ABOUT US

Our company

Ecorys is a global research-based consultancy that helps our clients make a positive impact on society. We are leaders in research and consulting, monitoring and evaluation, programme management and communications services. We provide the evidence and advice that our clients need to tackle the issues that affect communities around the world. Our staff are justifiably proud of our innovative and thought-provoking contributions to policy and programme delivery. We are an independent employee-owned company. We combine our passion and our business professionalism to make a difference in the world.

With over 600 employees from over 40 nationalities, speaking over 30 different languages, we operate across the globe with offices in Rotterdam, Brussels, the United Kingdom, several other European cities, India and Africa. We work in over 150 countries globally.

Our core services are to advise and support our clients on the key societal challenges. Our clients need more than consultancy – they need a partner who can provide evidence-based advice and support to help them meet their goals. This is why our passionate and curious experts produce quality and insightful work, and shape it to provide a comprehensive understanding of communities, societies, economies and people.

We value our independence, integrity and partnerships, and care about the environment and communities we work and live in. We have an active Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme across our offices, which centres on creating a shared value that benefits society and business.

Our story

Since 1929 our company has evolved in many ways, but our drive to make a positive contribution to society has remained the same. By delivering the highest quality services across our sectors, we have grown to be an internationally recognised research-based consultancy, programme management and communications company.

The Ecorys Group is made up of five major organisations: Ecorys Nederland; Ecorys UK; Ecorys Brussels; the International Development Unit (IDU); and several European offices (Ecorys Spain, Ecorys Poland, Ecorys Bulgaria, Ecorys Croatia and Ecorys Italy).

Company History

1929

A group of business leaders from Rotterdam (Netherlands) founded the Nederlands Economisch Instituut, or NEI (Netherlands Economic Institute), with the objective to ‘stimulate research on economic issues.’

1945

Initially NEI worked mainly for the Dutch government. After World War II, NEI extended its focus to the so called ‘developing countries’, mainly at the initiative of its director and Nobel Laureate professor Jan Tinbergen.

1979

Kolpron was created in Rotterdam, an independent commercial real estate advisor. Kolpron merged with NEI in 2000.

1982

ECOTEC Research and Consulting started as a spin-off from Aston University in Birmingham, founded by Frank Joyce and Hugh Williams. ECOTEC focused on research and advice on social and regional issues, including work for the UK Government and the European Commission.

ECOTEC opened offices in Brussels, Madrid and Poland.

1990

Growth for NEI was stimulated by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent need for advice in Eastern Europe. In the 1990s NEI moved its core focus from research to advice and became a commercial company.

2000

An important step was the merger in 2000 of NEI / Kolpron with ECOTEC. A new organisation was born, called Ecorys. Ecorys grew its work in national markets, as well as work for the European Commission (within the EU and the EU neighbourhood countries).

Ecorys developed a new unit to build a portfolio of work on the international development market.

2006

Ecorys South East Europe (Bulgaria) opens.

2007

Ecorys Türkiye opens.

2012

Ecorys India and Ecorys Hrvatska (Croatia) open.

Ecorys grows its international development work through the acquisition of Harewelle International (including PMTC Zambia – now operating as Ecorys Zambia).

2019

In 2019 Ecorys celebrated its 90-year anniversary. 

Today

Ecorys’ gross revenue has now grown to over EUR 100 million. Today, as we head towards our 100th anniversary, the Ecorys Group is a vibrant, multi-national consultancy organisation, committed to making a real difference in our society.

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We are a leading international research and consultancy company addressing society’s key challenges.

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