RPS Leads the UK Environmental Consultancy Market

We are number one on the Top 34 list compiled by market analysts¹. RPS leads the Top 34 of the UK Environmental Consultancy market – a high-profile group of leading consultancies whose revenue accounts for more than two-thirds of total market revenues. The market has seen year on year growth increases of 1.9%, 3.1% and 5.6% consecutively between 2011 and 2013.

Around 14% of the Top 34's revenue from last available FY figures (FY2013/14) relates to projects and/or clients outside of the UK with a 5.8% increase in revenue from regulated industries – led especially by the oil & gas and nuclear sectors.

The top five firms in the Top 34 ranking account for almost 22.5% of the market. Land and water management makes up above half of the overall revenue for the Top 34 – more than 17% of which is environmental impact assessment (EIA) and sustainable development, nearly 15% is land remediation and contaminated land management, over 10% is ecology and landscape consultancy and 12% is water quality and resource management. Overall, the environmental consultancy sector is closing in on surpassing its 2008 sector peak of £1.56bn.

As well as an increase in new development, there is an increasing trend in residential conversion from other existing buildings, aided by recent Government incentives.

“The past 18 months has seen mergers between many of our competitors as they vie for market position yet RPS remains at the forefront” says RPS Technical Director Henry Bonham who specialises in environmental management “Growth has in particular been seen in housebuilding extending across the UK providing work streams for a wide range of our services and RPS is already in position to play leading environmental roles on some of the most significant of the national infrastructure projects such as Gatwick Airport expansion and key motorway projects such as M4 and M8.”

“Over the past year or so, RPS has experienced an uplift in EIA and planning work for major housebuilders, including those with historical masterplans which are now being remodelled to meet current market demands” explains planning professional RPS Senior Director David Thomson “The Government-backed 'Garden Cities' initiative also provides significant opportunities for RPS in the future, whilst the emergence of Private Rental Sector (PRS) market together with the rapid increase in residential tall buildings in City centres such as London, is helping to fuel the demand for our integrated planning, environmental and sustainability services.”

¹ UK Market Assessment Final Data report compiled by Environment Analyst Dec. 2014.