NIRAS continues to grow and increase investments

In 2024, NIRAS maintained its growth, strengthened its international presence and made significant investments in strategic development. The year was marked by increasingly volatile market conditions, but also by new opportunities where the company demonstrated its ability to adapt and continuously evolve – skills that are likely to become even more essential in the years ahead.

"2024 has been a year in which we have significantly strengthened our process industry business and market position outside Denmark through acquisitions. At the same time, we have increased our already large investments in the green energy transition and digitalisation, not least the opportunities in AI. Finally, we have continuously seized new opportunities in a volatile market characterized by an increasingly unpredictable world order," says Carsten Toft Boesen, CEO of NIRAS.

Strategic acquisitions strengthen international market position

In 2024, NIRAS completed the acquisitions of Lorien Engineering Solutions, FDT Consulting Engineers and Syspons, enhancing the company's market position, expertise and capacity in Life Science, Food & Beverage and Monitoring & Evaluation. With these acquisitions, NIRAS has also significantly strengthened its presence in the UK, Poland, Ireland and Germany. The integration of the three companies is proceeding as planned, and inflow of new assignments confirms continued customer trust. 

At the end of 2024, NIRAS had a total of 3,170 full-time employees, with 1,152 outside Denmark. This represents a 12% increase compared to the previous year and is fully aligned with NIRAS’s ambition to significantly expand the organisation towards 2030. 

A positive, but increasingly turbulent and competitive market

The industry's focus on increased sustainability, the green energy transition and climate adaptation has contributed to growth. At the same time, investments in infrastructure and, not least, life science, remain at a very high level. Increased geopolitical uncertainty and a degree of financial caution in certain sectors have generally increased competition. Despite this, NIRAS maintained its growth, albeit with a greater contribution from acquisitions. Profit at EBITA level decreased from DKK 167 million in 2023 to DKK 158 million in 2024, primarily due to higher integration costs, increased sales activities and larger investments in business development and digitalisation.

Targeted investments in sustainability and digitalisation

In 2024, NIRAS increased investments in strategic business development from DKK 20 million to DKK 27 million; with a continued focus on opportunities related to the green energy transition as well as on quality and efficiency opportunities through AI. Competence and capacity building within the green energy transition remains NIRAS's largest development project, and it is very positive that – despite a slower pace of expansion than expected – NIRAS is ahead of its targets. In digitalisation, AI-based

solutions are playing a growing role, improving individual efficiency and quality as well as enabling system-related insights and solutions that can improve quality, efficiency and productivity across projects and business areas.

Although the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is expected to be postponed, NIRAS maintains its climate targets and continues its strategic focus on sustainability across business areas. In 2024, NIRAS also committed – in line with the Science Based Targets – to reducing Scope 3 CO₂ emissions by 25% by 2030.

The employees are the company

NIRAS’s greatest asset lies in the strength of our people, their collective and individual expertise, their experience and their commitment. Equally important is our ability to collaborate effectively, across our teams, with our clients and in partnership with others. It is therefore very positive that employee satisfaction remains high and staff turnover is low compared to the industry. The fact that there is also a decrease in long-term sickness absence confirms the strength of our culture, where meaningful work, a high level of professionalism and a high degree of autonomy create a foundation for motivation, engagement and well-being.

Expertise networks and graduate programmes are key elements in strengthening both specialisation and interdisciplinary collaboration within NIRAS. At the same time, these initiatives also support and further develop a common, network-based culture that enables us to maintain our decentralised organisation – even as we grow and expand internationally. Furthermore, we work strategically to preserve, develop and make visible the corporate culture that is the foundation of our success – a culture that ensures employees have the necessary autonomy to make the right decisions close to clients and projects.

Outlook for 2025

NIRAS expects continued growth in 2025, with organic growth expected to range between 5% and 10% across sectors and geographies. The EBITA margin is expected to improve compared to 2024 and land at 6-7%.

"The expectations for 2025 are of course accompanied by a great deal of geopolitical uncertainty, but for NIRAS as a company, we see with confidence that the changes overall do not lessen the need for what we can offer. We will therefore continue our strategic investments in confidence in continued growth and development in close collaboration with our clients and partners – a development that also means we will need even more skilled colleagues," concludes Carsten Toft Boesen.