Craig Forrest’s Post

Our work with Arup to build their influence among clients and stakeholders to support their mission to shape a better world has been hugely rewarding. To find out more take a look at our case studies here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eDm9kskV #b2bsales #consulting #salestransformation

Strong growth in the UK and Asia saw engineering consultant Arup lift revenue to a record £2.2bn last year. The 14% growth in revenue was driven mainly by the energy and water sector which translated to a pre-tax profit of around £39m, 6% up on 2022, but significantly down on the five-year average. Arup warned it had seen a slowdown in the rate of converting new opportunities to contracted project work, and growing delays in collecting cash from clients, reflective of the tighter commercial environment. This saw year-end net cash fall back £72m to 235m. As a result, Arup slowed headcount growth to keep costs in line with revenue with staff numbers now just below 19,000, compared to around 14,000 five years ago. Retiring chairman Alan Belfield FREng said: “Beyond our top-line performance, our energy and water businesses both delivered solid growth, allowing us to continue to scale and broaden the work we undertake for many of our clients directly engaged with the climate crisis. “Our energy revenue grew 22% during the year, while our water business grew by 11%. Arup Group regional revenue: **UK 2023 - £777m / UK 2022 - £640m **Asia 2023 - £476 / Asia 2022 - £383m **Americas 2023 - £356m / Americas 2022 - £356m **Australasia 2023 - £300m / Australasia - 2022 - £275m **Europe 2023 - £218m / Europe 2022 - £203m **Middle East & Africa 2023 - £37m / Middle East & Africa 2022 - £36m The Americas was the only market where revenue remained static. Global profit share among staff slipped to £133m slightly down from the previous year’s peak of £143m.

Arup is now 40% female! It's very easy to talk about diversity, but since my maternity leave I've really noticed some of the specific actions Arup have been taking to effect cultural change and retain people like me. Coming back I have been so incredibly lucky to have been given multiple opportunities to progress my career alongside the flexibility to accommodate my new out of work responsibilities. But a big part of my luck is Arup's company culture. My leaders were well practiced in open minded conversations about how I could come back well, full of questions and a delightful absence of assumptions. In large part thanks to Arup's equal parental leave policy encouraging all fathers to take 3-6 months parental leave; more than doubling the frequency of back to work conversations since it was introduced! #WorkUnbound, our flexible work policy goes alongside plenty of role models on how to set healthy boundaries and achieve balance. It's helped me to set my core hours around nursery pickup times (guilt free and without jokes) and fill in the rest of my contractual hours with focus tasks that can be done after my son has gone to bed. Obviously Arup isn't perfect. Senior leadership is still much more skewed, and attention is turning more and more to ethic and socioeconomic background to get a more authentic diversity of thought. But I'm looking forward to further progress in the years ahead and a big thank you to all those who have guided my career so far 😊 Duncan Steel, Duncan Overy, Elliot Marsden, Paul Webber, Henrietta Ridgeon, Wendy Tipper, Roland Trim, Ian Wise #OneArup #StructuralEngineering #ArupVentures #ArtsCultureWest

Arup reveals 22% revenue increase to £2.2bn Profit also rises as engineer records strong growth in #energy and #water markets Income and profit were both up at Arup last year, bolstered by strong growth in climate-related sectors. The engineering firm’s latest results, published at the end of last week, showed revenue up to £2.2bn from £1.8bn the year prior. The Arup-engineered roof structure at Kings Cross Station in London Profit also increased in the 12 months to 31 March 2023, from £37m to £39m. The UK once again made up the biggest portion of revenue at £777m, a 21% increase on the previous year. The Americas was the only market where revenue shrank, and there only marginally. Alan Belfield FREng, chair of the employee-owned business, identified energy and water as strong performers, with the pair growing 22% and 11% respectively. “Beyond our top-line performance, our energy and water businesses both delivered solid growth, allowing us to continue to scale and broaden the work we undertake for many of our clients directly engaged with the climate crisis,” he said. In April 2024, at the end of his five-year term, Belfield will hand over leadership of the firm to Jerome Frost OBE, current chair of the UK, India, Middle East and Africa region. Staff numbers at the firm were up 9% to 16,946, with an increase in the number of engineering and technical staff employed largely responsible for the increase. During the year, Arup diluted its investment in AI business Neuron Operations Limited, which, treated as a disposal of a subsidiary, resulted in a gain of £3.8m for the group. https://lnkd.in/ecK5J4cX

Complex problems demand close partnering with clients. – said Alan Belfield FREng in his Chair’s statement of Arup’s Annual Report.   While during our financial year ending 31 March 2023, the world faced a series of socio-economic problems, we prioritised implementation of our strategy to put sustainable development at the heart of everything we do and worked closely with our clients to address the specific complexities they were facing.   Here are some of our achievements globally:   ✅ We've hit a major milestone by achieving a 40% female membership across the organization for the first time. ✅ Our total carbon footprint for the year ending March 2023 was reduced by 27% in our per capita emissions since 2019, our baseline year, taking into account the growth of our business. ✅ Our membership continued to grow, exceeding 18,000 people. ✅ We received 179 project awards and 54 people awards.   You can browse the full report including video interviews on key themes such as net zero, people and community engagement here: https://lnkd.in/dXQx-gMP   #WeAreArup 

We've just shared our latest Arup Annual Report, and it's only now as I step back from it that I realise how much it became a true labour of love! If you have 5mins please have a peak (and a listen).   It's a tall order to summarise the performance of a global business over the course of a year. The changes the world has experienced - and us, too - since the end of our last financial year (March 2023) feel big. Yet, what we explore in this annual report is about the world now - the challenge of becoming a truly inclusive organisation, our decarbonisation journey, how geopolitics and digitisation shape business climate. These are the big set pieces of our time. #wearearup OPX Studio Mallard & Claret Macdara Ferris James Jackson Leanne Nicholas Christopher Sharples Adam Thorpe

💡Unlocking Team Innovation in Tunnelling: 5 Takeaways for Contractors and Consultants! Ever wondered what role contractors, like STRABAG, and consultants, like Stantec and Arup, play in motivating their teams to embrace the learning curve and drive impactful change through new processes and #technologies? Here are the 5 key takeaways from our recent panel discussion: 1 - Seems obvious but, start with the Problem: Using new technologies should be problem-driven. Identify areas that need improvement and solve real problems for clients. 2 - Consultants as Intermediaries: Consultants play a pivotal role as intermediaries between clients and contractors, making them ideal for exploring and adopting new technologies. 3 - Corporate Culture of Innovation: Embrace a strong corporate culture of innovation, as discussed by Heather from Arup, highlighting the focus on digital tool development. 4 - In-House Training Opportunities: Foster a learning culture by providing in-house training opportunities and allocating resources to tackle challenges. 5 - Making Innovation Exciting: Create an environment that makes innovation exciting for everyone, encouraging teams to explore and solve problems proactively. 👉 What's your personal experience in implementing new technology or motivating teams to embrace it? Catch the insightful panel discussion and explore the success stories shared by our experts⬇️ [Link in the comment section] #RockMassTechTalks #Innovation #Tunelling

It's a pleasure to bring our global expertise on High Speed Rail to a recently announced Business Case for a future network between Sydney and Newcastle, NSW. We join as lead architect to Arcadis and WSP’s Joint Venture (AWJV)’s Technical Advisory, Environment & Sustainability, Community & Stakeholder Engagement Services (TAESCS) package, one of eight packages that will together deliver the Sydney to Newcastle HSR Business Case. This is the first step towards the Australian Government’s vision for a future HSR Network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and regional communities across the east coast of Australia. The HSR network is expected to better connect more regional and urban communities, unlock growth and housing affordability, boost productivity and access to services, and provide sustainable travel alternatives to reduce transport emissions and road congestion. Our involvement draws on our expertise working on HSR projects and masterplans. For the Business Case, a local team of architects from WW+P will draw on experience working on global HSR projects. "Our design for this transformative project will form a comprehensive, coordinated and practical strategy for the future delivery of high speed rail in Australia, and represents a major step towards the nation’s net zero targets for 2050," says Will Riley, Managing Director - Australia at WW+P. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eujbP_3M WW+P, part of Egis group | #architecture #highspeedrail #Australia #infrastructure

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate and represent ACCIONA in the panel discussion "Unlocking Mobility: KSA’s Roadmap for Transformative Transport Expansion" during #CWKSAInfraSummit 2024. The panel was moderated by Ben H. from EY and included Belal Deiranieh from Systra, Omar Al-Battaineh from AtkinsRealis, and Maarten Maas from Bin Zafrah. We had the opportunity to engage in a thoughtful discussion on key measures to help the smooth transition from "Car-Centric" cities to "People-Centric" cities. Panel Highlights: 💡 Why cities need to change their thinking on traffic planning in order to create people-friendly urban environments. 💡 Contractors can contribute to a successful transition by leveraging digitalization and innovation. 💡 For PPPs, governments may need to initially bear the demand risk until there is reliable data on actual ridership patterns to justify transferring that risk to the private party. Overall, we are all optimistic that the ambitious plans of public transportation in the Kingdom will succeed and will lead to having more sustainable, compact, and livable cities. Thanks to ITP Media Group for their outstanding event and as Paloma Martín Ramírez for her great efforts.

How are companies like ACS Construction Group Ltd, VINCI, and Balfour Beatty plc driving sustainable growth in the UK and Europe's construction industry? From Florentino Pérez at ACS to Xavier Huillard at Vinci, and Leo Quinn at Balfour Beatty, leaders are championing innovation and carbon reduction. Despite challenges, these companies are shaping a resilient future with ambitious infrastructure and clean energy projects. See the list: https://ow.ly/jQlx50T2ZVU #Infrastructure #Innovation #GreenBuilding