The financial hurricane that swept the globe, flattening some pillars of the economy, ripping the roofs off others and shaking the shutters of every one else left standing, tested the resilience of companies to maintain focus and of management to stay calm.

Few construction companies came away unscathed from the events of the last 12 months. The industry depends on growth and when that comes to a halt, things can get ugly.

Chief executive officer of NMC (Pty) Ltd., Shaun Webber, says there were three aspects that affected construction companies globally. One was finding new work; the second was delivery; and the third was cash.

“Clients stopped paying. We were no different. NMC lost a lot of confirmed business,” says Webber.

The 30-year-old, privately owned construction company, NMC put in place a diverse construction portfolio that strengthened its core activity – construction – and helped weather the storm. It moved from being a niche industrial contractor to being a construction company whose portfolio embraced civil engineering, fenestration, flooring, construction and, significantly, enterprise development.

Most companies faced with such a scenario would dig in and just try to push through. NMC took the decision to diversify.

“It was a difficult strategic decision,” says Webber. “Why diversify when you can actually make more money doing what you were doing? But we knew that – the industry being cyclical – the cycle would come again. By the third quarter of 2009, NMC had pulled back more than 75 per cent of its lost business. We had weathered the storm.”

Yet the catastrophe called for something more. For NMC this was partly in its alliance programme, the decision to expand its geographic footprint into other parts of Africa and the establishment of the NMC Business School. The board of directors also decided to implement a series of feedback sessions five times a year that involved the entire company.

Marketing co-ordinator Stephanie King says this was a direct result of NMC’s policy to invest in its people and positioning itself in the industry as the employer of choice; no easy task in an industry with severe skills shortages at every level.

Significantly, this new business has not relied on the 2010 FIFA World Cup bandwagon (although NMC on its civil side has tendered for two Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) projects).

“NMC sees the bigger picture,” says Webber. “Strategically, we are not limiting ourselves to SA, but are looking at specific opportunities in other parts of Africa. We don’t want to tie ourselves into one country because we need to procure lucrative work – projects worth R500-million plus – in other destinations outside South Africa. And we do this through our network.”

As Webber says bluntly, the real strength of NMC is in its people, its clients and the solid, open relationships between them that the company culture endorses.

King says the NMC’s reputation reflects its original values of uncompromising quality and commitment to safety.

“NMC has grown over the last five years – even through the recession – and remains focused on constantly re-energising its quality controls and safety practices.”

Webber agrees. “We are good, honest brokers and we have a lot of repeat clients. This reputation for delivery goes back to Neil Muller’s days – the founder – and the company is grounded in these principles.”

He emphasises this point because a lot of what NMC is doing outside of the straightforward business of construction focuses on creating a sustainable environment for the industry. That’s why NMC created the NMC Business School in partnership with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and endorsed by the Construction Industry Development Board.

“A lot of people said we were too small to open a business school, but for me it goes to the heart of the question of sustainability. This is a long-term project that builds the NMC brand. We believe in growing our own talent and, through our commitment to experiential learning, learnerships, management and leadership development, we are fortunate to have more than 45 per cent of our management structures on site developed from former apprentices and/or students.”

The NMC management structure is flat and, as Webber says, strives to keep an open-door policy at every level to include everyone in the information loop. This was reflected in the feedback sessions.

“I’m very optimistic,” says Webber, matter-of-factly. “We will see through the next 12 months, and we’re poised for good growth; the group potential is set to take off. We will remain ‘the greatest little construction company’ because we want to continue to be extremely good at what we do: delivery par excellence and looking after people who enjoy working with, and for, us.”