In the business world, some organizations make massive investment in their products, services and customer relations until they reach a point where they no longer have to compete for clients; rather, clients seek them directly. It is no mean feat.
Yet, Mangat I.B. Patel (MIBP) Limited belongs in this league. As an indigenous Kenyan Consulting Engineering firm, MIBP has built a solid foundation spanning over five decades and that is today its main selling point. “Clients come to us. We don’t go looking for them,” says Engineer Ratna Hirani, MIBP Director.
It is not hard to see why clients go looking for MIBP. Any iconic building in the country will likely bear the signature of MIBP. These include some of the skyscrapers that came up in Nairobi soon after Kenya got independence like International Life House, Reinsurance Plaza, Bruce House and 680 Hotel among others. It also includes modern day breathtaking buildings such as the United Nations Complex, Rahimtulla Trust Towers, the M-Pesa Foundation Academy, I&M Bank Headquarters and Mama Ngina Waterfront among many others.
The scope of projects that MIBP has been involved in is so extensive to a point whereby it is easy to lose count. Yet, in all the projects that cut across structural and civil engineering, the mainstay of MIBP, the overriding theme is a high degree of professionalism, integrity and commitment to doing a good job with focus on client satisfaction.
In fact, at a time when the credibility of some building and construction professionals and companies is under scrutiny due to questionable workmanship, the reputation of firms like MIBP has kept the industry reassured. “It’s a bit worrying today in the industry because of lack of professionalism by some engineers,” notes Hirani. He adds that for MIBP, the focus has always been on good work with money coming second. The culture of professionalism and building an unquestionable reputation was engraved by the firm’s founders, Engineers Ishwarlal B. Patel and Harcharan Singh Mangat and is something the current Partners, Directors and staff hold dear. Notably, this tradition has been instrumental in MIBP’s continuous growth. For most clients, including international organizations involved in civil engineering projects in the country like water and sanitation, MIBP is often the preferred firm for consulting engineering works.
With over 50 years’ experience in the industry, MIBP has carried out many projects successfully, and has gained credibility as one of the leading consulting engineering firms in the region. It offers its vast expertise and knowledge in all aspects of engineering projects with the main aim of achieving the goals efficiently and following all the guidelines required.
The firm boasts extensive technical expertise to effectively carry out engineering projects in various disciplines, and has experience in consulting, design, operations and maintenance, construction supervision among other aspects of the vast engineering field.
Over the years, MIBP has built its competitive advantage around structural engineering, something that explains its signature in many buildings not only in Kenya but across East Africa. The firm’s team of structural engineers has an unparalleled reputation in both reinforced concrete and steel structures with experience in institutional office blocks, educational projects, housing estates, hotels and lodges, high rise apartments, high rise commercial and industrial projects. The firm has also been involved in highway bridges, structures for urban infrastructure and water in both reinforced concrete and steel.
Though its mainstay is structural and civil engineering, the firm has also been involved in a wide spectrum of other projects ranging from roads and traffic management, town planning to urban shelter and infrastructure services. Others are urban and rural water supply schemes, sewerage and waste water schemes and many more.
In urban shelter and infrastructure services, for instance, MIBP has executed projects covering land use planning, architecture, highways, sewerage, water reticulation, surface water drainage for housing, industrial and commercial developments. In fact, the development of innovative approaches has helped MIBP to improve the quality of life of many with appropriate low-cost housing. Before they became what they are today, MIBP was the brain behind the erstwhile posh low costs housing estates in the Dandora, Kayole and Buru Buru housing schemes in which the firm provided design and construction supervision.
Another key defining trait of MIBP is the manner in which the firm has, over the years, managed to gain the trust of global development financial institutions (DFIs) that are the major financiers of key projects. For these DFIs like the World Bank, French Development Agency, African Development Bank, United States Agency for International Development among others, working with a firm with a longstanding track of integrity and technical capability is often the hallmark of their engagements.
Over the years, MIBP has managed to gain the trust and confidence of DFIs. The firm has overseen the procurement of construction services of over US$1 billion under international competitive bidding for some of the DFIs. This, by all accounts, is not a mean achievement. “We are on their list of firms to approach when DFIs have jobs in Kenya,” explains Engineer Hirani, adding that working with international organizations has helped build MIBP’s reputation.
Yet for MIBP, becoming one of the top consulting engineering firms in the country would not have been possible were it not for its staff. The firm takes pride in its trained and experienced team of engineers and project managers. Notably, it has an elaborate in-house training scheme for graduate engineers and technicians to ensure constant strengthening of the skilled manpower base.
MIBP has invested in the latest developments in information technology to provide solutions that are appropriate to the needs of customers. The firm is equipped with state of the art IT facilities including software which is used for analysis and preparation of drawings. Autodesk AutoCAD Civils 3D and Autodesk Infraworks are some of the software the firm uses.
Despite investment in technology, MIBP still believes in the traditional aspect of engineering centered on human touch as Engineer Hirani explains. “I.B. Patel took me through training. There were no computers back then,” he says. He adds that he still trains the crop of new engineers joining the firm emphasizing on the fact that although digitization is good, people need to understand that a computer is just a tool. “You need to learn to use it properly because if you key in wrong data it will give you the wrong outcome,” he notes.
Besides an extensive pool of in-house manpower, MIBP collaborates with other professionals whenever a wider range of skills is required for any specific project. These partnerships have in many cases been the source of clients’ referrals. “We get lots of jobs from partners like architects, planners and economists who want to work with us in various projects,” notes Hirani.
One area that MIBP has steered clear off is public sector jobs. The desire to maintain its reputation has forced the firm to avoid public sector jobs except for those financed by development partners. In Kenya, public sector projects often come with a baggage of controversies including widespread corruption. This is a web that MIBP would never want to be caught in.
“We don’t get involved in political projects yet some are very big,” explains Hirani. He adds that MIBP has also stayed clear of professional fees undercutting to get jobs, something that has become rampant in the industry. “When you undercut, it means you will not put in all your efforts. Putting effort is worth time and money.”
Like other sectors, the building and construction sector was badly ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. Being among the top consulting engineering firms, MIBP felt the full brunt of the pandemic. Apart from being forced to partially shut operations for several months, firm had to cut down on the number of employees on the road to recovery. With normalcy slowly returning, MIBP is hopeful that jobs will increase and things will go back to normal.
Indeed MIBP is already crafting the future. Since its establishment, the firm has always been a partnership. Now the firm is moving slowly to a limited company. The idea is to transform to a limited company in order to bring on board new young directors. “We want the firm to continue even after we are long gone,” states Engineer Hirani. Currently MIBP has three Directors (the other two being Engineers Ranjit Singh Rupra and Manjeet S. Bhachu) and four Technical Directors.
