CONTENT
- Home
- Cover Story
- Lead Features
- Company Showcase
- News
- Interview
- Profiles
- Conferences & Exhibitions
- Special Feature
- Case Study
CHANNELS
- Maintenance
- Site Security
- Fleet Management
- Health & Safety
- IT / Technology
- Underground Location / Survey
- Gas
- Water
- Electricity
- Manufacture
- Human Resources
- Renewable Energy
- Equipment
- Nuclear
- Billing & investigation
OTHER MAGAZINES
- Railway Strategies
- Venture
- Food Chain
- Construction Today Europe
- Manufacturing Today Europe
- European Supply Chain Management
- European Oil and Gas
- Shipping and Marine
- Schofield Publishing
RSS FEEDS
FeedsHome: Autumn 2011 › Delivering success
Delivering success
19/09/2011 | Channel: IT / Technology, Electricity, Renewable Energy, Equipment, Nuclear
As utilities and energy markets enter an exciting period of change, the employees of Capula are helping to take this leading business to new heights
‘What really differentiates Capula in the UK market place is that we are large enough to sufficiently handle a number of very significant contracts, yet small and flexible enough to play a very hands-on role with our clients, delivering the solutions and systems that they require to meet their individual demands,” states Roger Turner, chief executive of Capula.
Recognised as one of the UK’s leading systems integrators, Capula has a distinguished history spanning more than 40 years, in which time it has provided critical solutions to some of the country’s most important energy and utilities companies: “Today the company is present in a series of major markets,” Roger continues. “The biggest of these is the energy sector, which is currently undergoing changes the likes of which have not been seen in more than 20 years, driven by the building of new nuclear facilities and the increasing push towards green energy.
“Capula is active within the nuclear sector working with the likes of Sellafield, URENCO and British Energy, and also works with companies such as Drax Power and Scottish Power in the power generation space. At the same time the company has very strong relationships with major clients in the utilities field, for example National Grid and Thames Water. With National Grid, Capula can also celebrate a third successive year of achieving a 100 per cent performance record in regards to the service level agreement between the two parties for substation support services. ”
2010 represented a record setting year for Capula, ending with an order intake of more than £40 million. This fantastic figure set the tone for the company to enter 2011 with an even greater sense of optimism: “The success of 2010 has continued through into 2011 and has been much more evenly distributed between the industries Capula operates in,” Roger explains. “Of course, in order to achieve such a significant increase in turnover, and do so while maintaining standards of the utmost quality, you need to increase your workforce accordingly. That is why, since the turn of the year, Capula has taken on around 60 qualified engineers, project managers and IT specialists to increase our numbers to nearly 300 people.”
As mentioned previously, environmental concerns continue to play an ever-growing role in Capula’s business, as business development director Simon Coombs highlights: “The tackling of environmental issues is a key area of concern for many of the companies Capula works in partnership with. Firstly, a strong growth area for the company will continue to be conventional power. There will remain a need for coal-fired power stations and these will require emission control systems to limit the effects these stations have on the surrounding environment. At the same time there is increasing focus on reducing the UK’s carbon footprint through significant growth in green power, be it biomass, wind power or new build nuclear facilities.
“A further driver in this work will be the ability to reduce energy consumption whilst making efficient, smarter use of all of ones assets. It is a shared belief that by achieving this Capula can in turn deliver cost benefits to its clients and open up new market opportunities such as smart grid. The reality is the whole energy market is now moving towards a greener future with the UK government recently announcing a £200 billion investment plan for the next decade.”
One particular client the company has worked with extensively over the years, whose initiatives to improve its green credentials perfectly sum up the energy market’s changing attitudes is Drax Power: “Drax Power Station is the largest and most efficient facility of its type in Europe and in the last several years has made a concerted effort to increase the amount of biomass being blended into coal before it’s sent to the boilers. As Drax Power works to make changes to the way its business operates, Capula is there, actively helping it to achieve its objectives,” Roger says.
Every business has its competition, but what makes Capula unique is that it has to compete against different rival companies in each of its market sectors. What this means, as Roger goes on to explain, is that Capula relies heavily on the key strengths that make it stand out from the crowd: “What best differentiates Capula is the quality of the people it employs. These individuals are experts in understanding the markets in which they work, they understand exactly what the client wants and know how best to deliver the required solution to the highest possible standards. These traits are embodied throughout the organisation and are applied to every task, irrespective of its size or geographic location. This approach to business has come together over the company’s lifetime to give Capula a very good track record of delivering industry leading solutions.”
The work Capula has undertaken in recent years has played a key role in cementing the company’s current position and preparing it to achieve further growth. As Roger concludes, all this preparation has given the company a clear target to aim for in the near future: “As a business, Capula has a solid foundation, which is built on its relationships with its clients, its strong order book and the fact that the markets it is in are now entering very exciting periods of change. With these factors coming together Capula can look excitedly ahead to doubling in size over the next three-to-five years. The most important result of this is that it allows the company to provide its employees with a stable and exciting place to work, because, as mentioned earlier, Capula wouldn’t achieve anything without the quality of its people.”
Recognised as one of the UK’s leading systems integrators, Capula has a distinguished history spanning more than 40 years, in which time it has provided critical solutions to some of the country’s most important energy and utilities companies: “Today the company is present in a series of major markets,” Roger continues. “The biggest of these is the energy sector, which is currently undergoing changes the likes of which have not been seen in more than 20 years, driven by the building of new nuclear facilities and the increasing push towards green energy.
“Capula is active within the nuclear sector working with the likes of Sellafield, URENCO and British Energy, and also works with companies such as Drax Power and Scottish Power in the power generation space. At the same time the company has very strong relationships with major clients in the utilities field, for example National Grid and Thames Water. With National Grid, Capula can also celebrate a third successive year of achieving a 100 per cent performance record in regards to the service level agreement between the two parties for substation support services. ”
2010 represented a record setting year for Capula, ending with an order intake of more than £40 million. This fantastic figure set the tone for the company to enter 2011 with an even greater sense of optimism: “The success of 2010 has continued through into 2011 and has been much more evenly distributed between the industries Capula operates in,” Roger explains. “Of course, in order to achieve such a significant increase in turnover, and do so while maintaining standards of the utmost quality, you need to increase your workforce accordingly. That is why, since the turn of the year, Capula has taken on around 60 qualified engineers, project managers and IT specialists to increase our numbers to nearly 300 people.”
As mentioned previously, environmental concerns continue to play an ever-growing role in Capula’s business, as business development director Simon Coombs highlights: “The tackling of environmental issues is a key area of concern for many of the companies Capula works in partnership with. Firstly, a strong growth area for the company will continue to be conventional power. There will remain a need for coal-fired power stations and these will require emission control systems to limit the effects these stations have on the surrounding environment. At the same time there is increasing focus on reducing the UK’s carbon footprint through significant growth in green power, be it biomass, wind power or new build nuclear facilities.
“A further driver in this work will be the ability to reduce energy consumption whilst making efficient, smarter use of all of ones assets. It is a shared belief that by achieving this Capula can in turn deliver cost benefits to its clients and open up new market opportunities such as smart grid. The reality is the whole energy market is now moving towards a greener future with the UK government recently announcing a £200 billion investment plan for the next decade.”
One particular client the company has worked with extensively over the years, whose initiatives to improve its green credentials perfectly sum up the energy market’s changing attitudes is Drax Power: “Drax Power Station is the largest and most efficient facility of its type in Europe and in the last several years has made a concerted effort to increase the amount of biomass being blended into coal before it’s sent to the boilers. As Drax Power works to make changes to the way its business operates, Capula is there, actively helping it to achieve its objectives,” Roger says.
Every business has its competition, but what makes Capula unique is that it has to compete against different rival companies in each of its market sectors. What this means, as Roger goes on to explain, is that Capula relies heavily on the key strengths that make it stand out from the crowd: “What best differentiates Capula is the quality of the people it employs. These individuals are experts in understanding the markets in which they work, they understand exactly what the client wants and know how best to deliver the required solution to the highest possible standards. These traits are embodied throughout the organisation and are applied to every task, irrespective of its size or geographic location. This approach to business has come together over the company’s lifetime to give Capula a very good track record of delivering industry leading solutions.”
The work Capula has undertaken in recent years has played a key role in cementing the company’s current position and preparing it to achieve further growth. As Roger concludes, all this preparation has given the company a clear target to aim for in the near future: “As a business, Capula has a solid foundation, which is built on its relationships with its clients, its strong order book and the fact that the markets it is in are now entering very exciting periods of change. With these factors coming together Capula can look excitedly ahead to doubling in size over the next three-to-five years. The most important result of this is that it allows the company to provide its employees with a stable and exciting place to work, because, as mentioned earlier, Capula wouldn’t achieve anything without the quality of its people.”