Growth-oriented course to be successfully continued. By the end of 2020, more than 230 new jobs will be created in Germany and Austria.
EQOS Energie turns 100 this year and has every reason to celebrate: Despite the worldwide economic consequences due to the Corona pandemic, the company, which is among the leading European infrastructure service providers, is developing successfully. EQOS Energie intends to grow based on the hiring of new employees as well as additional takeovers Existing locations will be massively expanded and new locations will be opened. By the end of the year, a total of 230 new jobs will be created in Germany and Austria.
Eric Mendel, CEO of EQOS Energie, commented on the current market environment as follows: “The Corona crisis was the ultimate stress test for our decentralised organisation. This has shown to our customers, employees and business partners that we are more robust today than ever before. After our refocusing, even in our recent history, we managed to adjust to the current general conditions and were economically successful. Thanks to our economic strength and our liquidity, we intend to and will continue to grow organically in our business segments and as a result of corporate acquisitions. Our focus lies on energy technology, overhead line infrastructure, railway technology and communications technology. In our target countries of Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, France and Belgium, we see a systematically growing market for these business divisions. Starting with a strong market position, we want to be among the top three providers in each country and each segment, although not at all cost.”
n 2019, the EQOS Energie Group achieved a turnover worth more than EUR 270 million. Currently, the Group employs about 1,500 people at more than 30 locations in five countries. The extent of projects expanded forward to about 11 months out from now, with many partial areas working to full capacity for the next two years.
Growth course despite the Corona crisis – with an additional focus on industrial automation
EQOS Energie continues to grow even in the currently difficult market environment. The infrastructure service provider is increasing its market position based on continuous expansion of sites and innovation-driven projects in Germany and Austria. In this effort, the German regions of Rhein-Neckar, western North Rhine-Westphalia, Dresden, the larger Berlin area and the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Bremen play an especially important role. In Austria, EQOS Energie displays particular growth in the Vienna region, in the Central Austrian region as well as in the regions around Graz, Salzburg and in Lower Austria.
From engineering and fitting for energy, telecommunications and railway network operators, the company is now advancing its own development especially for its customers in the industry automation segment. Among other responsibilities, the experts are tasked with the maintenance and inspection of a publicly traded company’s steam turbines. The expanded portfolio covers the entire lifecycle of industrial plants as well as an exchange of individual components or entire systems. “In the future, we intend to grow our turnover considerably with industrial automation,” Mendel added. In Austria, EQOS Energie has been active in the field of building automation for some time and strengthened its manufacturing automation based on the takeover of Austrian company AML Elektrotechnik on 1 July 2020. In the early summer, the company had already opened three other process automation facilities in northern Germany.
More new hires planned for the second half of the year
In this and all other areas, EQOS Energie is creating new jobs despite the ongoing Corona crisis. “If companies are struggling due to the pandemic, we are ready to help,” Mendel said. During the first half of 2020 alone, EQOS Energie has already welcomed more than 160 more colleagues and is continuing its search for new employees as well as takeover opportunities that complement the service portfolio of EQOS Energie. Overall, at least another 70 experts are being sought for all business divisions by the end of the year, with new staff members to be hired at the Linz location in particular.
Smart grids and 380-kV networks are urgently needed for the energy transformation, as are powerful new or revitalised railway connections as an alternative to short-haul flights or 5G for our networked society and industrial sectors. “We are creating jobs in future-oriented industries, which are essential for a successful and ecologically sustainable business location,” Mendel added.
Bilfinger’s Overhead Lines division successfully integrated – Additional acquisitions on the horizon
EQOS Energie is well positioned for corporate takeovers. In 2019, the company took over the Overhead Lines division of the Bilfinger Group and has now successfully integrated it.
Mendel: “We continue to keep our eyes open in order to expand our service portfolio in stepwise fashion. In this respect, we are not only talking about large corporations, which consider divesting some partial areas in our industry, but also small and medium-sized companies that have a succession problem or cannot pursue larger upcoming projects based on their financial capacities.”
Health protection and occupational safety – more important than ever in the times of Corona
Even at the peak of the Corona crisis, EQOS Energie was active across national borders as a technical service provider in system-relevant areas. “We had the privilege to be able to maintain our operations with only a few limitations,” the CEO said. “In principle, health takes top priority with us. During the times of the lockdown, we always kept closely in touch with our workforce. Based on our employee app, we were able to constantly inform them of our measures across national borders, answer questions in a timely manner and also obtain feedback from our colleagues at the construction sites. This way we succeeded in keeping the infection risk as low as possible despite ongoing operations.”
In addition, EQOS Energie has long declared the continuous enhancement of occupational safety its most important goal, and the frequency of accidents has been decreased continuously ever since. “We want to be among the best companies in the industry with regard to occupational safety,” Mendel emphasized. “This is as important for our employees as for our customers and shareholders. After all, a secure construction site also increases quality and efficiency.”
A 100-year anniversary. The history of EQOS Energie.
“Today, we still benefit from our long corporate history, which has resulted in a high degree of technical quality and capabilities, even though the fundamentals and technologies often change within just a few months, but we have always managed to adjust to these new circumstances over the past 100 years,” Mendel said in his confident outlook over the next few years.
EQOS Energie can look back on a longstanding tradition in Germany and Austria. Originally founded in 1920 as “ENERGIE Gesellschaft für elektrische und industrielle Unternehmungen” (Energy Company for electrical and industrial ventures), it was re-established in 1996 as ALPINE-ENERGIE in Linz. Since 2014, the company has been doing business under the brand of EQOS Energie. Excellent Quality Of Services – these four words are a promise of premium quality which the company represents and form the acronym that is part of the brand name.