Our business, our passion
We are our clients’ global sustainable transformation partner, dedicated to improving quality of life for people around the world.
What we do
Arcadis is a global leader in sustainable transformation. We deliver intelligent products
and solutions to the challenges of climate, energy affordability and livable cities.
We are purpose-led and passionate about improving quality of life.
Arcadis goes beyond traditional design, engineering, architecture and consultancy. From strategy and advisory, through to planning, implementation and delivery, we use data-driven insights to develop tailored solutions in the environments we co-create.
From reducing flood risks in the Netherlands to strengthening New York City’s coastlines against hurricane damage. From creating a citywide sustainable legacy during and after the Paris Olympics to revolutionizing urban transit with the Sydney Metro, our world-changing solutions leave a positive and lasting impact.
How we do it
2024 was the first year of our new three-year business strategy, Accelerating a Planet Positive Future. It sets out a clear path for speeding up our growth in markets with the greatest client need, pursuing sustainable project choices in line with our purpose and values.
This strategy builds on the achievements of our previous 2021-2023 strategy cycle, Maximizing Impact, which saw the introduction of a global operating model, replacing a corporate structure focused on individual countries.
In 2022 we established our Global Business Areas (GBAs): Resilience, Places, and Mobility. Our GBAs collaborate to support clients as needed, each focusing on their areas of expertise and drawing on the skills and capabilities of Arcadians around the world.
A fourth GBA, Intelligence, was created the following year as a way to supercharge how we provide clients with innovative, technology-enabled solutions. It works closely with Resilience, Places and Mobility, co-creating services and products to support new and existing clients.
Across a global workforce of 36,000, Arcadis brings together the best minds to deliver tailored, intelligent products and solutions that address the challenges of today and create a blueprint for a more sustainable future. All our GBAs can draw on our Global Excellence Centers (GECs), which contribute the additional capacity, capability and technical expertise we need to better serve our clients and support future growth.
Who we work with
Our relationships span public, regulated and private sector clients, from multinationals like Pfizer and Heineken to major government agencies including Amtrak in the US and Rijkswaterstaat in the Netherlands. We are a well-diversified business, not dependent on one type of client or geography.
We have strong and enduring client relationships, working as trusted partners to our clients by thinking along with them and anticipating their needs. In fact, 95% of our revenues in 2024 came from clients that we served in 2023, a testament to the value we bring our clients.
Among the thousands of clients we serve at Arcadis, we have identified several strategic clients who present the largest opportunities for Arcadis. During the previous strategy cycle, we worked with those clients to establish our Key Client Program, tailored towards better supporting their needs. This is an important element of our 2024-2026 strategy. In 2024, we have grown the program from 161 to 251 Key Clients, broadening and deepening our relationships to support increased profit margin, greater cross-selling and enhanced client focus.
How we got here
In 1888, Arcadis was founded as the Nederlandsche Heidemaatschappij (Association for Wasteland Redevelopment), a land reclamation business enabling agricultural productivity in the Netherlands. We grew and expanded from these strong roots, branching out into urban development and becoming “Heidemij” in the 1970s. A series of international expansions, mergers and acquisitions enabled us to build strong capabilities in a range of industries and regions of the world, ultimately under one name and brand: Arcadis.
We’re now a company with a truly global footprint. But we’re proud to trace our journey back to our beginning in the Dutch heather lands. One hundred and thirty-six years ago, we were creating forests and managing the landscape to recover soil fertility, address drift sands, and boost agricultural productivity. Today, we continue to work in areas including water management and environmental remediation – among many other capabilities related to sustainable transformation and improving quality of life. That’s why we can truly say that sustainability is in the Arcadis DNA.
