Europe should be proud of its thriving environmental economy. The continent boasts a series of national champions, from Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola, to Danish wind company Vestas.

And behind these iconic companies, there is a myriad of enabling businesses quietly helping the continent address and mitigate its impact on the environment.

One such firm is Dutch environmental consultancy and engineering company Grontmij, which is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. Grontmij provides services across the continent in the environment, water and energy sectors; building and industry; and transport infrastructure. After a series of acquisitions, it is now one of the top five environmental consultancies in the region.

Grontmij has successfully balanced being a both a multinational and a local player. The company has a local office in almost every country it operates in. As such it has developed strong local networks and managed to forge long-term relationships with its clients.

At the same time, the company has European scope and detailed knowledge of the latest EU directives, which is something that no other local provider can boast.

Importantly, Grontmij’s clients are primarily governments, which should protect it somewhat against any economic downturn; state spending persists long after private investment dries up. Its business with private clients is largely recurring, so the company will not be forced to try to win new business in a tricky economic climate.

Equally significantly, most of Grontmij’s contracts also tend to be long-term, meaning it can already account for much of the revenue for both this year and next.

Demands on Grontmij should remain robust, as EU countries strive towards targets to source 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. In May, Grontmij announced two renewable projects: it is part of a consortium commissioned by Bionerga to design and build a waste-to-energy plant in Belgium; meanwhile, Munich public services have engaged the company to manage the engineering and control of Germany’s largest geothermic power station.

Elsewhere, Grontmij’s expertise will become increasingly valuable for polluters seeking to avoid ever more punitive measures imposed by their governments.

The company has a healthy balance sheet even after a series of acquisitions it has made over the past year. Notably, it bought UK sustainable building consultants Roger Preston & Partners, which fits comfortably with the group’s building businesses across Europe, and broadens its scope to offer higher value services and boost margins.

Grontmij has traded at a discount to its peers for some time, partly because of a lack of communication with investors, which has recently been resolved.

The shares, however, are still trading on just 11 times this year’s earnings, dropping to 10 times next year. As the company starts to integrate its recent acquisitions, its valuation is likely to rise dramatically

UK rival RPS Group watched its shares climb from around 150p in 2005 to nearly 400p (€5) at the end of last year, and is now trading on around 20 times forward earnings. It is thought that Grontmij could do the same. The icing on the cake is an attractive dividend yield of around 6.5%.

So, to the business of physically making money. Listed on the London stock exchange, De La Rue prints banknotes in around 150 countries, a lucrative business according to its latest set of full-year results.

Perhaps surprisingly, demand for new banknotes is growing as notes are replaced more frequently in order to be delivered fresh from ATMs. Central banks are also increasingly demanding more security features on their notes, which means higher value work for De La Rue.

There are still countries that print money in-house, but the trend is towards outsourcing the process. De La Rue is thus in an enviable position to win those contracts, particularly in Europe, where it already prints euros from several member states. Barriers to entering the market are understandably very high. De La Rue, with its 200-year history, has little to fear from entrepreneurial upstarts.

Elsewhere, the company deals in security products for passports and holograms for high-end branded goods. This business has been bolstered by mounting fears over identity theft and counterfeiting.

De La Rue is currently in the process of selling its cash systems business, which could bring in anything between €380m and €500m. The company’s management says that it intends to return some of the proceeds to investors by means of a special dividend of €200m. On top of that, the stock yields a healthy 4%.

The shares have risen from around 400p in 2005 to nearly £10 (€12) earlier this year, but it would be a brave investor who calls the top of this particular rally.