After Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009, the construction industry emerged as a driver of the economy, satisfying the pent-up demand for infrastructure. Bilateral and multilateral funding for highways, public utilities, ports and airports led the surge, with private mixed-development and condominium projects also taking off in anticipation of a boom in consumption, tourism and the services industry, which altered Colombo’s skyline.
Among the companies that rode this wave was Access Engineering. In 2012, it went public with a listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange. It quickly cemented its reputation for delivering large-scale infrastructure projects, from highways to port development, and was a portfolio favourite among equity investors.
Then came COVID-19, and Sri Lanka’s subsequent debt crisis destroyed the industry’s rapid momentum. According to government statistics, the construction industry’s GDP (in constant 2015 prices) has declined sharply since 2019. The sector fell 9.4% in 2020 and then gained 4.4% the following year, but decreased by 21% in 2022. The industry declined a further 21% in 2023. Many small to medium-sized contractors that relied on subcontracts for large government infrastructure projects saw their revenues dry up, and employment suffered.
Access Engineering, however, bucked the trend by design, explained Christopher Joshua, the company’s co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman. During the construction boom, Access ensured diversification into allied industries, invested in its people and technology, and enhanced its credibility for delivering projects to global standards on time.
Its topline and profitability over the last few years, since 2019, have been impressive compared to the flagging industry. Access Engineering reported annual revenues of over Rs20 billion for each financial year since 2019/20, and its profit for 2023/24, at Rs6.8 billion, was a ten-year high.
According to a March 2025 equity report, HNB Stockbrokers claimed Access is the leading infrastructure-related construction firm in Sri Lanka. It has significant experience across all major disciplines in the infrastructure space, as well as vertical and horizontal integration into adjacent construction materials. The property business owns and rents about 320,000 sqft of prime office space and 1,125,000 sqft of warehousing, logistics and industrial space.
The report says Access has a project pipeline of about Rs52 billion over the next two years, including the construction work of the East Container Terminal and West Container Terminal, Elliot Place Housing Project, Nittambuwa Pasyala Road Project, Central Expressway Section 3, Slave Island Flyover, Kohuwala/Gatambe Flyovers, and the Marina Square Project.
According to the report, the market for core engineering solutions could double due to government-led infrastructure projects reaching Rs400 billion by 2030. It also noted that the sector has a pipeline of potential new projects worth Rs1.5 trillion, including the Central Expressway Kadawatha/Mirigama, the Central Expressway Potuhera/Galagedara, an Airport Terminal at BIA, the Colombo Port North Project, and the Galle Port Development.
Joshua attributes Access Engineering’s success to doing the things that are often the hardest in Sri Lanka’s construction industry: improving cost efficiency, delivering on time, and investing in systems that reduce dependence on crisis–prone supply chains. “While many firms reacted to economic instability, we anticipated it. As the broader economy contracted, we pushed forward, using our integrated structure and capital discipline to expand our footprint,” he said.
The company started in 2001 as a civil engineering contractor, so the next obvious step was securing its raw materials. Rather than follow the well-trodden path into ready–mix concrete, it turned to asphalt, where demand was more stable and the competition less intense. It launched its asphalt production in 2011 and introduced an internal benchmark: the TEL KPI, short for “Thel” (fuel in Sinhala), which measures litres of fuel consumed per tonne of asphalt produced and sold. Starting at ten, the number now stands below five. The drop came not only from constant improvements to the production and transportation process, but also from adjustments that reward vigilance, such as covering aggregate to reduce moisture and lowering the energy needed in processing.
This granular focus on process efficiency has allowed Access to become the dominant player in asphalt, supplying more than 300 contractors and controlling an estimated 70% of the market.
Controlling inputs has offered Access a consistent commercial edge in a country where project costs often balloon mid-construction. It has also allowed the company to scale.
“Our commitment to delivering projects on time at high standards exposed us to clients who needed infrastructure to scale their businesses,” Joshua explains.
Access stepped in when Michelin sought state-of-the-art warehousing space in Sri Lanka.. What began as a 430,000 sqft facility in Kimbulapitiya expanded to a 730,000 sqft. facility in Ekala. The land was acquired at more than twice the government’s valuation through a tender. Access also included flood mitigation and canal works in the build, with Rs700 million jointly funded by Access and Michelin. The French tyre maker uses the completed facility as a global benchmark.
From there, Access established itself as a primary warehousing developer. The two facilities in Kimbulapitiya and Ekala Ja-Ela represent almost a quarter of the country’s industrial warehousing capacity. This resulted in Access’s foray into renewable energy.
Access designed the combined 35 acres of warehouse rooftops to support solar panels. That design choice now yields 16.5 megawatts of power. “The solar capability is not a public relations effort but a by-product of engineering foresight, especially when designing the facility and roof pitch,” Joshua said.
Commercial real estate followed a similar logic. Access Towers One and Two are fully occupied, and the upcoming Marina Square project will add another 170,000 sqft of A-grade office space. Tower Two offers around 95% usable floor area, compared to the industry average of around 75%. Its tenants, including Microsoft, Samsung, INCEE, IFS, ZTE, Fairfirst and Dialog, cite its energy efficiency and reliability as much as its location or design. “We prioritized function over form, and tenants have responded accordingly,” Joshua said.
The same thinking extends to condominiums. The 240-unit Capitol Heights apartment complex sold out, and prices rose more than 75% in under two years since the handover, encouraging capital appreciation as well as rental yield for investors. With 1,068 units, Marina Square is nearing completion; over 600 have already been sold.
During the economic crisis, when many developers cut quality to maintain margins, Access negotiated better terms with suppliers. It upgraded the specifications instead, and buyers received premium brand fittings like Kohler, Hacker, Panasonic, Samsung, and Becko TKS at no extra cost.
“We were adding supply during a construction slump, and these brands valued the opportunity to generate sales. In turn, the apartment buyers received more for their investments,” Joshua explains, adding that most of the apartment sales were driven by referrals, a testament to Access Engineering’s customer and quality-centric focus and its reputation as a reliable contractor and developer.
In fact, Access did not pause construction when the economic crisis hit after the COVID pandemic. It financed projects through internal cash flows while most others waited for stability. “We delivered on our commitments, and our ability to operate through volatility has become part of our reputation,” Joshua noted.
Mechanical engineering, a less visible but equally demanding field, has been another source of growth. Access manages container handling equipment for the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) and Adani Ports(CWCT). It has also taken on projects related to airport and terminal development. These are not projects awarded on competitive prices alone; they require adherence to global performance and safety standards.
Some of that capability has begun to travel. Access now provides services to ports in the UAE, Panama, and South Asia. Through its joint venture with ZPMC, container equipment installation, repair, and maintenance is emerging as a viable export business. According to HNB Stockbrokers, ZPMC is the global leader in port machinery, holding a market share of over 80%. “Our engineers are much sought-after,” Joshua said.
Technology has been a central part of this strategy. Joshua said Access was the first Sri Lankan construction firm to adopt Building Information Modelling (BIM) using Revit. BIM integrates structural, architectural, and engineering designs into a unified platform. It reduces design conflicts and allows clients to visualize and plan maintenance before a building is completed. Rather than outsourcing, Access institutionalized BIM internally. Even during the downturn, the company expanded training while others trimmed costs.
Today, Access operates across eight verticals. Civil and mechanical engineering, logistics, real estate, construction materials, renewable energy, radiopharmaceuticals, and automotive. Each new business line extends from an existing strength. The company has avoided diversifying into sectors where it lacks expertise.
Access is setting up production in radiopharmaceuticals for FDG isotopes used in cancer diagnostics. Currently imported from India, these isotopes decay in transit. By manufacturing locally, the company hopes to expand cancer screening capacity, making it more affordable, and also improve accuracy in cancer screening. It is working with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Power and Energy.
Cancer diagnosis in Sri Lanka remains constrained by the limited availability of PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans, due to high costs and unreliable equipment, even in government hospitals. A critical issue is the unavailability of FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose), a radioactive tracer essential for PET scans. “Sri Lanka currently imports FDG from India, but its effectiveness diminishes during transit, dropping from full potency to as low as 25% upon arrival—often rendering it unusable,” Joshua said.
Recognizing this gap, a local engineering company initiated a project to manufacture FDG domestically. The initiative, which had been delayed for years, moved forward after a government tender was issued. The company secured the project by involving the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Power and Energy, and the Atomic Energy Board as shareholders, citing the strategic importance of local production.
“The facility also opens up opportunities in radiopharmaceutical manufacturing, a largely untapped sector in the country. While Sri Lanka imports most of its pharmaceutical needs, we can produce radioactive pharmaceuticals locally and explore export potential,” Joshua noted.
In the automotive industry, it owns Sathosa Motors, the Isuzu distributor, and Sathosa Motors holds a 50% stake in Access Motors, the distributor for Jaguar and Land Rover. Both companies focused on after–sales and parts during the import ban. Profitability improved. As imports resume, the firm expects volumes to rise. “However, we reported reasonable revenue and profits even during the period of the vehicle imports ban by the appointment of a new management team focused on streamlining operations and improvements to customer service,” Joshua explained.
Construction now accounts for less than 25% of the group’s equity, though it remains strategically central. Joshua argues that domestically funded infrastructure projects should prioritize local contractors. Foreign participation, he says, should be limited to cases involving tied concessional funding. Allowing foreign firms to dominate local contracts funded by the local budget not only stifles domestic capacity but also risks long–term dependency.
Internally, Access values practical judgment highly. “Staff are encouraged to flag uncertainty and avoid feigning confidence. Promotions depend more on applied skills than academic degrees. Training continues regardless of hiring freezes, and employees who prove capable are given more responsibility, but not at the expense of sustainability or bandwidth,” Joshua says.
He sees signs of macroeconomic stabilization but remains wary. Implementation, not intent, is the constraint. Policy missteps discourage investment, such as the VAT for first-time homebuyers and foreign buyers of residential property. Exemptions, he argues, would cost little but stimulate demand.
Despite interest from international partners, Access has deferred aggressive overseas expansion. Joshua explained that the company would only invest abroad when domestic opportunities were exhausted and its operational systems were robust enough to scale.
Growth, in this case, is not the goal – execution is.
Access reported a pre-tax profit of Rs5.5 billion in the previous financial year. Early indicators suggest further improvement. But more revealing than numbers is the method: a quiet emphasis on detail, process, and resilience, a product of deliberate design by the leadership. In Sri Lanka’s volatile environment, that alone sets the company apart. “We are successful because our margin is not limited to the construction cost but the value we give our clients, and that is something no other construction company can do,” Joshua explains.