{"id":773016,"date":"2025-02-03T10:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=773016"},"modified":"2025-02-03T10:56:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:56:51","slug":"populous-2023-accounts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/populous-2023-accounts","title":{"rendered":"Populous\u2019s income quadruples as Middle East fees rise by \u00a388m"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the company\u2019s accounts covering the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region for the year ending 31 December 2023, annual fee income in the Middle East region skyrocketed from \u00a314.8 million in 2022 to \u00a3103 million.<\/p>\n

The latest figures for the \u2018standout year\u2019 also show profit before tax rose an incredible 1,500 per cent, from \u00a3731,000 to \u00a312 million in 2023. During the same 12-month period, the average number of staff in the EMEA region almost doubled from 166 to 288 employees (of which 257 were architects).<\/p>\n

Populous is working on numerous sporting infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia, including at least four <\/a>of the Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup stadiums: the 92,000-seat King Salman Stadium<\/a> in Riyadh, which will host the final; the King Fahad Stadium, also in Riyadh;<\/span> the under-construction Dammam Aramaco Stadium; and the Qiddiya stadium.<\/a><\/p>\n

Populous is also understood to be leading on a 46,000-capacity World Cup stadium to be built inside 170km-long linear city the Line.<\/p>\n

Among the practice\u2019s other schemes in the country is an esports venue holding more than 5,000 spectators within the Qiddiya entertainment \u2018giga-project\u2019 under development near Riyadh, which was revealed to the world in late 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

More on this topic<\/p>

We need to talk about Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/h4><\/div><\/div>\n

Elsewhere, the practice is behind plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium for Italian top-tier side AS Roma. The 2023 accounts show that Populous\u2019s fee income in Europe ballooned from \u00a38.6 million to \u00a321.1 million. The practice said it had also opened new offices in Madrid and Germany.<\/p>\n

Populous managing director Chris Lee told the AJ: \u2018These results reflect a deliberate strategy to develop local presence and practices in key regions across France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UAE and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

\u2018These offices are all led by natives of that country with the intent of bringing Populous expertise in architecture and the design of sports, entertainment, assembly, transportation and major events to all of our clients across the EMEA region.\u2019<\/p>\n

During the reported trading period it was announced that private equity firm Providence Equity Partners had bought a minority stake in the company. The firm focuses its investments on media, communications, education and tech companies.<\/p>\n

The director\u2019s report accompanying the Populous accounts said: \u2018We are confident this partnership will fuel an era of growth, expansion of our offerings, and innovation for our global practice, and will position us strongly for continued growth in 2024 and beyond in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.\u2019<\/p>\n

Populous also said it had expanded into new service areas, including a \u2018specialised food and beverage consultancy\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Populous’ King Salman Stadium, Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n\t

Source:Royal Commission for Riyadh (RCR)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the company\u2019s accounts covering the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region for the year ending 31 December 2023, annual fee income in the Middle East region skyrocketed from \u00a314.8 million in 2022 to \u00a3103 million. The latest figures for the \u2018standout year\u2019 also show profit before tax rose an incredible 1,500 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":915,"featured_media":727122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[2514,1504,2121],"yoast_head":"\nPopulous\u2019s income quadruples as Middle East fees rise by \u00a388m<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK-based sports specialist Populous has seen its turnover quadruple from \u00a334.9 million to a record \u00a3136 million due to a mega-boom in its Middle Eastern workload\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/populous-2023-accounts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta 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