In the previous two articles about Hrdlička, we focused on the years 1991 to 2010. In the third decade, the company has already established its position on the market and can think about what other services could be offered to customers. Thanks to information technology, the company is developing into a geomatics company.
The third decade is also marked by the collection of awards and the establishment or purchase of shares in companies whose activities would complement surveying services. In 2015, the subtitle "Geodesy in Context" appears under the company logo for the first time and Hrdlička Holding is established.
In 2010, the company was noticed by Ernst & Young consultants and the jury awarded Martin Hrdlička the title of Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 for the region of Prague and Central Bohemia.
In 2015, Equa bank awarded Hrdlička third place in the Family Business of the Year competition. A year later, the company was a finalist in the regional round of the Vodafone Company of the Year competition. And in 2019, in the Egovernment magazine competition, the company won a special award together with the Vysočina Region for the project Expression on the existence of networks through the Citizen Portal.
Thanks to the creation of the Hrdlička Holding Group and the handover of the daily management of the companies to the managing directors, Martin Hrdlička has gained more peace of mind and more time for non-profit activities.
In 2014, the non-profit organization Horizon HG 2014 was founded, through which he supports various interesting projects, active youth, talented students who otherwise do not have the opportunity to get a quality education.
The main projects also include St. Ludmila 1100 years or Protecting Water in Africa or the renovation of an Art Nouveau villa in Česká Lípa, which serves as a cultural and educational center. Martin Hrdlička was awarded the prize for his contribution to society by the Mayor of Česká Lípa.
In cooperation with Intelis, which is a major software developer for Hrdlička, the WaterReport service for remote monitoring of water resources in Ethiopia and EMS for issuing and receiving construction documents for EG.D.
However, the most significant joint project is the IS-PD solution for maintaining operational documentation for the CEPS and the UtilityReport service for bulk creation and dispatch of requests for comments on the existence of networks to technical infrastructure entities.
Hrdlička Holding also includes other companies. HRDLIČKA - SLOVAKIA provides geodetic services on the Slovak market. Geocart deals with landscape engineering and land development design. HG elektro specializes in comprehensive electrical design services. GEODATA Ukraine and GEODATA Polska create documentation using modern technologies and GEOSTAR is a company focused on engineering-geological surveys of buildings.
In August 2019, Martin Hrdlicka officially said goodbye to his father Miroslav, who retired at the age of 89.
On this occasion, Martin Hrdlička wrote that "we dreamt up the joint company during the deep communist totalitarianism, when any private initiative was suppressed, not to mention private ownership of the means of production, as the comrades called it. Then came the Velvet Revolution and suddenly what we had planned was possible. A miracle! Even though we had virtually no input capital, nor did we get back any property stolen by the Bolsheviks, we were mentally ready to begin. I was 25 at the time and my father was almost 60. First, Dad set up a business in early 1990 and I quit my job as a construction manager within a year."
Throughout its third decade, Hrdlicka has been constantly innovating. In 2011 it starts offering property documentation, in 2013 it's electrical design and construction engineering.
In 2015, the company added laser scanning and photogrammetry to its services, thanks to which the first 3D models of buildings began to emerge. In 2020, BIM - Building Information Modeling - was also added to the portfolio and will play a significant role in geomatics and the construction industry in the years to come.
Apart from the downturn in 2013-2014, when the reverberations of the global economic crisis arrived belatedly in the construction industry, and thus also in geodesy, Hrdlička Holding has been growing steadily, and in the financial year 2020, the Group's turnover climbed to over CZK 325 million.
However, according to the development so far, it seems that this growth is far from over and Martin Hrdlicka's original idea of a stable family company has clearly been surpassed.
