Q3: How have KAEFER’s values and mission guided the company over the past five years, and how do they continue to shape our strategy and operations?
In 2021, as an ELT, we met offsite and agreed on a Strategic Vision for the next five years, aiming to double the size of the business and improve the quality of its earnings. We established four key enablers to support our Vision: People, Process, Customer, and Brand, cocooned with HSE. We also aligned our strategy with KAEFER Group’s mission: to be the most reliable and efficient provider of technical industrial services.
As we started pulling together our strategy over the next 6-12 months, we aligned on some corporate initiatives to support our journey. Every key decision gate we reached, we tested the potential outcome against our Strategic Vision, our core values, and challenged ourselves to ensure the decision was aligned and supported by our enablers. We didn’t get every decision right, but we took some critical decisions that, I believe, positioned the business for success. Exiting low performing markets, re-establishing KAEFER UK & Ireland’s Head Office in Jarrow from Mansfield, and closing several other offices were tough decisions, but necessary.
We implemented a clear strategic focus on growing with our core customers across the sectors we operate within.
Our Vision for the Future
Q4: Looking ahead to the next five years, what is your vision for KAEFER UK and Ireland, and what key strategies will drive us towards achieving our growth goals?
Looking ahead to the next five years, the focus will be on creating a brand known for having a sustainable business with a culture we can all be proud of. We aim to create an environment that makes KAEFER an employer of choice where people can thrive and develop both personally and professionally. We want to be a responsible, caring business, contributing towards our ESG commitments and well-positioned delivering reliable, efficient and technical industrial services across the key sectors we operate in for ongoing growth.
In 2026, we will start positioning our strategy to achieve all of this. Some areas we already have in place, while others we need to continue working on. One thing is certain: you can “Count on us.”