JB ANNOUNCES MIDDLE EAST EXPANSION
JB Associates, the specialist data centre and critical infrastructure consultancy has announced plans to expand its operations into the Middle East, as part of its ongoing international growth strategy. The company’s initial focus will be on supporting clients across the GCC region in the data centre and critical infrastructure sectors starting from Q4 this year, delivering greater commercial certainty, and delivery control, moving complex projects from concept to delivery.
To lead the expansion, JBA has appointed Phil Richardson as Partner – Middle East, with immediate effect. Richardson brings extensive experience of the region’s data centre and critical infrastructure sectors, alongside long-established client relationships and a successful track record of delivering major projects across the Middle East.
Building on its extensive UK and European experience, JBA Middle East will provide senior led project, commercial and technical advisory services, including cost planning, project monitoring, MEP technical due diligence & assurance, procurement advice and client-side project leadership.
The move reflects the growing regional demand for practical, independent advice against a backdrop of growing momentum across the Middle Eastern data centre market, driven by the construction of new smart cities, cloud adoption, enterprise digital transformation, AI workloads, increasing data sovereignty requirements and major investments in connectivity infrastructure across the continent.
Ashley Buckland, Managing Partner at JB Associates, said: “Establishing a local presence allows us to support our clients as they expand into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets. We are combining the expertise we’ve built across the UK and Europe with dedicated, on-the-ground delivery capability in the Middle East.
“As an independent consultancy, we’re able to provide responsive, commercially focused advice without the layers of bureaucracy often associated with larger organisations. Our role is to provide independent technical and commercial guidance that helps clients transform ambitious infrastructure plans into deliverable, well-controlled projects.”
Phil Richardson said: “The Middle East represents one of the most important and exciting growth regions for digital infrastructure with significant long- term opportunities. Its access to both sustainable power and land make it an increasingly appealing option for investors, developers and operators.
“JBA has built an excellent reputation for helping clients navigate the commercial and technical challenges associated with complex projects. I’m excited to be joining the business and helping establish a strong regional presence that supports clients throughout the entire project lifecycle.”
This expansion into the Middle East represents the next phase of JBA’s growth strategy, which has seen the company experienced double digit growth over the past 5 years as it continues to invest in its people and infrastructure, scaling in response to the rapidly evolving data centre and critical environments market.
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