Double Effect celebrates 4 year existence in Singapore
Four years ago Double Effect opened its first office outside the Netherlands, in the middle of Singapore’s ‘Financial District’. Over the past four years the Singapore office has done good business and has grown to a team of 25 professionals. Reason for Consultancy.uk to speak with the firm’s Managing Partner in Singapore, Bas Heijnen.
Monday 15 August 2011 was a historic moment for Double Effect. On that day, the Amsterdam based advisory firm opened its first office overseas, in Singapore, one of Asia’s important financial hubs. To build the office from scratch and provide guidance for the smooth expansion of operations the Dutch-based management consultancy relocated two of its senior consultants from Amsterdam to Singapore, Bas Heijnen was one of those advisors.
Over the past four years, the Singapore office developed from an overseas start-up to a fast growing organisation. In an interview with Consultancy.uk in early 2013, Double Effect first spoke about Singapore’s development – Heijnen reflects that, following the difficult early years setting up the business, much has changed. “Since we moved to our new office at Collyer Quay on July 1, 2014, we have entered a phase of growth," says Heijnen. “The team expanded significantly from two to around 25 professionals, a milestone we can celebrate.”
As in other countries Double Effect works exclusively for clients in the financial sector, including banks, insurers and asset managers. In Singapore, the customer base includes more than ten large institutions, says Heijnen, and covers both international organisations (from the UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands) and local players. This diversity is reflected in our team, adds Heijnen, indicating that: “Our team in Singapore consists of consultants at all levels and represent eight nationalities (Singaporean, French, British, Australian, Indian, Malai, Filipino and Dutch).” Projects range from the drafting of 'Digital Bank' strategies to offshoring vs. nearshoring of operations & technology divisions, regulatory reporting projects, architecture redesigns, financial crime and numerous other projects within the domain of Finance and Risk. "Projects across the entire value chain," says Heijnen.
Globally Double Effect was (in 2013) acquired by Synechron, a step that allowed the management consultancy to increase its value propositions within the IT domain and expand its offerings into new regions. Double Effect earlier this year expanded into the United States, a move made possible by the collaboration with Synechron. “The Synechron yellow and Double Effect blue are combined into a convincing colour green; several projects being carried out jointly for banks. We add real value to each other's unique capabilities, allowing us to offer integrated solutions and excellent customer service to our customers,” explains Heijnen.
Looking ahead, the Managing Partner is convinced that the team in Singapore can continue to achieve strong growth. “Our success story has only just begun and we are proud to see that at all our locations a similar story is unfolding. We will continue the same path into the future with the same enthusiasm, drive and energy and will continue to serve our customers on our own 'Double Effect' way,” concludes Heijnen.
