Ambitious Ayesa weighs Metro North bid

Newly renamed engineering business Ayesa is weighing a bid for work on the proposed multibillion-euro Metro North project.

Long-established consultancy ByrneLooby is rebranding as Ayesa, the Spanish player that bought it in February last year following a 20-month integration period.

According to co-founder John Byrne, the business is “definitely” interested in joining a bid for Metro North, the long-discussed rail line linking Dublin Airport with the city centre, should the Government proceed with it.

“We’re getting ready to target major infrastructure projects in all our markets,” he said. “In Ireland, the really exciting one is Metro North. I know it has a chequered history, but it does seem to be getting traction.”

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He added that Minister for Finance Michael McGrath recently told Dublin Chamber of Commerce that the Government was absolutely committed to the project.

Ayesa would bid to design and build the rail line as part of a consortium that is likely to be competing for the work against several others, Mr Byrne said. He noted that just reaching that stage would require heavy investment.

He pointed out that Ayesa, which employs 12,000 people in 23 countries, has wide experience of such projects. The group is working on metro and rail networks in Colombia, Estonia and Portugal, where it is supervising the extension of one line in the city of Porto and designing another.

The Spanish company bought ByrneLooby last year as the Irish firm gave it a foothold in markets where Ayesa had yet to build a presence, namely the Republic, the UK and parts of the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

Mr Byrne, who is now Ayesa’s managing director UK & Ireland and Middle East, and Michael Looby, founded the firm 25 years ago. It focuses on civil, structural and environmental engineering. The business employs 250 people and earns €30 million a year in revenues.

“We’ve an interesting growth story of our own, we’ve always been ambitious and entrepreneurial,” Mr Byrne said.

The consultancy began expanding outside the Republic after 10 years. Projects on which it has worked include the Aviva Stadium, Blanchardstown Regional Drainage Scheme and The Shard building in London.

Currently it is working on Giga cities, Amaala and Red Sea Global in Saudi Arabia. These are new, sustainable cities that the kingdom is building on its coasts.

Last year’s merger allows it operate on a bigger scale and draw on bigger resources. However, Mr Byrne stressed that the rebranded firm would continue working with long-standing clients. “We will continue to do what we have always been doing,” he said.