KTL

Glasgow presence provides a base for UK market success.

Telecommunications and power infrastructure services provider KTL established a regional office in Glasgow in 2022 to serve as a hub for its engineering services delivery across the UK. The Glasgow-based engineering team is currently working on a UK-wide network resilience project for BT, which includes a large number of sites in Scotland.

The Glasgow move was part of the company’s overall international growth plan, explains Business Development Manager, Ava Kerr. “KTL was established in Naas, Co. Kildare, 28 years ago by founder Tony Killarney. We now have over 600 staff across 22 countries. Since inception, KTL has developed into an industry-leading business, providing services to blue-chip clients throughout the UK and Ireland. We moved into Scotland in the early 2020s and the team has grown to 16 people.”

Glasgow offers an ideal base to service the overall UK market, she believes. “It’s a very good location for a hub,” she says. “Our team can service projects throughout the UK as well as work on projects in Scotland. The Glasgow office gives us a collaborative space where our designers, engineers and project managers can come together to discuss different projects and share ideas.”

That’s very important when a lot of people are working remotely, she adds. “The office is also very well located. It's in Glasgow city centre and is very close to clients like BT and Vodafone, who have offices just around the corner. That’s very beneficial from a business development point of view. Being able to meet up face to face to discuss projects is great. I think that’s always better than a call.”

It’s not all about business development - KTL is also involved in education programmes in Glasgow. This includes working with St Ambrose’s School to promote careers in the telecoms and power industries. “We found our first apprentice at St Ambrose’s. He joined the Graduate Apprenticeship Scheme that we run with the University of Strathclyde. I have a master’s in project management and innovation from the University, and we sponsor student awards on that course.”

The Scotland-based telecoms infrastructure team works on projects across the UK. “They are currently working on a project for BT that spans the UK, but the team is based in Scotland. We created this specialist delivery team for that project. The project is a power resilience programme focused on strengthening critical telecommunications infrastructure across the UK. It involves installing battery backup systems and standby generators on telecom sites in case there are power network outages. The BT system is part of the emergency services communications network, so the project is critically important in that respect as well.”

The project also includes a renewables element. “BT tasked us with finding a solution to upgrade a site so that it could run on renewables as well as mains power. That involved the installation of 18 solar panels and a wind turbine as well as battery storage on the site, which can now generate around 70% of its energy requirements from renewable sources. That means we're not only working towards BT's resilience objectives, but also their long-term net zero goals.”

KTL now plans to expand into the Scottish and broader UK power sector with the Glasgow office again playing a central role. “Our power industry activity is mainly in Ireland at the moment, but we’re moving into the UK. We are planning to build a specialist power infrastructure team in Glasgow the same way as we did with telecoms. It worked well for telecoms, so why not do it again. Our Glasgow office is also very well located for the power industry with both SSE and Scottish Power having offices within walking distance.”

Enterprise Ireland is also playing a role. “We have been working with Enterprise Ireland on our move into the power industry in the UK. They've been very helpful with research and market insights.”

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