The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The company is a part of the Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV trading as Royal Haskoning. The principal activity of the company continued to be that of a holding company. The principal activities of the trading subsidiary companies are that of engineering and environmental consultancy.

The results for the company show a profit on ordinary activities before taxation of £4,924,871 (2023: £3,372,350).

Given the straightforward nature of the business, the company’s directors are of the opinion that analysis using KPIs is not necessary for an understanding of the development, performance, or position of the business.

The principal risk and uncertainty relate to the recoverability of the carrying value of the investments in the subsidiary companies. An annual review for impairment is performed, with regular monitoring of financial performance and position to manage this risk.

The directors have considered the requirements of section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006. It is a core duty of the directors to promote the success of the company. The directors have considered the main issues and stakeholders when making significant decisions and acted in the way they consider, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole in the decisions taken during the year ended 31 December 2024.

On behalf of the board

The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The results for the year are set out on page 7.

No ordinary dividends were paid. The directors do not recommend payment of a final dividend.

The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:

As at the date of this report, indemnities that are ‘qualifying third party indemnity provisions’ for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006 are in force, under which the company has agreed to indemnify the directors, to the extent permitted by law, in respect of all losses arising out of, or in connection with, the execution of their powers, duties and responsibilities, as directors of the company or any of its subsidiaries. Such indemnities were also in force in respect of each person who was a director of the company at any time during the financial year ended 31 December 2024 and at the date of approval of these financial statements.

As the company has not consumed more than 40,000 kWh of energy in this reporting period, it qualifies as a low energy user under these regulations and is not required to report on its emissions, energy consumption or energy efficiency activities.

So far as each person who was a director at the date of approving this report is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditor is unaware. Additionally, the directors individually have taken all the necessary steps that they ought to have taken as directors in order to make themselves aware of all relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that information.

The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

We have audited the financial statements of Haskoning UK Holdings Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the statement of changes in equity and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 December 2024 and of its profit for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

• the information given in the strategic report and the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of directors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework.  Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.  This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:

• Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud; 

• Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

• Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company through enquiry and inspection; 

• Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias. 

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation.  This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance.  The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

The profit and loss account has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.

Haskoning UK Holdings Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Westpoint, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, United Kingdom, PE2 6FZ.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

This company is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this company, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The company has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements:

• Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;

• Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues: Interest income/expense and net gains/losses for financial instruments not measured at fair value; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes recognised in profit or loss and in other comprehensive income;

• Section 26 ‘Share based Payment’: Share-based payment expense charged to profit or loss, reconciliation of opening and closing number and weighted average exercise price of share options, how the fair value of options granted was measured, measurement and carrying amount of liabilities for cash-settled share-based payments, explanation of modifications to arrangements;

• Section 33 ‘Related Party Disclosures’: Compensation for key management personnel.

The financial statements of the company are consolidated in the financial statements of Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV. These consolidated financial statements are available to the public.

The company has net current liabilities of £3m as at 31 December 2024 (2023: £10m); including an amount of £2.9m (2023: £2.9m) due to the parent company Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV. The directors have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis reflecting that the Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV have indicated they will not seek repayment of the amounts currently due to the group, which at 31 December 2024 amounted to £2.9m (2023: £2.9m), and provide additional financial support during that period. Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV have indicated its intention to continue to make available such funds as are needed by the company, and that it does not intend to seek repayment of the amounts due at the balance sheet date for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of Haskoning UK Holdings Limited financial statements. As with any company placing reliance on other group entities for financial support, the directors acknowledge that there can be no certainty that this support will continue although, at the date of approval of these financial statements, they have no reason to believe that it will not do so. true

Consequently, the directors are confident that the company will have sufficient funds to continue to meet its liabilities as they fall due for at least 12 months from the date of approval of the financial statements and therefore have prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis.

Fixed asset investments are stated at cost less provision for diminution in value. Cost represents the purchase price of the investment which includes cost related to the consideration paid at the point of acquisition and future payments to be made in accordance with the sale and purchase agreement. Where the payment relates to future performance and requires future employment (and are terminated upon cessation of employment) the additional payments are treated as remuneration. Where the payments are linked to future performance, but the continued employment is incidental to the acquisition (i.e., payments are made to non-employee shareholders in a similar manner to employee shareholders) then this is estimated at the acquisition date and this future payment is accounted for as a cost of investment and not employment cost.

Impairment reviews are performed when there has been an indication of potential impairment.

Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

Following the adoption of FRS 102.22, financial instruments issued by the Company are treated as equity (i.e., forming part of shareholders’ funds) only to the extent that they meet the following two conditions:

a) they include no contractual obligations upon the Company to deliver cash or other financial assets or to exchange financial assets or financial liabilities with another party under conditions that are potentially unfavourable to the Company; and

b) where the instrument will or may be settled in the Company’s own equity instruments, it is either a non-derivative that includes no obligation to deliver a variable number of the Company’s own equity instruments or is a derivative that will be settled by the Company exchanging a fixed amount of cash or other financial assets for a fixed number of its own equity instruments.

To the extent that this definition is not met, the proceeds of issue are classified as a financial liability. Where the instrument so classified takes the legal form of the Company’s own shares, the amounts presented in these financial statements for called up share capital and share premium account exclude amounts in relation to those shares.

Trade and other debtors / creditors

Trade and other debtors/creditors are recognised initially at transaction price less attributable transaction costs. After initial recognition they are measured at amortised cost less any impairment losses in the case of trade debtors.

Other financial assets, including investments in equity instruments which are not subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures, are initially measured at fair value, which is normally the transaction price. Such assets are subsequently carried at fair value and the changes in fair value are recognised in profit or loss, except that investments in equity instruments that are not publicly traded and whose fair values cannot be measured reliably are measured at cost less impairment.

Financial assets, other than those held at fair value through profit and loss, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.

Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows have been affected. If an asset is impaired, the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset’s original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss.

If there is a decrease in the impairment loss arising from an event occurring after the impairment was recognised, the impairment is reversed. The reversal is such that the current carrying amount does not exceed what the carrying amount would have been, had the impairment not previously been recognised. The impairment reversal is recognised in profit or loss.

Financial assets are derecognised only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or when the company transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to another entity, or if some significant risks and rewards of ownership are retained but control of the asset has transferred to another party that is able to sell the asset in its entirety to an unrelated third party.

Derivatives, including interest rate swaps and forward foreign exchange contracts, are not basic financial instruments. Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value on the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently re-measured at their fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognised in profit or loss in finance costs or finance income as appropriate, unless hedge accounting is applied and the hedge is a cash flow hedge.

Debt instruments that do not meet the conditions in FRS 102 paragraph 11.9 are subsequently measured at fair value through profit or loss. Debt instruments may be designated as being measured at fair value through profit or loss to eliminate or reduce an accounting mismatch or if the instruments are measured and their performance evaluated on a fair value basis in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the company’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax.

The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the profit and loss account because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The company’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting end date.

Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all timing differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits. Such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the timing difference arises from goodwill or from the initial recognition of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax profit nor the accounting profit.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting end date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered. Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised. Deferred tax is charged or credited in the profit and loss account, except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the company has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority.

To prepare financial statements according to generally accepted accounting principles, management need to make estimates and assumptions that affect the assets and liabilities as well the revenue and expense amounts recorded in the financial statements. These estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that management believe are reasonable under the circumstances.

The results of this form the basis of making judgements about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily available from other sources.

a) The decision whether an element of the consideration payable for acquisitions is accounted for as a cost of the investment or as a future employment cost is an area of considerable judgement. In accordance with FRS 102, where the future payments are not solely liked to future employment and are similar for all former shareholders (regardless of continued future employment) then the future payments are recorded on acquisition as deferred consideration.

There is a material judgement regarding the valuation of the above future payments as they are generally dependent on future performance of the acquired business. An assessment is made of the future forecasted performance, and this is utilised to calculate the amounts payable as deferred consideration. 

b) The impairment review performed at each year end involves significant estimates in relation to future forecast operating profit and cashflows. A significant change to these forecast cashflows could have an impact on the recoverability of the investment and therefore impairment. In our calculations for the year end no further impairments were noted on any investment.

The company has no employees (2023: nil). The directors of the company have not been remunerated for their services to the company (2023: £nil).

The emoluments of the directors are paid by company Haskoning UK Limited, which makes no recharge to the Company. The directors are directors of Haskoning UK Limited and it is not practically possible to make an accurate apportionment of their emoluments in respect of each of the companies, however, management do not deem the time spent on this company to be material. The total emoluments of the directors are included in the aggregate of emoluments included in the financial statements of Haskoning UK Limited.

The actual charge/(credit) for the year can be reconciled to the expected charge for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:

Impairment tests have been carried out where appropriate and the following impairment losses have been recognised in profit or loss:

The impairment losses in respect of financial assets are recognised in other gains and losses in the profit and loss account.

The directors believe that the carrying value of the investments is supported by their underlying net assets as well as the future performance and forecast of these respective entities resulting in no impairment trigger at the year-end.

An impairment has been recognised in the year relating to the investment value of The Denis Wilson Partnership Limited.

Details of the company's subsidiaries at 31 December 2024 are as follows:

Details of the company's associates at 31 December 2024 are as follows:

Inter-company balances are unsecured and repayable on demand.

The company has taken advantage of the exemption under paragraph 33.1A of FRS 102 which exempts subsidiary undertakings from disclosing transactions with other wholly owned subsidiary undertakings within the Group.

The parent undertaking and controlling party is Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV, a company incorporated in The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV is the parent undertaking of the largest group of undertakings to consolidate these financial statements at 31 December 2024. The consolidated financial statements of Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV are available from:

Koninklijke Haskoning Groep BV

Laan 1914 35, 3818EX, Amersfoort

The Netherlands