19th century: foundation , Netherlands. The company has its origins in the
Nederlandsche Heidemaatschappij (English:
Association for Wasteland Redevelopment), a
land reclamation company founded in the
Netherlands in 1888. As such, its original business focus was on the encouragement of agricultural development in the Dutch heather lands.
20th century: domestic, US and Brazil expansion In the early 20th century the Heidemaatschappij was involved in all aspects of rural development including irrigation and forestry. In 1972, it was decided to heavily restructure the company, resulting in its division into two separate entities, the
Association (or
KNHM), which continued the company's traditional activities, and
Heidemij, which became the commercial arm. In 1993, the company merged with
Geraghty & Miller, granting the new Arcadis 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.
2000s: UK expansion In June 2005,
Axtell Yates Hallett was acquired and became a subsidiary of Arcadis NV, being rebranded as
Arcadis UK. AYH was a British
quantity surveying firm, founded by Stanley Axtell and his colleagues Messrs Yates and Hallett in the
City of London in 1946. Since 1946, Axtell Yates Hallett 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 as the AYH Partnership in February 1994. One of the firm's last projects was
Arsenal F.C.'s
Emirates Stadium. In April 2006, Arcadis acquired
Summerfield Robb Clark, a practice in
Scotland. Four months later, it also bought
Berkeley Consulting, a practice specialising in infrastructure work. Arcadis UK merged with
EC Harris 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.
2010s–2020s: EU and North American expansion In October 2011, Arcadis acquired
EC Harris, an international built asset consultancy firm headquartered in the United Kingdom. In 2012, Arcadis purchased
Langdon & Seah, an Asia-based cost and project management consultancy. In October 2013,
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands visited Arcadis as part of the celebrations for its 125th anniversary. In October 2014, the company acquired
Hyder Consulting for £296 million. Hyder Consulting, now an integrated component of Arcadis can trace its roots back to as early as 1739. In 2014, Arcadis purchased
Callison, an international architecture firm based in
Seattle, Washington. In October 2015, a new subsidiary,
CallisonRTKL, was formed through the merger of two existing Arcadis subisiaries, Callison and
RTKL. In March 2017, Arcadis announced that its Supervisory Board has nominated Peter Oosterveer as CEO and Chairman of the Arcadis Executive Board. In 2020, Arcadis acquired
Over Morgen, a Dutch development and energy transition consulting firm. In 2020, Arcadis acquired
EAMS Group, a provider of enterprise asset management systems. In July 2022, Arcadis announced it was acquiring
IBI Group, a global architectural and engineering services company based in Canada, to be effective in September 2022. In October 2022, Arcadis announced CEO Peter Oosterveer’s retirement, and that current Chief Operating Officer Alan Brookes would be nominated as his successor in 2023. In December 2022, Arcadis acquired
DPS Group, an Ireland-based international construction consultancy specializing in life sciences and semiconductor facilities. ==Projects==