AFRY logotype Search Global Menu Breadcrumb Home About us History History Facebook Linkedin Twitter Over 125 years of Making Future The first Swedish steam-pipe association was founded in Malmö on February 23, 1895, under the name of The Southern Swedish Steam Generator Association (Ångpanneförenigen). The main task was to perform regular inspections on the safety of steam boilers to help prevent industrial accidents. From working with steam power we have been part of several major technological shifts over the years, including electricity, automation and digitalisation. Progress since 1895 2020 We celebrated 125 years as a company. 2019 ÅF acquires Pöyry PLC and are now one combined company – AFRY 2018 ÅF makes a public tender offer on all Pöyry’s shares. 2017 ÅF acquires Vatten & Miljöbyrån, CECON, Koncept Stockholm, Eitech’s automation business, Light Bureau and InUse. Jonas Gustavsson assumes the position of new CEO. New strategy launched – Future ÅF. 2016 ÅF aquires Erstad&Lekven Oslo, Alteco, Edy Toscano in Switzerland, Reinertsen’s Swedish infrastructure, construction and installations operation, and merged with Reinertsen in Norway. The company is now a total of 8,000 great employees. 2015 ÅF aquires LeanNova, PRC, EQC Group and LEB consult, and merges with Reinertsen and now has the capacity and competence of a total of 7,500 highly skilled co-workers. 2014 ÅF acquires nine other business combinations in Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, including ES-KONSULT Energi och Säkerhet AB in Sweden and Xact Consultance AS in Norway, with a combined total of 219 employees. The Russian subsidiary ZAO Lonas Technologia is divested during the year. 2013 ÅF acquires a total of 13 business combinations, including Kåre Hagen AS and Hjertnes Byggrådgivning AS in Norway and Konfem AB, Teknogram AB, Connect Konsult AB and Ljusarkitektur Sweden AB in Sweden, with a combined total of 167 employees. 2012 ÅF acquires the Norwegian project management company Advansia with around 120 employees. ÅF and Epsilon merge and form an engineering and consulting company with about 7,000 employees. 2011 ÅF acquires the Czech engineering and consulting company CityPlan with about 70 employees, active mainly in infrastructure consulting. 2010 ÅF sells its shareholding in ÅF-Kontroll to Dekra in a step to realign the Group as Europe’s leading engineering and consulting company. A number of acquisitions are carried out, including the acquisition of energy and management consulting firm Mercados Energy Markets International (about 60 employees), Energo AB (about 300 employees) and consulting operations of the City of Gothenburg’s highways and traffic management department, Göteborgs Gatuaktiebolag (about 100 employees). 2008 AB Ångpanneföreningen changes its name to ÅF AB. 2007 As part of realigning the Process division, ÅF-CTS Oy and AF Chleq Froté S.A. are divested. Shortly thereafter, ÅF acquires the Swiss energy consulting firm Colenco AG with 250 employees in Europe and Asia. 2006 Three larger acquisitions were carried out: Ingemansson Technology (acoustics and vibrations), Enprima (energy) and Benima (automation and industrial IT). ÅF divests ÅF-Data. 2004 ÅF acquires the Finnish company CTS Engineering Oy with about 260 employees. In line with its strategy to realign operations in order to establish ÅF as a consulting company, six office buildings are sold and one year later, the head office in Stockholm is sold, marking the sale of the last of the company-owned real estate. 2002 Jonas Wiström assumes the position of new CEO. Twenty-something subsidiaries merge to form five divisions with about 2,300 employees. 1999 Pöyry acquires the rest of Electrowatt Engineering AG. 1998 ÅF acquires a majority shareholding in ISO Swedish Management Group, which carries out highly qualified consulting and education operations, primarily within the aid-financed sector. The company, which has about 20 employees, changes its name to ÅF-Swedish Management Group and, together with SIFU, forms the business area Education and Management. ÅF-Rateko acquires P-Electronic which develops and manufactures turnkey plant, primarily for automatic measuring and control systems. The company has a dozen or so employees. ÅF-VVS Projekt acquires HE-Konsult in Uppsala, which has just under 10 employees working with consulting for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and sanitation projects. ÅF becomes a part-owner of Proinstall in Warsaw, Poland. Proinstall works in the energy and district heating sector and has about 10 employees. ÅF acquires the electrical and HVAC and sanitation consulting business of WO-Konsult. The company's 40 or so employees are transferred either to ÅF-Elteknik or to ÅF-VVS Projekt. ÅF-BOAB merges with ÅF-RNK, which is retained as the name of the new company. 1997 ÅF's Gothenburg-based electrical consulting companies, ÅF-Gothia and El- och Hissprojekt merge into a single company, ÅF-Elprojekt. This creates positive synergies in terms of competitive strength and contacts with the market. All ÅF employees in the Gothenburg region - a total of more than 250 consultants - move into shared premises in the School of Navigation building in the centre of the city. ÅF-Industriteknik takes over operations of the computer consulting company PRIMO AB, which has about ten employees. ÅF acquires a minority stake in the education and training company SIFU with about 70 employees. This paves the way for a sixth business area in the ÅF Group - Education. The umbrella organisation ÅF-International is set up to coordinate and expand ÅF's expertise for taking on assignments funded by international donors in developing countries. The IT Council and the ÅF Environmental Council are established. These serve as forums for the entire ÅF Group to deal with IT issues and the coordination and development of the Group's environmental work. All ÅF employees are offered the opportunity to take a small reduction in salary in order to be given access to a computer in their home. No less than 80 percent of employees accept the offer. ÅF purchases the office building in Norrköping which is the base for the consulting operations of approximately 100 ÅF employees. ÅF opens an Internet website and begins working on the construction of an ÅF intranet. The directors of AB Ångpanneföreningen vote to change the company's policy with regard to shareholders' dividends: henceforward share dividends shall, over the long term, correspond to approximately 50 percent of the Group's consolidated profit after tax. The board of directors also declare their ambition to endeavour to keep the Group's equity/assets ratio within the 40-45 percent interval over the long term. Pöyry acquires 49% of a Swiss engineering and consulting company Electrowatt Engineering AG, strengthening Pöyry’s position in the growing energy, infrastructure and environmental markets. Pöyry is listed in Helsinki Stock Exchange. 1996 ÅF acquires a minority shareholding in the forest industry consulting company QPS Consultants in England and the Norwegian electrical consultants Nielsen & Borge, each of which add a further 20 to 30 employees to the company workforce. ÅF-Data announces the market introduction of PX Control, a new financial and project accounting system for service industry companies. The Annual General Meeting votes in favour of a 1:2 bonus issue. Towards the end of the year the Ångpanneföreningen Foundation for Research & Development Forskningsstiftelse acquired all Sydkraft's class "A" shares in ÅF. At the same time the Foundation declares its intention to redesignate a significant number of class "A" shares early in 1997 and, over the long term, to dispose of its class "B" shares, in order to increase the liquidity in the ÅF share. ÅF sponsors the Swedish Ornithological Society's Project. 1995 A new business area - Testing & Inspections - is established, and the subsidiary ÅF-Kontroll commences operations. The following subsidiaries change their names. RNK-Installationskonsult to ÅF-RNK Bernt Olsson VVS-byrå to ÅF-BOAB ÅF-Industrins Processkonsult to ÅF-IPK The abbreviated form ÅFORSK is henceforward to be replaced by the full name Ångpanneföreningens Forskningsstiftelse (the Ångpanneföreningen Foundation for Research & Development). ÅF-VVS Projekt is transferred from ÅF-Energikonsult Stockholm to become a subsidiary of AB Ångpanneföreningen. ÅF-IPK opens an office in Helsinki, Finland. ÅF-RNK acquires the HVAC and sanitation consulting company SWETEC Konsult, which has about 20 employees. SWETEC's Managing Director Stefan Pettersson becomes Managing Director for ÅF-RNK. ÅF-Energikonsult Stockholm acquires ERGOS Ingenjörsbyrå in Borlänge with around a dozen employees. ÅF-Industriteknik purchases Toolcad i Borås which employs around a dozen consultants with expertise in plastics. Project leader training begins under the aegis of ÅF-Skolan. Centennial Celebrations 1995 ÅF celebrates its 100th Jubilee and reports new record-breaking earnings. The Group is now in an expansive phase and adds a further 370 new recruits to its payroll. The jubilee is celebrated with an array of different activities for both co-workers and clients, shareholders and other stakeholders. On 23 February, the company's 100th birthday, a commemorative plaque is unveiled on the facade of the building in Malmö, close to the city's Savoy Hotel, where "The Southern Swedish Steam Generator Association" was formed in 1895. In August the "Party of the Century" gets underway in Frösundavik, Stockholm, for ÅF employees and their partners - 2,300 people in all! The ice-breaker Sankt Erik sails the length of the Swedish coast, stopping to welcome clients on board in some 15 Swedish harbours. The National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm arranges a jubilee exhibition to mark the occasion. The centennial celebrations culminate in September with a seminar on the environment at the National Museum of Science and Technology, at which His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden presents the first of the newly established prizes for technical education and the dissemination of technical knowledge awarded by the Ångpanneföreningen Foundation for Research & Development. The first prizewinners are Thomas Welander and Anders Axelsson, both doctors of technology at Lund University. 1994 ÅF-Industriteknik acquires Inometer which forms a technical unit within the business area focusing on communication technology. Ångpanneföreningen's Foundation for Research & Development makes changes to its ownership of AB Ångpanneföreningen, which result in a 30.1 percent shareholding and 54.1 percent of the voting rights. ÅF records its best ever financial result. 1993 In May 1993 the seven offices of the subsidiary ÅF-Elteknik in northern Sweden are merged with the subsidiary Swed.Project Engineering (SPEAB) to create a single company, ÅF-SPEAB. Enomic ceases trading as a subsidiary and becomes a local office in Örebro for RNK Installationskonsult. Operations in ÅF-Formkonsult are transferred to ÅF-Industriteknik's office Linköping. The prolonged recession begins to relax its grip and, despite serious first-half losses for ÅF, the result for the year as a whole shows a slight profit. Pöyry makes a strategic decision to expand to new sectors: energy, infrastructure and environment. As a result, Pöyry acquires Energia-Ekono Ltd and Maa ja Vesi Ltd which become part of the company’s energy, infra and environment operations. 1992 At the start of the year ÅF-Energikonsult Syd acquires the Gothenburg-based energy and process technology consultants PPA Konsult with 35 employees, and changes its name to ÅF-PPA. When ÅF's competitor NLK-Celpap is declared bankrupt in March, ÅF acquires parts of the Swedish business. Around 100 former NLK-Celpap employees are offered jobs with ÅF as part of an acquisition that adds greatly to the Group's strengths in recycled fibres and paper technology. Later in the year ÅF SIKOB is acquired by AB Jacobson & Widmark, as part of a settlement in a disagreement between the two companies. Operations in ATR-Informationsteknik are sold to the company's employees. During the year a representation office is opened in Warsaw, Poland. 1991 As the new year begins, the commission agreement between AB Ångpanneföreningen and its subsidiaries, ÅF-Elteknik, ÅF-Energikonsult Stockholm, ÅF-VVS Projekt, ÅF-Energikonsult Syd, ÅF-Creo Graphic and ÅF-Data comes to an end. From now on all ÅF subsidiaries will run their own businesses under the same conditions. Guidelines are formulated for a common graphic identity for all the companies in the ÅF Group. All ÅF subsidiaries introduce the ÅF symbol into their logotypes. ÅF-IPK signs a global cooperation agreement with the Canadian forest industry consulting company, H.A. Simons. ÅF-Industriteknik buys Alfredeen-Rako, increasing the size of the business area that deals with mechanical engineering and instruments from 140 employees to 350. ÅF-Rateko, ÅF-Formkonsult and ATR Informationsteknik become new subsidiaries to ÅF-Industriteknik. Sydkraft buys shares in AB Ångpanneföreningen from Investor and Providentia, making the Swedish electric power company the second largest owner in the company after the Ångpanneföreningen Foundation for Research & Development. The following subsidiaries change name: ÅF-Lenokonsult becomes ÅF-INR, Örebro Enomic Energi och Miljöteknik becomes Enomic, ÅF-VVS Projekt i Stockholm becomes ÅF-VVS Projekt. The autumn sees the start of a recession that is to prove to be the most severe that Swedish industry and commerce has seen since the end of World War 2. 1990 ÅF-Energikonsult Stockholm and ÅF Energikonsult Syd are created. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and sanitation consulting business is transferred from ÅF Energikonsult Stockholm to the newly formed ÅF-VVS Projekt. ÅF-Mandator is sold to the computer consulting group SAPIA. Transelectric is sold to the Finnish power company Imatran Voima OY. ÅF-Elteknik buys Gothia Elektrokonsult with 50 employees and Gothia Elkonsult Jan Fransson with 10 employees. El- och Hissprojekt buys Curt Ekbladh Elkonsult with 10 employees. RNK buys Bernt Olsson VVS-byrå with 30 employees. 1989 Ångpanneföreningen's Foundation for Research & Development offers ÅF employees the opportunity to purchase call options, which may be converted into class "B" shares in AB Ångpanneföreningen up to and including 8 July 1994. Gunnar Grönkvist is appointed as Managing Director of AB Ångpanneföreningen following the Annual General Meeting on 21 April. ÅF begins to streamline operations in order to strengthen the technical consulting business which forms the core of the Group's activities. ÅF-IPK acquires the consulting company Hevac with 100 employees. ÅF-Industriteknik buys 3K Engineering (approx. 20 employees) from the Pomona Group. 1988 ÅF-Mandator is formed by the merger between the two subsidiaries AR-Bolaget and the Plandata Group. ABB Atom takes over AB Ångpanneföreningen's remaining 50 percent interest in ÅF-TRC. AB Ångpanneföreningen sets up ÅF-Industriteknik AB to work with mechanical construction projects, automation and electronics. This leads to the creation of a totally new area of technical consulting expertise within ÅF - mechanical and electronic engineering. ÅF-INR (then ÅF-Lenokonsult) becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of AB Ångpanneföreningen. RNK Installationskonsult AB buys all the shares in Örebro Enomic Energi och Miljöteknik AB (Enomic). 1987 The company continues to invest in management and computer consulting with the purchase of the Plandata Group. ÅF acquires a 50 percent share in the contracting company Transelectric. 1986 AB Ångpanneföreningen is introduced on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company's shares are quoted on the A:II list for the first time on 12 June. ÅF acquires the management and computer consulting company AR-Bolaget. A 50 percent stake in the ÅF subsidiary ÅF-TRC is sold to what has today become ABB Atom. 1984 In a move aimed at broadening ownership in the company, AB Ångpanneföreningen offers all ÅF employees the opportunity to take advantage of a convertible bond offer. The investment companies AB Investor and Förvaltnings AB Providentia buy a 35 percent stake of the association's holding in AB Ångpanneföreningen. As part of the preparations for the planned introduction of AB Ånpanneföreningen's shares on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's A:II list plans are made for a new share issue towards the end of 1985. 1983 ÅF-Elteknik AB, ÅF-Energi-konsult AB and ÅF-Data AB are created after a reorganisation in the parent company. AB Ångpanneföreningen takes over the consulting company Swed.Project Engineering AB (SPEAB) in Sundsvall. 1981 The consulting business is transferred from the cooperative association to the newly formed joint stock company, AB Ångpanneföreningen. ÅF-Industrins Processkonsult (ÅF-IPK) is set up to offer technical consulting services to the process industry. 1980’s Pöyry’s expansion in Europe and rest of the world continues. Subsidiaries established in USA, South East Asia and Australia. 1977 The Swedish government nationalises inspection operations for pressure vessels, lifts and elevators and lifting equipment. Almost 300 ÅF co-workers are transferred to the state-owned inspection body, AB Statens Anläggningsprovning. Electrical inspection work remains with ÅF. 1971 Electrical installations consultant RNK Installationskonsult AB is bought by ÅF and becomes a wholly owned subsidiary. 1970’s Pöyry becomes one of the world’s largest independent engineering and consulting companies in forest industry. The company is awarded with its first significant pulp mill project assignment in Brazil, resulting in expanding to South America. 1964 "The Southern Swedish Steam Generator Association" and "The Central and Northern Swedish Steam Generator Association" merge to form Ångpanneförening (ÅF), which covers the whole of Sweden. ÅF registers the company AB Energikonsult, and subsequently carries out most of ÅF's consulting assignments outside Sweden under that name. ÅF buys the Karlstad-based engineering consultants AB Ingenjörsbyrån Everth Persson, which becomes a wholly owned subsidiary under the name El- och Hissprojekt AB. 1960’s Nordic process industry expands heavily, a lot of demand for related engineering and consulting services. Pöyry establishes its Stockholm office, company’s first office outside Finland in 1962. New offices also e.g. in France and UK. Pöyry’s management consulting business established in 1966. 1958 Jaakko Pöyry establishes Pöyry. First assigment: pulp mill in Äänekoski, Finland, soon followed by Fiskeby pulp mill in Fiskeby, Sweden. 1910 The two associations expand the range of their operations to include the inspection of electrical installations by employing duly qualified inspectors authorised by the insurance companies. 1901 ÅF's first environmental consultant, Emil Spetz, was hired. 1897 "The Central and Northern Swedish Steam Generator Association" is formed in Stockholm and the association's inspectors begin to carry out their first consulting assignments. 1895 Sweden's first industrial association to take care of the interests of the owners of steam generators and other pressure vessels is founded in Malmö on 23 February 1895. It is given the name "The Southern Swedish Steam Generator Association" and its main task is to perform frequent checks on the safety of steam generators, etc. to help prevent industrial accidents. About us AFRY is an international engineering, design and advisory company. 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