1. We are WSP
  2. Who We Are
  3. Our story

our story

From our local beginnings over 130 years ago to our vast international presence today, WSP has enjoyed continuous growth and enrichment of its service offering. Every milestone reached has enabled us to better fulfill our purpose of preparing our communities and environment for the future.

AT A GLANCE

Discover the purpose that drives us in our corporate brochure

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WSP Today

WSP is a globally recognized professional services firm employing approximately 49,000 people. 

We welcomed 5,000 experts from ten different acquisitions in 2017, adding to existing expertise in all our operating regions. The largest team to join us was Opus International Consultants Limited, a 3,000-employee professional services firm headquartered in New Zealand, with additional offices in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

A major highlight of the year was our corporate rebrand: we became WSP across all our businesses in all geographic regions.

 
Always be the first choice for clients, partners and employees
WSP 2015-2018  Strategic Plan vision

History in the United States, Central and South America

In the United States, the firm’s origins date back to 1885, when William Barclay Parsons founded the company that would become Parsons Brinckerhoff in New York City. Early projects included the design of the original New York City subway system and the Cape Cod Canal. Chas H. Sells, Inc. was founded in New York in 1925 and was acquired by WSP in 2007, becoming WSP’s transport and infrastructure engineering group in the United States.

WSP entered the US market in 2000 through the acquisitions of Cantor Seinuk, a structural engineering firm established in 1953 and of Flack + Kurtz, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering business founded in 1969. Environment & Energy, an environmental and energy consulting business established in 1986, became part of the company in 2006.

International expansion of GENIVAR began with the opening of a Caribbean office in Trinidad and Tobago in 2004 as well an office in Colombia in 2011. In 2012, WSP strengthened its presence in Colombia through the acquisition of Consultores Regionales Asociados CRA S.A.S. In 2014, the Corporation acquired Dessau CEI S.A.S., also in Colombia. 

History in Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA)

Parsons Brinckerhoff in the UK traces its roots back over 125 years through three consulting engineering practices: MRM Partnership, Kennedy & Donkin and Merz and McLellan.

MRM Partnership, a multidisciplinary consultancy first established in 1887, was acquired by WMX Technologies Inc. in the US in 1993, and in 1994 became Rust Consulting Limited. Kennedy & Donkin, originally focused on power generation and distribution projects, was founded in 1889. In 1994, Kennedy & Donkin was also sold to WMX Technologies Inc. and became Rust, Kennedy & Donkin.

In 1995, Parsons Brinckerhoff acquired Merz and McLellan, another century-old power engineering consultancy, based in Newcastle, UK. In 1997, Rust, Kennedy & Donkin and Rust Consulting integrated their expertise, and the company was purchased by Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1998.  

The Williams Sale Partnership Limited was established in 1969 as a building services consultancy in the UK. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987 as WSP. Between 1990 and 1995, UK-based acquisitions added structural and civil engineering capability to WSP’s skills portfolio. From 1996 to 1999, acquisitions were completed in the UK and South Africa, and then in 2001 WSP acquired Jacobson & Widmark in Sweden and two smaller Finnish consultancies. In 2003, further acquisitions in Finland increased our presence in the Nordics.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has been active in the Middle East since the 1940s. From 2005 to 2006, WSP gained a meaningful presence in the Middle East with two acquisitions in the region. In 2007, further acquisitions in Germany and the Middle East reinforced WSP’s profile as a global consultant. In 2014, the acquisition of Technip TPS, specialising in building and infrastructure engineering, enhanced our presence in the French market. In 2015, Faveo Group was acquired in Scandinavia.

US Image

History in Asia-Pacific (APAC)

In 1970, Parsons Brinckerhoff established offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and in 1978, Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Hong Kong office was the first location established in Asia. However, prior to 1978 Parsons Brinckerhoff provided an alternative design for the first Cross Harbor Tunnel project in Hong Kong, which was adopted and the tunnel opened in 1972. During the 1970s and 1980s Parsons Brinckerhoff’s experts were instrumental in the development of the mass transit systems in Hong Kong, Singapore and later Taipei.

In 1995, overseas expansion of WSP began with the formation of WSP Asia and in 2000, WSP increased its presence in Asia. In 2007, WSP completed a further acquisition in Australia. In 2014, the acquisition of WINWARD Group, a specialist structural engineering consultancy, strengthened WSP’s presence in Australia prior to the Parsons Brinckerhoff transaction.