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Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group has rebranded as AtkinsRealis. Brands owned by SNC-Lavalin, which include Atkins and Faithful+Gould, will also now be known as AtkinsRealis.

SNC Lavalin acquired UK consultancy firm Atkins in 2017.

“We have reached an inflexion point as a company,” says AtkinsRealis’ Philip Hoare, president of global engineering services for Canada, Europe, Middle East, UK and India.

“We have been working hard together to transform the business over the past three to four years. That transformation is now complete. It is the right time to bring those brands together as AtkinsRealis.”

The rebrand follows the implementation of SNC Lavalin’s strategy to focus on professional services after its exit from lump-sum turnkey contracting in 2019.

“It has been a deliberate transformation for us to become a premier professional services and project management company,” says Hoare.

The name AtkinsRealis combines the Atkins name with the word Realis, inspired by the city of Montreal and the company’s French-Canadian roots, as well as its resemblance to the word realise.

“Atkins is a well-known brand around the world. And so we wanted to retain the heritage of that brand, and the respect it has across various different regions. Also, we think it better represents the pure-play professional services organisation that we have become,” says Hoare.

The Middle East has been an important market for Atkins, Faithful+Gould and SNC-Lavalin, and will remain a major region for AtkinsRealis as it adds 150 staff to its workforce each month.

“In the Middle East region, we look at those projects that we think will significantly impact the world and prioritise that type of work. Neom is a good example of that. If you look at the integrated delivery partner role that we have there, alongside Jacobs and Parsons, we have worked hard to bring expertise from around the world to projects,” says Hoare.