Recession's winners & losers in UK enviro consultancy

Research reveals which practices improved market position, which lost ground & deepest staff cuts

More than two-thirds of the UK’s leading environmental consulting (EC) practices reduced staff numbers in 2009 in response to recession, according to the latest sector analysis by Environment Analyst, 2010 Market Assessment of the UK Environmental Consulting Sector..

The biggest headcount reductions in response to recession were made by ERM, Waterman Energy Environment & Design and WYG Environment.

Only three of the top 32 firms identified in the report bucked the trend and expanded their UK EC teams last year. They are Aecom, Amec (Earth & Environmental) and Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), with the latter increasing its full-time equivalent staff numbers by almost 16%. PB was also one of the strongest performers in terms of revenue growth in 2009, achieving a double-digit increase against an overall UK EC market decline of 3.0%.

The total UK market for environmenal consultancy was valued at £1.36 billion last year (see Figure 1).

The report’s author Liz Trew comments: “It came as something of a shock to many environmental consultancy managers that their businesses were not as immune to recession - due to underlying legislative drivers - as they had hoped. While some have continued to perform extremely well, it pushed many of the larger firms to review their strategic direction and make difficult – in some cases long overdue - decisions that will ultimately see them emerge leaner, stronger and more efficient.”

Environment Analyst's report includes comparative analysis and in-depth profiles of each of the top 32 UK EC firms, whose combined revenues accounted for 71% of the environmental consultancy market in 2009. Company profiles reveal key staff and revenue figures, a breakdown of revenue by core service area and client sector, as well as Environment Analyst’s commentary on the business strategy, strengths, weaknesses and growth opportunities for each company.

Declining market share

Eleven of the top 32 practices suffered loss of market share during 2009 – including market leader RPS Group - while 16 firms were able to improve on their position. Rankings of the leading firms are shown in the table opposite.

Headline findings from Environment Analyst's report suggest that firms with significant revenue from the public sector were generally more resilient than those heavily reliant on the private sector in 2009. This is a situation likely to reverse in 2010 as the newly-elected UK government tightens its purse strings.

The data and conclusions presented in Environment Analyst's Market Assessment of the UK Environmental Consultancy Sector 2010 is the culmination of several months' in-depth analysis, which included two market surveys and interpretation of data collated from a variety of sources, including company annual reports and accounts. It includes a 152-slide executive presentation and 74-page competitor analysis. The report is now available to market intelligence service subscribers.

• Market Assessment of the UK Environmental Consultancy Sector 2010
• Press release