Egis recently acquired Edinburgh-based Thomas & Adamson, a provider of cost and project management, building surveying, and principal designer services. Founded in 1935, Thomas & Adamson has a team of over 100 staff across the Scottish capital, Glasgow, London, and the Middle East. Here, senior partner Alastair Wallace answers Project Scotland’s questions about the impact of the deal.
Q) What impact do you expect the recent acquisition by Egis to have on Thomas & Adamson?
A) The fact that we have joined the Egis Group can only be seen as a positive. It is undoubtedly an exciting move that could unlock further growth for the business, and we are all looking forward to seeing how that pans out over the coming months and years.
Egis was keen to branch out into the areas where our experience already lies – cost management, project management, building surveying and construction safety services – which made Thomas & Adamson a perfect fit and a catalyst for opportunities on both sides. Already, our teams are starting to work together on integrated global projects, and we expect to gain more exposure to new clients in new markets and different countries around the world.
Q) What benefits will customers see?
A)For most of our current clients, it is business as usual and they will see little change. However, as part of the larger group, it means we have access to business support resources to help our teams continue to deliver exceptional work for our clients.
Added to that, there is now a pool of additional services and experts across the group that we can bring into projects when required, allowing us to act as one big team.
Q) Do you see many synergies between the two businesses?
A) Thomas & Adamson and Egis are very well aligned in terms of our core values and the way we approach projects in the built environment. The acquisition came as a result of speaking to the team and really getting to know the business over the course of over a year, and throughout that process, it became clear that this would be a good match. Both businesses were trying to achieve similar things, with a similar vision, so now we can keep growing in that direction, together.
Q) How do you intend to maintain the culture of the firm now that it is part of a much bigger organisation?
A) Culture isn’t about social events, it’s about business behavious; how you value and treat employees, and how you do business, interact with clients, and deliver your services. Because of the alignment that we could see with Egis before doing this transaction, the culture we have worked hard to build will be easily maintained – we don’t anticipate any major changes in that respect.
Q) What standout projects are you working on at the moment?
A) Of course, every project is a standout for its own reasons. At one end of the scale, we are involved in Impact Scotland’s new Dunard Centre concert hall at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh – the largest new music venue built in the capital since the Usher Hall in 1914. This project is already proving fantastic to be a part of, drawing in specialists from all over the world in areas like acoustics, and the impact that it will have on the city and Scottish culture will be huge. In the Middle East, the type of buildings we are involved in continue to push boundaries in terms of their unique designs, the sheer scale of the projects, and the level of investment involved.
Meanwhile, we are also supporting the build of a new £5m home for the Seamab School, which is another truly exceptional project. Seamab is a charity providing care and education for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children with varying complex needs. The team had outgrown the old bungalow that was being used as the school building, and with it no longer deemed fit for purpose, work on a new facility has now started with it due to complete in 2026. We are supporting with project management of the build, but have also been linking Seamab to other potential partners from our network who could support with other aspects.
