Atkins (company)

Atkins

Company type	Private (1938–2017) Subsidiary (2017–2023)
Industry	Construction, design, engineering and business services
Founded	1938
Founder	Sir William Atkins
Defunct	2017
Fate	Bought by SNC-Lavalin
Successor	AtkinsRéalis
Headquarters	Nova North, London, England
Number of locations	Offices in 28 countries
Key people	Philip Hoare (President)
Services	Consultancy services
Revenue	£2.081 billion (2017)[1]
Operating income	£171.5 million (2017)[1]
Net income	£164.6 million (2017)[1]
Number of employees	18,300 (March 2017)[1]
Subsidiaries	Faithful+Gould

Atkins was a British multinational construction, design, engineering and business services company. It was formerly listed on the London Stock exchange and had a London headquarters. During July 2017 the company was bought by SNC-Lavalin in a £2.1 billion deal^[2][3] which subsequently renamed to AtkinsRéalis in 2023.

The company was founded as W. S. Atkins & Partners by Sir William Atkins in 1938. It experienced rapid growth following the Second World War, performing specialist services in town planning, engineering sciences, architecture and project management. The firm was admitted to the London Stock Exchange in 1996, trading under the name WS Atkins plc for a time before rebranding as Atkins during 2002. While Atkins largely focused on the UK market during its formative years, it has grown into an international firm with a global presence, as well as expanded into a wide range of sectors, including aerospace and high speed railways.

By 2016, Atkins had become the UK's largest engineering consultancy, as well as the world's 11th largest global design firm.^[4] It employed approximately 18,000 staff based in 300 offices across 29 countries and had undertaken projects in over 150 countries. The firm's motto was "Plan, Design, Enable".