UWP CELEBRATES 47 YEARS WITH NEW NAME

South
African based civil engineering consulting firm UWP Consulting has celebrated
its 47^th anniversary with a new name.

UWP
Consulting officially changed its name to Mariswe on 1 February 2019 following
10 years of change, resulting in the company becoming 100% owned by its
employees, 55% black owned, and a Level 1 B-BBEE Contributor against the new
Construction Codes.

“Our
objective has always been to improve lives through sustainable engineering
services,” says Mariswe CEO Nonkululeko Sindane. “But the company has matured
to the extent that it needs a new identity that showcases our transformation
and relevance in a future South Africa and Africa.”

UWP has
acquired three majority black-owned companies in the past 10 years – Khula
Africa Engineers in 2009; CME Consulting Engineers in 2012; and Sektor
Consulting Engineers in 2018.

In 2016
UWP was 33% black owned and 12% black women owned. A 25% stake of the black
ownership was held by an external equity partner and 8% by black employees in
management. The remaining 67% of shares were owned by white employees. 
     

Today
Mariswe is 100% employee owned and 55% black owned. Black women effectively own
24% of the company. The equity partner’s 25% holding was bought by Abaqeshwa, a
company wholly owned by black employees in the business, while 30% of shares
are held by black managers and professionals within Mariswe.

Mariswe
also successfully retained its Level 1 B-BBEE Contributor status in its first
audit under the Amended Construction Sector Codes of Good Practice in November
2018.   

Mariswe
operates from eight offices in four provinces of South Africa, with clients
across all tiers of government alongside growing private-sector partnerships. Over
35% of its revenue is currently generated outside South Africa and successful
subsidiary firms are located in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Ghana.

Projects
have also been completed recently in Liberia, Uganda, Lesotho, the DRC and
Sierra Leone. A new branch of the South African business has recently opened in
Lesotho.

“The name
change has taken two years and we put our employees at the centre of the
journey by asking them to literally paint a picture of why they worked at UWP,”
says Sindane.

“Common
themes emerged, providing the basis for a new set of company values.”

But
history will also play a role in Mariswe’s future, she adds. “Over 47 years we
have built a solid foundation. We have grown into a respected firm with the
depth of expertise to deliver projects of any scale in our core technical
disciplines of Transportation, Water and Sanitation, Structures, Management
Services and Infrastructure Planning.”

More information at www.mariswe.com