Century-old engineering and environmental consulting company, Jeffares & Green on Tuesday announced that it would be changing its name to JG Afrika in an effort to renew its brand to better reflect the company’s goals and strategies.

“The brand development process started with the appointment of brand specialists. A strategic session was held and, after some collaboration, naming options were presented. After much hard work, research and an inclusive staff voting process, JG Afrika was chosen,”  said marketing and communications manager Charmagne Denny.

This was a carefully selected name, designed to represent the company’s identity while maintaining its African roots. “The inclusion of ‘JG’ symbolises the company’s acknowledgement of and appreciation for its history, while ‘Afrika’ denotes the company’s independence and its love for the continent. It is a nod to the African way of spelling ‘Africa’,” says Denny.

The company’s new corporate identity, which will be launched in April 2016, draws on designs of the past and the company’s ethos of dedication, community benefit and environmental protection.

“The name ‘Jeffares and Green’ has served us well for nearly 100 years and we will certainly continue to pay homage to our distinct history. However, the time has come to look to the future and align our corporate identity with our diverse, modern and highly-skilled workforce. We sincerely enjoyed the process of evaluating naming options and involving our valued staff – after all, our success is built on their strengths,” says Jeffares & Green MD Paul Olivier.

“While this is an incredibly exhilarating time for J&G, we assure the industry that we remain the same professional, knowledgeable and independent organisation; our name and brand changing does not alter the spirit of the company, but rather enriches it. We look forward to providing another century of experience, quality and integrity as JG Afrika. Sihluma kunye – we develop together.”

JLS Jeffares founded a consultancy in 1922,and was joined by Hal Green in 1927. They became partners in 1947 and the name Jeffares & Green became synonymous with professional engineering that never compromised on quality.

Throughout its existence, the company has progressed and evolved, keeping pace with fluctuations in demand, the industry and customer requirements. To maintain momentum for continuous development, the shareholders made a bold decision at the end of 2015 to rename and rebrand the company to better align the name and the brand with its areas of operation – the African continent. Management also wished to align the brand with the firm’s strategy to remain a proudly South African-owned company.