HKA says it is ‘delighted to welcome’ appoint Mark Castell as a partner in the leading consulting, expert and advisory services firm’s Middle East office.

Castell was trained as a quantity surveyor; working for large contracting organisations in the United Kingdom, principally working on civil engineering projects with an increasing involvement in disputed contractual matters, claims, delays and formal dispute proceedings.

He is regarded as an expert in both quantum and delay and has been appointed as expert witness on more than 25 occasions in disputes of more than US$110m and several years of delay.

HKA’s experts act in support of litigation and international or local arbitration cases on every continent. Experienced as party or tribunal appointed expert witnesses, they are able to advise and if needed give evidence under cross-examination, including concurrent ‘hot-tubbing’. Now part of HKA’s Middle East Expert team, Castell is expected to play a significant role in growing the firm’s expert service capabilities and clientele in the region, said HKA in a statement.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark to HKA in the Middle East,” said Haroon Niazi, partner and head of the Middle East. “His strong track record of delivering for clients in both a consultancy and expert witness capacity make him a credit to any business. We look forward to working with him to grow our expert witness offering in the region.”

Jad Chouman, Partner and Head of the Middle East added: “Mark is a well-respected expert in both quantum and delay and brings with him enormous international experience in the industry. We are excited to have him on board.”

After a period working in France, Castell moved to contract and commercial consultancy in 1999 before relocating to the Netherlands in 2003. His experience then broadened with involvement in projects in the energy, marine and offshore, building, infrastructure, process and industrial sectors in Europe (including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the UK), Africa (including Egypt, Gambia, Libya, Kenya and Nigeria) the Far East, the Middle East (Iraq, UAE and Oman), Australia, United States and the Caribbean. In 2019, Mark moved to the UAE.

Mark Castell said: “I am very pleased to have joined HKA’s Middle East team. The synergy between my personal aspirations and those of the HKA business attracted me to the opportunity and I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career.”