The Beginning (1924-1955 Era)
Sepakat Setia Perunding (Sdn) Bhd evolution came into being in 1924 when Steen Sehested, a Danish Engineer started consulting civil engineering activities in Ipoh and Penang.

The compass of private consulting engineering was structural work for bungalows, houses and commercial bank offices.

For the period before the worldwide slump in 1929, projects undertaken included the Eastern Smelting buildings in Penang and various residences in Kuala Lumpur. This may seem very modest but it did provide a good beginning of consulting engineering practice.

After the slump more buildings were undertaken in Kuala Lumpur namely; Odeon Cinema, the Harrisons & Crossfield Office, the Overseas Chinese Bank and the Anglo-Oriental Office.

Then came the 2nd World War and Steen Sehested was extremely lucky to make it out of Singapore on Friday, the 13 February 1942, when the enemies bombed all the fleeing ships and crafts. The ship which he was supposed to board was sunk whereas the ship he did board came through but was later intercepted and this led to his detention at Banka Island.

When he returned to Malaya after the 2nd World War in 1945, he was broke and had to start all over again with his son Knud Sehested.

The Early Partnership (1956-1969 Era)
In the mid 50s, the company secured many projects throughout Malaya as well as surrounding countries and had established branch offices in Brunei and Jesselton. During this time, a number of office buildings undertaken were along Jalan Ampang included the Chartered Bank, the Denmark House, and the St. John’s Institution.

Other major projects undertaken in the 50s were:-

The Sultan of Brunei Mosque
The Kenny Hill Estate (now called Bukit Tunku)
The Chin Woo Stadium in Kuala Lumpur

Whilst carrying out their consulting engineering practice, the Partners were also actively involved in the early development of the engineering profession in the country.

Malaya achieved its independence in 1957 and with it came the active period of construction, reconstruction and development.

In the early 60s the company grew at an unprecedented pace due to the implementation of numerous development projects by the Government.

After four years of rapid growth, there was a period of economic downturn in the mid 60s. However, the company managed to pull through mainly due to the sustained development in Brunei and Singapore.

The Transitional Years (1970-1979 Era)
The 70s was the most successful decade during which the company secured numerous projects both from the Government and the Private Sectors. The size and complexity of projects have increased tremendously. For those particular big projects which involved foreign consultants’ participation, transfer of technology had taken place in both directions.

The Turbulent Years (1980 – 1989 Era)
The 80s had been among the most challenging as it was a decade of economic swings of boom, recession and market crash.

The High Growth Years (1990-Present)
In the last 82 years, the company had seen the changing of guards from the lone pioneer to the present 5th generation of successors.

The company’s success has been founded on quality of service which has been the cornerstone of the company’s philosophy since the days of the pioneer. To fulfill this uncompromising approach to quality of service to our clients, substantial investment has been continuously committed to the development of our human resources and the upgrading of our supporting facilities.