Outlook for 2024 and beyond
Unica is entering the next phase of growth in which, as ever, the central focus will remain on our customers and attention for our employees, all in conjunction with our growing social responsibility.
Employees
From our origin as a family-owned business, we continue to focus on our employees, by paying permanent attention to their safety, health, career prospects and mutual engagement. Unica is now one of the 200 largest companies in the Netherlands and we enjoy a solid reputation. To realise our ambitions, we wish to become even more attractive and more visible for (potential) employees, both inside and outside the technical sector. We intend to boost our awareness among others via a new ‘working at’ website and new recruitment initiatives.
Customers
Unica works to deliver a safe, healthy and sustainable future for our customers and for future generations. We are happy to work for customers who also underwrite the importance of these three key topics for society. Our society is in a transition phase, in which for certain activities, huge advances will have to be achieved over the coming years in improving sustainability, if we are to avoid burdening future generations. Based on our in-depth specialist knowledge, we can help customers with a clear desire to achieve sustainability in realising this shared ambition.
Business Services
Business Services is primarily responsible for coordinating a series of central improvement processes aimed at further boosting the professionalisation of the organisation at Unica. Business Services act as a Centre of Excellence that makes specific knowledge available to all our companies. The economies of scale that result from combining these support activities mean that as a group of companies, we continue to comply with all relevant legislation and regulations. The centralised nature of these services helps us further professionalise and increase the efficiency of our operations. As such, these Business Services play an important role in the optimum customer journey, and are the driving forces behind digitalisation.
Innovation and digitalisation
Innovation and digitalisation are the building blocks that support the rollout of our strategy for the coming years. They play a vital role in our integrated approach and sustainability ambitions. Based on the technology and knowledge available to us in-house, we are in an ideal position to deliver a meaningful contribution to the energy transition and the digital evolution taking place in our customers’ businesses. We already have access to the necessary components to deliver this level of digitalisation, and are currently making real progress in the field of system and chain integration, so that in these areas, too, we will be able to make a positive contribution to the chain.
End-to-end solutions
We plan to operate increasingly in multidisciplinary teams to relieve the concerns of our customers, in which we will use data to deliver added value. End-to-end solutions in which aspects of sustainability play a role will be a spearhead for the coming years. Among others this will be expressed in the further establishment of a sustainable development team, which will bring together services from various clusters to achieve a more sustainable energy supply, to reinforce our position on the market and our role in the energy transition, and to enhance our sustainability efforts. We intend to make optimum use of our innovative capacity in the form of joint propositions, while retaining the individual entrepreneurship offered by the more than 45 companies that make up our network.
Growth expectation
The results for 2023 reveal that with its solid foundations, Unica is less susceptible to economic difficulties such as high inflation or geopolitical tensions. Once again in the years to come, we expect to achieve revenue growth of between 10 and 15%, thanks to our inherent stability. Half of this growth should be autonomous and the remaining half will be realised through mergers and acquisitions. Steady growth and a healthy rate of return in excess of 10% will remain a spearhead in our strategy.
Summary
Over the past few years, Unica has developed from a contractor to a partner and advisor on issues of sustainable technological development. Starting from this stronger position in the chain, we are in an excellent position to further expand to become a leading technical service provider capable of bringing about a safe, healthy and sustainable future for and with our customers.
We are proud and grateful for the confidence once again shown in us by our customers, in 2023. This would never have been possible without the efforts and enthusiasm of our employees, for which they deserve our heartfelt appreciation. We also express our gratitude to the Supervisory Board, the management, the Joint Works Council and all other stakeholders. We look forward to furthering the success of Unica, together with you all.
Hoevelaken, 26 April and 1 May 2024
John Quist, CEO (middle)
Ron van Laar, CFO (right)
Debby Slofstra, COO (left)
