First episode: from our
establishment until World War II
In 1928 Tauw was established in the city of Haarlem as the
Technical Consultancy of the Union of Water Boards in the
Netherlands, as the Water Boards increasingly needed independent
and technically high-quality advice in Water Board issues.
Especially the transfer from steam-engined pumping stations to
electrically engined pumping stations was the main driver. The
three main divisions were: Civil Engineering, Electrical &
Mechanical Engineering and Construction. Due to the construction of
a new polder, the first branch office was established by the end of
the thirties in the province of Groningen. The number of staff
increased during this episode from 5 to 40.
Second episode: from WW II - 1954
During
WWII activities were low, but after the war the large
reconstruction programmes initiated a sharp growth in the
activities of Tauw. From 1947 Tauw secured a lot of reconstruction
orders for pumping stations. The scope of activities was expanded
with geodetical services, based in Utrecht. In 1950 Tauw became
involved in its first international projects in Canada. The large
amount of work in the Dutch market after the big flood in 1953
created a strong focus on the Dutch market. All resources were
needed for reconstruction work.
Third episode: from 1954 - 1967
In 1954 Tauw
started its activities in environmental engineering: waste water
engineering and laboratory facilities were added to the spectrum of
Tauw’s activities. In addition to the opening of a laboratory
in The Hague, new project offices were installed in Steenbergen and
Almelo.
Shortly after a second laboratory was opened in Haarlem. In 1955
the legal structure was changed: the partner structure was
converted into a Ltd. In 1964 a new branch was opened in Lochem to
improve our services towards our regional clients. During the
sixties a two-year project was implemented in South Korea and Tauw
became involved in more international projects around the
globe.
Fourth episode: 1967 – 1980
In 1967 a
subsidiary was established under the name of Infra Consult. As Tauw
was working more and more for other clients than water boards,
these projects were implemented under the flag of Infra Consult. In
the international market, projects were carried out in the
Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East. A large project in 1970 for
the urban development of the city of Utrecht resulted in a branch
office in Maarssen. In 1975 the branches in the eastern part of the
Netherlands merged and the new headquarters consequently
transferred from Haarlem to Deventer.
In addition there were three branches in Haarlem, Tilburg and
Maarssen.
Fifth episode: 1980 – 1990
The Lekkerkerk
case was the starting point of the legislation on contaminated land
in the Netherlands. From the start Tauw was also involved in
projects related to soil contamination. This led to a sharp growth
of our environmental activities during the eighties: the size of
Tauw expanded over this decade from around 120 to 650 employees.
New services were initiated in waste, air monitoring and
environmental management. In 1985, Tauw bought its shares as held
by the Union of Water Boards and brought the shares into the
Foundation: ‘Stichting Aandelenbeheer Tauw’ (Tauw Share Management
Foundation). In 1987 the employees were offered the opportunity to
buy Tauw share certificates, a new phenomenon in the Netherlands!
During the eighties Tauw became involved in projects from the
industry as well as in international projects in Europe. We gave
assistance to the Federal State of Baden Württemberg to develop
their soil policies.
Sixth episode: 1990 – 1998
Tauw expanded
during the nineties because of a large number of take-overs: the
acquisitions of DSBV (1990, Rotterdam), De Haan Consult (1990,
Nieuw Vennep), Nagtglas Versteeg (1991, Nieuwegein), Van Steenis
(1995, Utrecht), Intron (1995, Sittard and Houten), Centrilab
(1995, Soest), MABEG (1996, Utrecht, Assen and Eindhoven). Over the
first half of the nineties, branches were established in Germany
(1992), Belgium (1994) and France (1995). In 1995 Wadinko, a
regional investment company, entered with 10% in the share capital
of Tauw. Shortly after (1997) this participation was enlarged to
40%. In 1996 Tauw secured its first ISO 9001 certificate. In 1997
the activities of Nagtglas Versteeg were terminated by means of a
management buy-out.
Seventh episode: 1998 – 2000
In 1998 the
civil and environmental engineering activities of Tauw merged into
a new organisation. A new strategy was developed, shifting from a
financial holding with a division structure to a strategic holding
with a country oriented structure and a strong focus on synergy.
Integrated services in urban and rural development were the new
basis for our services towards authorities. In addition Tauw
enforced its activities in the (multinational) industry. Activities
that did not fit in this new strategy, were terminated through the
sale of Intron (1999) and Centrilab (2000). In the international
market Tauw entered into cooperation with COWI (Denmark) and
Enviros (UK) in the field of Environmental Due Diligence
Assessments in 1999. This cooperation has since been expanded into
a worldwide partner network.
Eighth episode: 2000 - date
By the start of the 21st century Tauw realised take-overs in Italy
(EcoAppraisal, 2000 / 2001), Spain (Covitecma, 60%, 2003) and in
2004 entered into cooperation with Agrolab (Germany) in the field
of laboratory developments. By the end of 2006 the laboratory
activities were completely sold to Agrolab. In 2005 Van Steenis
(geodetical services) was declared bankrupt and was continued as a
self-supporting company with the assistance of Tauw. In the same
year Tauw’s new strategy was developed: putting a strong focus on
the European market by enforcing its international activities. That
year the activities of LUBAG (Bavaria) were added to the German
organisation, followed towards the beginning of 2007 by the
take-over of Wohlfarth consultancy near Cologne. Tauw has
increasingly been working for international client groups: the
multinational industry, private equity and real estate
sectors.