Marsh launches Engineering Hub in Saudi Arabia, 3rd in MENA

Saudi city Al Khobar is now home to Marsh’s third Engineering Hub in the Middle East – aimed at helping regional energy businesses with risk management. Oil industry expert Nick Holland takes charge of the new facility.

Marsh’s Engineering Hubs support clients across the energy, power and commercial property industries with tailored, research-backed expertise on product liability, business interruption, terrorism and political violence, and other business-critical risk factors. 

The global financial and risk advisory firm already has two hubs in the UAE – Dubai and Abu Dhabi – and has now launched in Saudi Arabia with Al Khobar its location of choice. The wider goal is to support a region that is facing the brunt of a global energy transition away from fossil fuels, while also looking to foster a local business landscape – all of which requires significant infrastructure investments.

Marsh Saudi Arabia CEO Bassam Al Bader explained how the company is “expanding its specialist capabilities and geographical reach across the Middle East” as a result, helping the region develop a balance between “greater demands on their resources” and the wider “decarbonisation” agenda. 

Leadership

Leading the charge in Saudi Arabia is Nick Holland – a former ExxonMobil risk analyst who joined Marsh in the Middle East in 2016. Holland leaves his Dubai-based role as senior vice president to join the Al Khobar hub – where he will coordinate risk management efforts across the firm’s expansive regional clientele. 

“Nick’s extensive experience in critical risk mitigation – gained at some of the world’s most complex manufacturing sites – will be invaluable to our technically diverse clients in Saudi Arabia,” said Al Bader.

And Holland expects to keep busy with projects – including from the burgeoning and lucrative green hydrogen economy. “The energy sector is the cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s economy; as well as being the world’s largest producer of oil and gas, the Kingdom has ambitious plans to develop its capabilities in solar energy and carbon free fuels such as green hydrogen.” 

Such is the state of flux and development – in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East – that Al Bader has signaled targeted expansion plans. “We expect to announce, in the coming months, further additions to the team that draw on the country’s rich expertise as we continue to invest in local talent,” he said.