New | Dutch consultancy Arcadis eyes China’s water and environment markets

Arcadis, an Amsterdam-based natural- and built-asset consultancy, is merging different specialised teams acquired in the past few years under one brand name in a move that will hopefully help it penetrate China’s water and environment markets, its Asia Pacific chief executive Kenneth Poon said.

Globally, water and environment businesses contributed 38 per cent, or 629.8 million euros, to its global gross revenues in this year’s first half. But Arcadis is still a starter in Asia and spearheading its thrust into the mainland China market is difficult, although it sees huge potential there.

By phasing out legacy brands such as Langdon & Seah in quantity surveying, EC Harris in project management and InProjects in retail management, all teams will go under one umbrella – Arcadis, which will then increase the brand’s exposure in Asia, Poon said. “We decide to make a strong push for the Arcadis branding.”

“There is a lot of emphasis on water and the environment in China and across Asia, we want to bring in the full expertise of Arcadis, so we need a name that links up our worldwide expertise,” he told South China Morning Post in an interview.

Arcadis has helped some US cities develop and execute water cleanup plans and installed a system to deal with groundwater contamination in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Its environment business has also expanded in cities across the world, even in China’s northern port city of Tianjin.

“The awareness of China on water and environment is getting there,” Poon said. “The problem is so big that everyone is still struggling on how to handle it.”