Public limited company | |
Traded as | : |
Industry | Construction, design, engineering and business services |
Founded | 1938 |
Founder | Sir William Atkins |
Headquarters | Euston Tower, London, United Kingdom |
Number of locations
|
Offices in 28 countries |
Key people
|
Allan Cook (Chairman) Uwe Krueger (Chief Executive) |
Services | Consultancy services |
Revenue | £1.862 billion (2016) |
£143.4 million (2016) | |
£103.4 million (2016) | |
Number of employees
|
18,052 (March 2016) |
Subsidiaries | Faithful+Gould |
Website | www.atkinsglobal.com |
WS Atkins plc (commonly known as Atkins) is a British multinational engineering, design, planning, architectural design, project management and consulting services company headquartered in Epsom, Surrey. It was founded in 1938 by Sir William Atkins.
As of 2016, Atkins is UK's largest engineering consultancy and the world's 11th largest global design firm. It employs approximately 18,000 staff based in 300 offices across 29 countries and has undertaken projects in over 150 countries. Its motto is "Plan, Design, Enable".
Atkins is listed on the and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The original company, WS Atkins & Partners, was established by the late Sir William Atkins in 1938 with offices in Westminster in London. In its early years the practice specialised in civil and structural engineering design work but expanded rapidly after the Second World War into specialist services in town planning, engineering sciences, architecture and project management.
In 1996, WS Atkins was admitted to the and began trading as WS Atkins plc. In 1996 it also acquired Faithful+Gould, a cost and project management consultancy firm. In the late 1990s WS Atkins worked on the Burj al Arab hotel, which was completed in 1999.
The company has been trading under the Atkins name since 2002. In that year it also bought Hanscomb, construction consultants. The company experienced a number of financial difficulties in 2002, with the share price falling to 50p, the Chief Executive, Robin Southwell, resigned, along with Finance Director Ric Piper, who was also told his new job at Trinity Mirror was no longer open to him. Keith Clarke replaced him, joining from Skanska.