Firm foundations Penta

FIRM FOUNDATIONS

In the last 20 years Penta Kft has developed from a small family-type business to become a mediumsized enterprise that specialises in a wide range of civil engineering activities. Despite the fragile market conditions in the Hungarian construction industry the company’s professional reputation, skilled workforce and up-to-date technology ensure its steady growth. Edina Beale reports.

Established by a small group of fellow workers in 1990, Penta Kft today occupies a stable market position in Hungary by offering specialised civil engineering activities. The company carries out utility projects, offers road construction and repair services, waste landfills and sewage works and installs and maintains wired telecommunication and cable television networks across the country.

Over the last 15 years, Penta has completed many reconstruction works for the FCSM Zrt (Budapest Sewage Works). The company gained a professional reputation when it was required to reconstruct the capital’s 100-year-old sewage system without interrupting its operations. Since then Penta regularly carries out sewage reconstruction works for FCSM Zrt as well as being responsible for their system maintenance.

Owing to its specialist expertise in this field, Penta was recently appointed to construct a complex wastewater system which consists of a 70 km long main sewage tunnel and 30 km long side tunnel. This development improve the quality of lives of ten thousand people living in six different villages in and around Kál, in Heves county. “We will start the construction at many different points along the planned route as we have to complete this job within one year, which is a relatively short time considering the size and complexity of this project,” says Mr Gábor Nagy, the managing director of Penta Kft. Similar sewage construction work will be

carried out in Vésztő, Diósd and Füzesgyarmat and the company is also required to develop sewage plants in many other locations.

In another segment, Penta will soon start on one of its most challenging projects, the stone-cladding of the Buda Castle in Budapest. “We will have to build in beautiful natural stones in the castle environment in accordance with the relevant historic period whilst making sure that we do not disturb the tourist flow,” explains Mr Nagy.

There are also several difficult projects in the pipeline that may be smaller in value but require real expertise in its field. “Some of our sewage reconstruction projects are like that. In addition to being expected to reconstruct a sewage system whilst it is continuously operating, we are often required to work 6–7 metres deep under the ground.”

The construction of the Szabadság square with its funky interactive fountain in the 5th district of Budapest brought Penta into the lime light again due to the site becoming a bit of a tourist attraction. With the help of its sensors people are able to walk through this fountain whilst staying dry as the system shuts the relevant hidden nozzles. When the nozzles are turned on they create an exciting vertical water wall around the square-shaped area.

A significant share of Penta’s annual turnover of HUF 8–10 billion was achieved by the company’s division for telecommunication network installation. Since the 1990s Penta has played a major role in the development of the Hungarian telecommunication sector. The company initially installed traditional telephone and television cable networks only in the surrounding areas of its location, but the division now provides coverage for a much larger geographic area. “We had to make the most technological investments in this area of our business. We are determined to be one step ahead of customers needs,” adds the managing director. “Although the number of traditional landline users is decreasing in Hungary in line with the increasing number of mobile telephone users, the demand for technologies providing cable television and broadband internet service is growing.” In addition to this, Penta is required to construct more and more fibre optic cable networks for digital use.

Competitive edge

Due to its specialist equipment and state-ofthe-art technologies Penta has always stood out from its competitors. Penta’s aim is to maintain this advantage by regularly updating its tools and equipment whilst providing adequate training for staff to acquire sought after expertise in the relevant sectors. “Especially projects received by our telecommunication division require professional staff with up-todate knowledge on the latest technologies,” adds Mr Nagy. “We frequently visit industry related exhibitions and expos, where we can try out the newest technological developments and tools.”

In addition to technological investments, Penta has recently modernised its asphalt

mixing facility in its production site in Göd, 24 km away to the north of Budapest. Whilst implementing new machinery the company has also increased the capacity of this facility in order to cope with larger road construction projects and asphalt laying works.

In regard to the company’s future Mr Nagy says: “Unfortunately we cannot be too optimistic looking at the current state of the Hungarian construction industry. We have to stay competitive against rivals that often offer irrational prices and at the same time the market is still not growing. Moreover, our cost is continuously increasing; you only have to think of the price of petrol that increased by 20 per cent within the last year. Our objective is to maintain our current position; we do not expect significant movements either in the headcount or in turnover. Our aim is to keep our highly trained professionals whilst we further improve our technologies that provide us with a competitive edge so that we can sustain our position in the more profitable markets requiring special expertise.” n

KK Kavics Beton Kft today employs over 50 staff. We provide our customers with extensive product range of high quality concrete, structural elements and paving. Our KK Kavics Premium products not only meet the highest standards but offer solutions for special customer requirements too. Our company has taken an active role in two of the committees of the Hungarian Standards Institution, and is also a member of two committees of the Hungarian Concrete Association, as well as supporting the work of Hungarian Construction Material Association.

Central Office: 1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 2. Tel: +36 (1) 483-35-50 Fax: +36 (1) 483-35-45 E-mail: info@kavicsbeton.hu Sales: Tel: +36 (29) 547-281, 547-282, 547-283 Fax: +36 (29) 547-285 E-mail: megrendeles@kavicsbeton.hu