Arcadis NV is a global design, engineering and management consulting company based in the Zuidas, Amsterdam, Netherlands. It currently operates in excess of 350 offices across forty countries. The company is a member of the Next 150 index. Arcadis was founded as the land reclamation specialist Nederlandsche Heidemaatschappij in 1888. Over the following decades, the firm became involved in various development projects, initially with a rural focus. During the second half of the 20th century, the company developed its international presence as well as its shift into urban development. As a consequence of a drastic restructuring in 1974 that divided the company, it became Heidemij. It pursued a European-orientated expansion programme immediately following the end of the Cold War. During 1993, the firm merged with the North American business Geraghty & Miller, resulting in its listing on the NASDAQ index. During 1997, the company adopted its current name, Arcadis; subsidiaries were similarly rebranded. Since 1990, the company has largely expanded itself via a series of acquisitions and mergers, which have allowed it to both expand its presence in existing markets as well as to enter new ones. It performs design and consultancy services on a wide variety of undertakings. Arcadis has been involved in several high profile construction projects, including London City Airport and the A2 motorway.
History
Origins in the Netherlands
The company has its origins in Nederlandsche Heidemaatschappij, a land reclamation company founded in the Netherlands during 1888. As such, its original business focus was on the encouragement of agricultural development in the Dutch heather lands. However, Hyder Consulting, which is now an integrated component of the company, can trace its roots back to as early as 1739. By 1925, the company was engaging itself in general rural development. During 1959, it became involved in the exporting of water management and infrastructure services to developing countries. By the following year, the firm had also diversified into urban development. In 1974, it was decided to heavily restructure the company, resulting in its division into two separate entities, the Association and Heidemij. During 1990, quickly following on from the end of the Cold War, the company decided to embark on an expansion programme orientated towards the European market. During 1993, the company merged with Geraghty & Miller, which granted the new entity a presence in the North American market and an initial listing on the NASDAQ index. Geraghty and Miller, headquartered in Long Island, New York, was subsequently rebranded as Arcadis North America. Two years later, Heidemij became a listed company on the Next 150 index. During October 1997, the company opted to rebrand itself, changing its name to Arcadis. Two years later, it established a presence in the Brazillian market via the firm's acquisition of Logos. During recent decades, Arcadis has largely grown via numerous mergers and acquisitions, such deals have included the British firms AYH in June 2005, EC Harris in November 2011, and Hyder Consulting during October 2014. On 9 March 2017, Arcadis announced that its Supervisory Board has nominated Peter Oosterveer as CEO and Chairman of the Arcadis Executive Board.
Axtell Yates Hallett
Axtell Yates Hallett was a British quantity surveying firm, founded by Stanley Axtell and his colleagues Messrs Yates and Hallett in the City of London in 1946. Throughout this period, the firm grew steadily and broadened both its service base to include firstly project management and subsequently building surveying and facilities consultancy and its area of operation with the opening of regional and overseas offices in the United Kingdom. Following a period of retrenchment during the economic recession of the beginning of the 1990s, the firm was incorporated in February 1994. In March 1999, the holding of the major shareholders was purchased by a team of existing senior managers, led by David Thompson, already a major shareholder himself. At the beginning of 2002, AYH restructured its operations from a skill and regional office based structure into fully integrated market sector groups. Over a number of years, AYH developed a range of Occupational Services, which included facilities management, facilities consultancy, out sourcing of on site support and under the banner of m3, a full relocation management service. The firm was a privately owned public limited company, owned by both its employees and an employee share ownership trust. One of the firm's last projects was Arsenal F.C.'s Emirates Stadium. In June 2005, AYH became a subsidiary of Arcadis NV, being rebranded as Arcadis UK. The firm acquired Summerfield Robb Clark, a practice in Scotland, in April 2006. Four months later, it also bought Berkeley Consulting, a practice specialising in infrastructure work. Arcadis UK merged with EC Harris as on 2 November 2011, after a vote of EC Harris' 183 partners on 31 October 2011. In April 2012, the company acquired Langdon & Seah, an international construction consultancy company. In October 2014, the company acquired Hyder Consulting for £296 million.
