Linesight – a company with Irish roots and locations around the world – has made Hessen a stepping stone in its European expansion. It is using Frankfurt as the German headquarters for its highly specialized consulting services, which optimize construction projects for a variety of sophisticated sectors. The company’s extremely attractive surroundings and the broad-based support it has received are key factors in its success.
A special corporate culture meets an innovative location
Linesight’s Frankfurt office makes a statement: they’re in the heart of the city, between freshly built skyscrapers and its main shopping miles, which is an important location factor for the company. The global construction consultant’s choice shows that such prime downtown locations are still hot properties, despite the trend towards working from home. “We opened our first office in Frankfurt in 2021 and had to move to larger premises just two years later as our workforce grew and we acquired new projects. A city-center location was one of our top priorities, since it gives us very good links to the main station and to the airport. This means we can get to our client sites quickly and they can also visit us easily. The location also offers our staff – who often spend long periods on site at projects – an extremely attractive base with a large number of restaurants, bars, and leisure activities close by. This makes for optimum team building opportunities, a positive working environment, and a healthy work-life balance”, says Marc Sönnichsen, Linesight’s Director Life Sciences, explaining the decision to site their offices in central Frankfurt.
Founded in 1974, the company is headquartered in Dublin, and has over 1,550 staff in 35 office locations across Europe, the Americas, and APAC. Linesight is focused on maintaining it’s unique corporate culture as the company continues to scale, with its young team, flat hierarchies, and dynamic and agile working practices. Frankfurt plays a key role here: It serves as a stepping stone in Linesight’s expansion to Continental Europe – a strategy it has been ramping up for a number of years – and is also its main base for the company’s fast-growing German business.
We opened our first office in Frankfurt in 2021 and had to move to larger premises just two years later as our workforce grew and we acquired new projects.
Making construction projects faster and more efficient
Until recently, the company had a particularly strong presence in countries where its founding service, Quantity Surveying or Cost Management, was more widely recognized. Today Linesight combines a wide range of construction consulting services with strategic support for multiple sectors, and particularly for data centers, pharma and biotech plants, as well as semiconductor and high-tech manufacturing facilities. “For example, we support our clients in the areas of cost and project management, planning and scheduling, project controls, and supply chain management. Our goal, for all sectors, is to enhance construction project delivery, through cost efficiency, and improved control of schedules ”, explains Sönnichsen. “We work with some of the most innovative and well-known companies in the world to help them implement their construction projects, and have built a market-leading reputation with our project and program management services.”
Linesight first came to Germany in 2014, when a retail sector client asked for support with a project. In the years that followed, the company deployed specialized project teams on site to help clients build data centers. This remains one of Linesight’s core strategic areas to this day and led to the company focusing on Hessen. Frankfurt and the Rhein-Main region are Germany’s leading data center market, and one of the largest in Europe. The region is an important technology hub with a high density of fiber optic cables and home to DE-CIX, one of the world’s largest Internet exchange points. In addition, its position in the heart of Europe and the high-tech environment that comes with being a leading business location offer optimal conditions for companies from the sector.
We work with some of the most innovative and well-known companies in the world to help them implement their construction projects, and have built a market-leading reputation with our project and program management services.
A robust ecosystem and an important hub
Despite this, Linesight is planning to position itself even more broadly going forward. “Frankfurt will remain our number one location in Germany, flanked by the regional office in Berlin that we opened in 2024, and the office in Munich that we expect to open in 2025. We have ambitious plans to further expand our offering beyond the data center sector to pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and high-tech manufacturing,” says Michael Riordan, Senior Director, Europe, who was closely involved from the start in setting up the company’s German business. To date, the company has executed more than 50 projects worth a total of roughly EUR 5 billion in Germany.
Hessen’s central position wasn’t the only reason why it was the first choice for Linesight’s German headquarters. “The combination of the region’s openness to global markets and international enterprises and its innovative ecosystem makes it an ideal location for future-driven companies such as Linesight. There is a robust ecosystem of partners here, and the frequent flights and rail connections make it an ideal place to meet up, share information, and build partnerships.” states Michael Riordan.
The combination of the region’s openness to global markets and international enterprises and its innovative ecosystem makes it an ideal location for future-driven companies such as Linesight. There is a robust ecosystem of partners here, and the frequent flights and rail connections make it an ideal place to meet up, share information, and build partnerships.
Strong support as a key factor for long-term success
Support for Linesight’s establishment in Hessen came from Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government's business development agency. The Irish state also opened its first Consulate General in Continental Europe in Frankfurt in 2020, following Brexit. On the German side of things, Hessen Trade and Invest GmbH, Frankfurt Economic Development, and the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce also provided wide-ranging support for companies setting up shop in the center of Europe.
Linesight is basing its expansion on providing regional expertise, enabling it to offer optimal consulting services to clients on the ground and to react swiftly to changing client and market requirements. After all, it is not just the official regulations and standards that vary from country to country and global region to region; there are also cultural and interpersonal differences. “We are aiming to invest long-term in our German locations and are always looking for local staff to fill current and future positions in all sectors,“ underscores Andreas Zeus, Linesight’s Director High-Tech Manufacturing and continues : “Here, too, Hessen with its universities and higher education institutions, and its large, highly-qualified workforce offers us an ideal talent pool. Of course we are competing for staff with other employers. But our innovation-first approach and our unique corporate culture mean we are excellently positioned to do so.” And at the end of the day, Linesight can compete on soft factors as well – like its highly attractive working environment in the heart of the international city of Frankfurt.
We are aiming to invest long-term in our German locations and are always looking for local staff to fill current and future positions in all sectors. Here, too, Hessen with its universities and higher education institutions, and its large, highly-qualified workforce offers us an ideal talent pool.
