Egis To Build A Better Future, Approach Sustainability

Group CEO of Egis, Shares Insights On The Firm’s Approach To Corporate Responsibility

Answering the question of what are the key challenges facing Egis and the engineering consulting industry, more generally, coming into 2023, Laurent Germain said, "We will continue to see some of the effects and challenges of inflation in 2023 in some, but not all, activities and regions across the world. Some of our work, like highway operation and maintenance activities, has been affected in 2022, and this will probably continue to be the case in 2023. Another challenge is finding and retaining the right talent; this is something faced across the globe in our industry."

However, we are proud that at Egis, we have an exceptionally low turnover rate of less than 5% for voluntary leave. On the same note, the challenge of inclusivity for more women in a male-dominated industry must be tackled. "At Egis, diversity and inclusion are making significant progress across our businesses worldwide", he added.

Laurent Germain further highlighted key successes from last year, saying that 2022 was a successful year for Egis across the world. Over the past two years, they have acquired 24 companies and doubled our order intake. They also went up in the Engineering News-Record (ENR)‘s list of the top 225 international design firms rankings at 21st, and for the first time, they were in the top 10 international design firms in the Middle East at 6th place, and in Africa, they moved up three points to 7th position.

In addition, last year, they welcomed a new shareholder, Tikehau Capital, who joined us in supporting our ambition to become a leading player in intelligent and sustainable infrastructure to combat climate change, preserve biodiversity, and improve global living standards.

He further elaborated, "In 2022, we also won iconic projects all over the world, including projects in operations and maintenance in the UAE; PPP projects in Cameroon; infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia; rail projects in India, Morocco, Canada, and France; aviation projects in Brazil; and road projects in Romania and Saudi Arabia, to name a few."

The report further mentioned his vision for the company’s future growth and development and its expansion globally. "Overall, we see our positive growth continuing in 2023. Our profitable annual organic growth for 2021 was 16%, and we expect 2022’s results will be even more optimistic; profitable organic growth is the best value creation vector for a company, and our percentages are well above our industry average. In addition, we have concluded 20 strategic acquisitions since 2021 around the world, some of them to reinforce our core business or help us to diversify, whereas others help us to gain critical mass in our geographical areas."

Commenting on Egis approach to corporate responsibility and sustainability in its projects and operations, especially in light of the increased attention given to sustainable initiatives, he added, Sustainability is at the heart of every project we do. In 2019, with the Paris Agreement, we committed to adopting the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Working alongside our clients, we find solutions to tackle the challenge of climate change and reduce carbon emissions as much as possible with our talented engineers that have the know-how and solutions to do so. Our group’s strategic visions are centred on fighting climate change, the digital transition, and meeting the needs of the growing population.

Furthermore, in 2006, we launched the Egis Foundation, which is exclusively dedicated to fighting climate change and supporting a fair, social, economic, and ecological transition.

When questioned about how companies are positioning themselves in terms of digital transformation, technology, and data management, he replied, "Digital technologies are fundamental and will be even more so in the coming years for the engineering industry as infrastructure optimization comes into place, improving the quality of life across communities.

We have introduced a ‘Digital Engineering for Business’ department within the group to accelerate the digitalization of our production methods and reinforce our proficiency in digital tools in support of our projects. We already heavily utilise BIM, AI, VR, and the digital twin in many of our rail and smart city projects; 75% of our design projects are conducted on BIM", said the report.

According to the report, Egis’s innovation policy lies at the heart of their three strategic development pillars: sustainable city construction, the mobility and transportation of the future, and the energy and ecological transition.

Furthermore, Laurent Germain, group CEO of Egis, concluded, we have committed $49.4 million (46 million) for research and development and have launched several innovative start-ups such as Cycle Up, which helps reuse construction material to cut landfill waste, and Seaboost, which uses 3D printing to create shelters for plants, animals, and soil. is a company that works on decarbonizing businesses by unlocking the potential of soil.

"Amongst our training and development programs, innovative project involvement, and more, internally, we have been running an initiative for several years now called the Ideathon, where our employees take part in creating innovative ideas focused on strategic vision and priorities that we then help to develop into a finished product to support our business."