Sector: Construction & Engineering
Geography: Poland
Services: Market analysis, M&A target identification, company profiling, partner meetings, meeting facilitation
What the client needed
Our client, a building services engineering and consulting group from Northern Europe, was evaluating entry into the Polish market through acquisition. The target profile spanned the full spectrum of construction design and engineering, including architectural studios, structural design offices, MEP/HVAC design among others – with a preference for companies of meaningful scale and an active project portfolio.
Poland presented a compelling case. With over 6,500 active construction projects across all key sectors, a total estimated investment value of 64 billion EUR and a sound design engineering market, the scale of opportunity was substantial. Infrastructure, residential, industry, office and healthcare markets, all contributing significant design engineering demand. At the same time, the market was dominated by privately owned Polish firms, with limited international presence and few precedent acquisitions to benchmark against.
What we did
- Macroeconomic and market overview. We produced a full economic overview of Poland as an investment destination – alongside a structural overview of the construction market segmented across seven sectors. Each sector was analysed by active project count, total investment value, estimated area, estimated design engineering value, phase distribution, and project size breakdown.
- Sectoral deep-dives. For each of the sectors we documented key investors and key contractors active on the largest projects, mapping the ecosystem of demand and procurement relationships. This produced a clear picture of which clients and general contractors are driving design engineering spend – and which market segments carry the highest near-term pipeline.
- City-level mapping. We ranked Poland’s main cities by population, technical university presence, number of active construction projects, and concentration of design engineering firms. We highlighter five primary markets, with Warsaw area accounting for the highest density of both projects and companies. Regional breakdown covered all major voivodeships.
- Company universe and longlist. We reviewed almost 2 000 construction design and engineering companies across Poland’s main cities, drawing on a proprietary database of active construction projects, internal company records, published rankings, and targeted supplementary research. From this universe we identified and described 320 companies meeting minimum scale criteria – filtered by revenue, headcount, service category (e.g. architecture, MEP/HVAC, structural, etc. ) and geographic location.
- Company profiles. For the highest-priority targets we prepared structured profiles covering: founding date, headcount, turnover, ownership structure, service focus and segment specialisation, key project references, and strategic positioning. Profiles were organised by city and discipline, with a dedicated database for the full longlist.
- Market context: Ukrainian design firms and future trends. We identified and mapped Ukrainian-owned engineering and architectural companies operating in Poland – a growing segment relevant to both competitive dynamics and talent supply. We also documented emerging market trends: the uptake of BIM, sustainability-driven design requirements, virtual reality in project delivery, and the early-stage adoption of precast-oriented design.
- Meetings – facilitation and reporting. On behalf of the client, we arranged and facilitated four in-person meetings in key cities with shortlisted companies spanning the various categories. For each meeting we prepared a company profile in advance and full meeting notes afterwards, covering ownership structure, headcount, financial position, client relationships, subcontracting model, technology stack, openness to acquisition, and strategic outlook.
- Proposals for further meetings. Following the visits, we identified and profiled an extended set of priority targets for subsequent meeting rounds – covering e.g. further architectural studios, project management firms, and structural design offices, screened against minimum threshold criteria and supplemented by direct recommendations gathered during the initial meetings.
What the client received
- • Macroeconomic overview of Poland in the contects of construction engineering
- • Full construction market analysis across 7 sectors including e.g. active project counts, total investment values, Poland design engineering values, and project size distribution
- • Key investors and contractors for each sector, covering companies active on the largest projects
- • Location ranking by project activity and design company concentration, with regional mapping across all major voivodeships
- • Longlist of above 300 design engineering companies in Poland’s main cities, segmented by discipline, revenue tier and location
- • Detailed company profiles for priority M&A targets
- • Full Excel database of reviewed companies with filtering by various criteria
- • Overview of Ukrainian design and engineering firms operating in Poland
- • Market trends analysis, including e.g. BIM adoption, VR in design, etc.
- • Meeting notes from in-person meetings, including ownership readiness for acquisition, financial context, and strategic development pathways
- • Extended shortlist of priority targets proposed for further meeting rounds, with profiles and pre-selection rationale