By Jeff Bell
Where are you with your business trajectory?
What are the big goals still to be achieved?
How will you maintain your momentum?
These were some of the topics in an engaging Guest Conversation entitled Working on Water, led by Andy Byk,CEO and majority shareholder of MAK Water in Malaga. The occasion was the monthly meeting of the Band of Leaders Australia (BOLA) members and guests, upstairs at Casa Nostra in Osborne Park on Thursday.
Image (l-r): Peter Dawson, Andy Byk, Clayton Hitchcock.
Andy said that MAK Water had made 2 major acquisitions within Australia and would look for others, but that there was no appetite to set up in other countries. They would continue to grow in Australia where they are a leader in the market and make opportunistic international sales designed and manufactured locally for export.
They had achieved a great return from their investment in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application and this would continue to align the business internally, instilling discipline and consistency for future growth.
“We are a medium fish in a big pond and we are in demand from both customers and prospective staff,” he said. “I believe that we are now at the start of a second wave of development.”
“Our ERP system and the business information system give us great data for business planning and improvement,” Andy said.
In terms of goals to be achieved, Andy said that there are possibilities in vertical integration, extending their Australian footprint and enhancing their reputation for technical expertise.
“We have 68 competitors in the Australian market across our product range, so they keep us on our toes. We need to get our heads around AI, which is starting to have an impact in every area of business.
“Our biggest business risk is in not having projects—then we don’t have work for people. We continue to work on attracting and retaining the right mix of staff for technical and workshop roles. We also having a challenge in getting the right balance for field staff—giving them adequate home time as well,” he said.
“The MAK Water board adds enormous value —both personally and for the overall health of the business.
“I am more an acquirer/developer of business growth rather than an entrepreneur. We have sales team that sell our products – my role is to support them and maintain relationships with our clients at a senior level.
“We will continue to invest in digital marketing, which has been a great boon to the business. Our risk management practice is never to take on work that represents more than 15% of our turnover,” Andy said.
After 10 years in operational and senior management roles at Wesfarmers, Andy formed an investment team to purchase MAK Industrial Water Solutions (MAK Water), where he is now the majority shareholder. In 2009, at the time of the acquisition, MAK Water was a small service and maintenance provider to the WA mining and resources sector.
It has now grown to be an Australian market leader in water treatment technology across a range of industries. Then with the acquisition of Queensland-based Clearmake in 2013, MAK Water developed a national service capability with centres Australia-wide. In the past 4 years 25% of its projects have been exported.
In 2021 MAK Water acquired Water Treatment Services Australia (WTS)–a specialist water treatment chemical supplier. With its team of chemists and chemical engineers WTS provides application specific solutions to the mining, municipal, power generation, food and beverage industries.
Today there are 140 full-time employees across the businesses.
Andy has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Manchester, an MBA from Curtin University and he is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Andy also sits on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA.
BOLA members will next meet on Thursday 6 August, when a Guest Conversation, Performance Under Pressure, will be led by 747 pilot Ray Werndly. Prospective members may attend the session by invitation—contact Jeff as below.
Throughout the remainder of the day, our agenda includes the processing of strategic opportunities raised within the group, wide-ranging business issues, as well as leadership development tools and activities.