Supervisory Board Meetings

The Supervisory Board convenes on a regular basis to monitor the overall performance and developments of the company. Additional Supervisory Board meetings are scheduled if and when required to discuss strategic, transactional and governance matters. In 2023, the Supervisory Board held 4 regular meetings that were attended by all the members of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board. Topics discussed included People Strategy, the operational performance and financial results, and the implementation and execution of the Stronger25 strategy. The Supervisory Board was pleased to see the M&A strategy was further aligned with the strategy. During 2023 various potential acquisitions were considered but for various reasons none of these materialised in 2023. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board have spent considerable time finalising the transfer of Royal HaskoningDHV’s South African operations to an independent locally owned organisation as from 2024 onwards. Royal HaskoningDHV will remain a minority shareholder. The management buy-out of InterVISTAS was successfully completed in March 2023. 

Deep Dive sessions allowed in-depth review and discussion on the markets Light Industry, Tunnels & Structures and on Artificial Intelligence in June and October 2023. The Supervisory Board discussed with the Executive Board the way forward for the business line Digital on several occasions. With the repositioning of the Business Unit Software and the re-assessment of the Digital strategy, the Supervisory Board is confident that Royal HaskoningDHV will achieve its ambitions in that respect.

The Supervisory Board was delighted to attend project visits to ENCI quarry, Chemelot-site and several projects in the centre of Maastricht on October 11, 2023, and Schiphol Airport on September 14, 2023. They provided a good insight of the variety of projects carried out by Royal HaskoningDHV, as well as the enthusiasm and commitment of employees who accompanied the Supervisory Board during the visits. Various members of the Supervisory Board visited the future office in Delft during the year to watch the progress of the renovation. It will be the first listed building in the Netherlands that will be Paris Proof.

In addition to the regular Supervisory Board meetings, informal meetings between the members of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board took place. Every month there have been bilateral meetings between the Chair of the Supervisory Board and the CEO. Furthermore, a delegation of the Supervisory Board participated in meetings with the Boards of Stichting HaskoningDHV and Stichting Administratiekantoor HaskoningDHV.

A delegation of the Supervisory Board met several times with the Dutch Works Council to discuss the general course of events and developments within the company in an open and constructive dialogue. The quality, content and outcome of these meetings is highly appreciated by the Supervisory Board.

Committees

The Supervisory Board has two long-standing committees: the Audit Committee and the Remuneration and Appointment Committee. The function of these committees is to prepare the decision-making for the full Supervisory Board. The full Supervisory Board retains overall responsibility for the activities of its committees.

Audit Committee

The primary role of the Audit Committee (AC) is to support the Executive Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities in matters such as the integrity of financial reporting, the effectiveness of the risk management framework and system of internal controls. The AC is also responsible for assessing the quality of the audit performed by the external independent auditor and, moreover, makes a recommendation to the Executive Board on the appointment or reappointment of the external independent auditor. In addition, the AC oversees the work and quality of the internal audit role.

In 2023, the AC consisted of Rob Zandbergen (Chair) and Daan Sperling. The AC convened on five occasions with the company’s management. All AC meetings are including the internal and external independent auditors.

In 2023, the AC reviewed the annual financial statements, including non-financial information, the quarterly financial results, the extended business analysis, as well as the outcomes of the year-end audits. Other topics on the agenda were the annual plan, cash management and working capital, tax policies, pensions, risk management, CSRD reporting, and developments in ICT and ICT security. In addition, the external independent auditor’s audit plan, audit report and management letter were discussed. Furthermore, the performance and independence of the external independent auditor was discussed.

Remuneration and Appointment Committee

The Remuneration and Appointment Committee (RemCo) consists of Francine Roelofsen-van Dierendonck (Chair), Peter Blauwhoff and Louisa van den Broek who was appointed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in 2023. She succeeded Angelique Paulussen-Hoogakker who stepped down at the AGM in 2023. The RemCo advises the Supervisory Board in relation to its responsibilities with respect to the remuneration and the composition of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, and corporate governance developments. In 2023, the committee convened on four occasions for scheduled meetings. The RemCo had the following topics on the agenda: succession planning at Royal HaskoningDHV, the remuneration of the Executive Board, Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy, the results of the employee engagement survey, the compensation and benefits programme. The RemCo also prepared the appointment of Marije Hulshof as CEO and the change of Erik Oostwegel’s position from CEO to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), effective April 4, 2023. Furthermore, the RemCo worked on the succession of Peter Blauwhoff who will step down at the end of his third term at the AGM in 2024.