RSK Group acquires STATS environmental agency

25 January 2008

RSK Group has acquired 130-person environmental consultancy and building materials authority STATS, further underlining its ambition to become a leading company for “one-stop-shop” environmental support services.

It is the latest development in a strategic expansion programme that saw RSK acquire six companies in 2007 and ‘building envelope’ consultancy and testing company Building Sciences on 16 January 2008.
RSK is now resolutely the UK’s largest privately owned environmental consultancy and one of the fastest growing in Europe, having increased both staff and turnover by over 50% in the last 12 months. It currently has 880 staff across 39 worldwide locations.

Formed in 1974, STATS initially focused on structural investigations and associated materials consultancy – rising to prominence as Britain’s motorway expansion programme peaked during the 1970s and 1980s– before diversifying to offer a range of environmental services.

It has provided input to such headline-grabbing projects as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (on-site materials testing, advice and inspections of pre-cast concrete, steel and coatings), the M74 Carlisle to Glasgow motorway (comprehensive on-site materials testing and advice) and Europe’s largest retail development, Bluewater Retail Park. *

STATS managing director Fergus Collie said: “Companies are changing the way they procure services and we needed to adapt to that. We are an open-minded, innovative company, but our size was restricting our opportunities further up the ‘food chain’.

This deal will take both STATS and RSK to the next level. Both companies have capabilities that the other does not and, while many of our services overlap, there is little overlap in terms of our client bases. Together we make a formidable team."

Not only does STATS bring with it expertise in entirely new areas (structural investigation, testing and consultancy for buildings and civils structures and building acoustics) but it also significantly enhances mainstay RSK services such as ground engineering and remediation (among other things, through its cutting edge geophysical survey capability), environmental impact assessment (undertaken principally in the property sector, a growing market for RSK in this respect) and laboratory analysis (STATS are rock and concrete petrography experts and run the pioneering Centre For Stone and Slate Technology).
Furthermore, the addition of 30 asbestos experts and over two decades of company experience will transform RSK into one of the largest and most experienced asbestos risk management providers in the UK. Both companies also have dedicated Legionella risk assessment teams.

RSK Group chairman Dr Alan Ryder commented: “This the second largest acquisition in RSK’s history and represents a major statement of intent for us moving forward. We’ve strengthened our capabilities across the board and brought in services that we have never had before. STATS will be instrumental to our continued growth and success.”