Holmes celebrates 60 years of engineering excellence

As Holmes Group celebrates its 60th birthday, the business has updated its brand to better represent the synergies that exist inside the diverse engineering consultancy group. 

With Holmes eyeing further overseas expansion, the breadth of services the group offers opens up more opportunities. Holmes Chief Executive, John Hare, said that previously each of the five subsidiary companies had their own distinct look that did not reflect the collaborative way the group works on behalf of its clients. 

“Now we have a consistent brand identity for all of the subsidiaries, giving us a much more connected look that builds on our strong collective Holmes history.”

“We have experienced considerable growth over the last few years and have doubled employee numbers since the turn of the century to more than 350 people. We’ve also expanded in Australia, established offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles and just opened a new base in the Netherlands,” he said.

“There are plenty of opportunities to showcase our combined Holmes knowledge and expertise” Hare comments.

The five subsidiaries that make up Holmes Group are Holmes Farsight (building code and regulatory guidance), Holmes Fire (fire engineering), Holmes Solutions (product development and testing), Holmes Structures (structural engineering) and Holmes Consulting (structural and civil engineering). 

“The company has come a long way in the 60 years since Lyall Holmes established his engineering consultancy in Christchurch. We’ve kept the same focus on quality and creativity that Lyall brought to his projects, and we have strong links to our heritage—two of Lyall’s grandchildren now work at Holmes.

“We have plenty of opportunity to develop—we are actively increasing our international presence, with much potential both in the United States and Europe. At the same time, we’re also looking at other areas of the engineering consultancy sector to grow the breadth of our total Holmes offering. 
“We believe in a future of collaboration and harnessing technology, and that is where we intend to concentrate”, Hare said.

Pictured: John Hare.