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HKA STRENGTHENS ITS PRESENCE IN THE BENELUX REGION WITH NEW OFFICE IN ROTTERDAM
- Apr 8, 2024
- Latest News
HKA, a leading global consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness, and litigation support services, is expanding its presence in the Benelux region with a new office in the heart of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The firm has had a footprint in the region since its inception in 2017 working for clients to deliver dispute resolution services, including construction claims consulting, expert advisory, and expert witness support.
Leading HKA's expansion into the Benelux region is Mark Castell, Partner and delay and quantum expert witness. Mark brings a wealth of international experience and expertise to the region. He will be joined in the Rotterdam office by two new Associate Directors, Ernest Heins and Erald Kahman, whilst also receiving support from UK-based Partner Charles Wilsoncroft.
Amanda Clack, Partner, Regional Chief Executive Officer, EMEA, said, “We are thrilled to be opening our new office in Rotterdam, allowing us to reinforce our high level of service to our clients with additional local expertise, knowledge, and language capabilities. It will also give us the opportunity to consolidate and grow our base into new markets into the region and develop our offering of claim, expert and advisory services.”
About the HKA Rotterdam team
Mark Castell has been a Partner at HKA since 2019, and he has 40 years of experience on construction projects and disputes. He has been appointed as expert witness in international arbitrations on more than 35 occasions, as mediator and expert determinator. The appointments have covered both delay and quantum matters on disputes of up to US$300 million. His experience ranges from infrastructure, energy, marine and offshore to buildings, process, and industrial sectors. Mark also has extensive knowledge of the Benelux market having previously been based in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2018.
He will be joined in Rotterdam by Associate Directors Erald Kahmann and Ernst Heins, both previously of Driver Trett. Erald specialises in offshore energy expert support and has worked on some of the largest offshore wind developments in recent years. He has experience advising across tendering, commercial management, fabrication, transport, and installation. Ernst has broad-ranging experience across energy, oil and gas, marine, civil engineering, road infrastructure, rail, utilities, and buildings. Both Erald and Ernst have been in the industry for over 20 years and have worked internationally.
Charles Wilsoncroft, Partner will provide substantial support to the team in the Netherlands due to his extensive experience working in the Benelux region. Charles has over 20 years of experience in supporting clients with construction and engineering dispute claims and expert witness work. He has predominantly worked on civil and marine engineering, including maritime works, dredging and structures, marine transport infrastructure, subsea cables, and platform decommissions and salvage. He has also gained significant experience in heavy engineering, infrastructure (highways, rail, pipelines, bridges, water treatment) and buildings. Charles has significant experience in procurement, contract training, project management, contract and claims management, dispute resolution, and final account settlement.
Mark Castell, commented, “The Netherlands is the ideal location for HKA to establish a permanent presence in the Benelux region. We already have relationships with many businesses located here, and we expect the market to grow significantly in the coming years due to the increasing complexity of projects and the challenges in global markets and we therefore look to the future with confidence.
“Our new office, centrally located in the prestigious Delftse Poort building in Rotterdam, is the perfect location from which to easily reach our clients in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. As Europe’s largest port, our office in Rotterdam also places us in close proximity to the numerous global energy, maritime, and offshore construction groups headquartered there, allowing us to enhance our service offering to our current clients as well as providing a base from which to approach new opportunities across sectors.
“In addition to consolidating our foundation of expertise in construction claims and expert services, we will look to expand our service offering to include advisory, commercial damages and forensic accounting, including economics and investigations services.”