Chair’s statement

My term as chair began in April 2024 when I succeeded Dr Alan Belfield, whose sound stewardship guided us over a five-year period when the world faced a series of remarkable challenges, including a global pandemic.

The rapidly changing nature of our world means our clients recognise they face new and profound challenges. I have no doubt that Arup’s enduring strengths, founded on robust values and outstanding people, mean we are well positioned to partner with our clients, as they navigate change and identify emerging opportunities. 

Global climate change, supply chains under pressure, and the accelerating evolution of game-changing technologies demand clear-sighted and agile responses. The depth of Arup’s talent pool, allied with our long-standing culture of confronting, and resolving successfully, the most complex challenges facing our clients are the reasons I believe we have a sound foundation for continued success. 

Our financial and commercial performance

During the financial year ending 31 March 2024, Arup Group delivered a reasonable performance in the face of increasingly complex market conditions. Our business grew, profitability remained broadly stable and our overall pipeline of future work at financial year-end was solid. In FY 2023/24 our global revenue grew by 2 per cent to reach a record of £2.2bn. We achieved an operating profit of 3.9 per cent before applying our profit share scheme, which benefits all our members worldwide.

Behind these headline figures, we navigated a business environment often characterised by geopolitical instability, economic headwinds and slowdowns in government investment. These issues impacted our performance in some markets; however our total workload continued to grow, with our teams in the Americas and South East Asia delivering notably strong performances. Equally, we grew well in priority sectors, including energy, water, technology, building retrofit and transport.

Like many businesses worldwide, our operations are subject to regular attacks from criminals. Despite our substantial investment in cyber and other defence measures, in January 2024 one of these attempts was successful, with criminals using fake voice, signatures and images to execute a fraud. Our project delivery to clients continued uninterrupted throughout and the attack did not impact our networks or financial stability. This attack has prompted a thorough review of our governance and processes, and we plan to share what we have learned about the new threat environment with our clients and wider audiences.

Driving down our emissions

As planners, designers, engineers and consultants working across the built environment, we play an increasingly vital role in enabling our clients to adopt the most efficient and cost-effective ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Alongside emission mitigation, we work with clients across all geographies to advance the design of more resilient infrastructure, particularly critical assets and networks upon which we all rely. Recent extreme weather events underline the importance of embedding resilience to climate impacts, and our capability to deliver market-leading resilience planning and design services will continue to be a priority. 

At the same time, addressing our own emissions is an essential element of our response to global climate change. Our net zero plan includes an ambition to reduce our total emissions – Scope 1, 2 and 3 – by 30 per cent by 2025. At the end of FY 2023/24, we recorded a 33 per cent reduction in total emissions compared to our baseline year, while on an emissions-per-member basis, the decrease is even more marked, at 45 per cent. This represents a good start, but we know we have more to do to meet the full scale of our net zero commitment.

Expertise in action

Each year, Arup works on client projects across well over a hundred countries. In this annual report, we showcase a selection of projects that were completed or achieved significant milestones during FY 2023/24.

External recognition is always welcome, and I am heartened by the many public accolades that our people and projects receive. Awards are a testament to both the skills of our members and the trust our clients place in us to achieve new standards of technical excellence. Last year, we were named ‘Britain’s Most Admired Company’ within the UK business support services sector for the second consecutive year, and we were ranked number one for effective environmental, social and governance (ESG) across all sectors. This peer-based accolade recognises Arup as a purpose-driven company with a commitment to embedding ESG within our decision-making.

Many of our clients choose us time and again, demonstrating confidence in our skills and our commitment to serving them well. In FY 2023/24, we were pleased that the Environment Agency (EA) in England renewed Arup’s place on its Collaborative Delivery Framework for a further four years. It is via this framework contract that the EA procures the services of flood and coastal erosion experts to deliver its multibillion-pound capital investment programme.

In the US, our work for California’s High-Speed Rail Authority expanded during FY 2023/24 to include work, in partnership with Foster + Partners, to deliver planning, architecture and engineering services for four stations that will serve as models for others that will be built along the 500-mile route.

Digital tools driven by machine learning are increasingly central to our work. In the past year we have advanced the application of our land use analysis solution, Terrain, often using it to offer our clients a more detailed understanding of urban overheating risks. This has allowed us to work with clients such as the City Council of Madrid on targeted interventions that will reduce urban heat island effects and increase protection to vulnerable communities.

In Hong Kong, our digital capabilities were deployed to introduce HKeToll, a multi-lane, free-flow tolling system. Working for the Transport Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, our team drew on local and international expertise to design a solution that sets new standards for user experience.

As FY 2023/24 drew to a close, we were pleased to learn that National Grid Electricity Transmission had chosen an Arup Aecom joint venture (JV) as one of its Great Grid Partnership consulting partners. Through this JV we are contributing to a fundamental expansion of the UK electricity network, designed to accelerate decarbonisation of the national economy. At the same time, our masterplanners in the UK and Australia are designing the transformation of end-of-life coal-fired power station sites, planning their futures as productive places at the heart of future economic growth. In New South Wales, we are working with Greenspot to transform the Wallerawang Power Station into a clean energy hub.

Supporting communities worldwide

Our global community engagement programme is a direct expression of our aims to be both a humane and a socially useful business. We have made the strategic decision to prioritise support to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable communities and places across the globe, through pro bono technical assistance and a limited number of cash donations.

Our members’ participation, through the pro-bono provision of a wide range of technical skills, is central to our approach. By enabling our members to share – and whenever possible, to transfer – their skills, our community engagement projects have lasting impact. A good example of pro bono technical assistance delivered by our experts during FY 2023/24 involved the provision of audiovisual design services to The Black Library, a community space in New York State that educates and celebrates black history and culture.

During the year ending 31 March 2024, we also supported the delivery of essential medical services to communities in many locations affected by conflict, natural disasters and epidemics. We achieved this in part through our longstanding partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières. We made donations totalling over £1m to charities and NGOs working with vulnerable communities affected by global humanitarian events, including supporting communities affected by the events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

In the UK, we are working with Homewards, an initiative determined to ensure that people’s experience of homelessness is “rare, brief and unrepeated”. Launched by Prince William and the Royal Foundation, it draws together leading UK homelessness charities with frontline experience. Arup is proud to be one of Homewards’ ‘activator’ partners.

Renewing our governance

Since 1979 Arup has been owned by trusts, the directors of our trustee companies being collectively referred to as the Arup Trustees. In September 2023, the Board and the Trustees agreed to work together to review and evolve our governance arrangements with the intent of clarifying leadership roles and the separation of responsibilities, enabling independent oversight and effective execution.

I’ve always been proud to be a member of Arup. Our trust-based ownership model means that every member can make a difference, and every member shares in our success. This encourages a culture of teamwork and a determination to serve our clients well. I witness on a daily basis our members’ commitment to our clients and the breakthroughs we achieve with them.

In turn, I want to thank our clients for the trust they place in us and the opportunities they offer us to shape a better world.