Stantec to Acquire UK’s Peter Brett Associates (PBA)
August 28, 2018
By
CCE
"Regionally, the project landscape is promising with the UK government’s policy to build 300,000 new homes per year, a five-year program to invest £4.4 billion ($7.4 billion CAD) in new and refurbished schools, a robust university upgrading initiative, and a major national investment program in UK infrastructure."
Stantec is expanding its United Kingdom (UK) presence with the planned acquisition of Peter Brett Associates LLP (PBA) located in Reading, England.
An independent firm of more than 700 engineers, planners, scientists and economists, PBA has 14 offices across the UK and three across Central Europe.
With more than five decades of project experience in key regional markets, PBA has supported the office and commercial, urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, energy, public sector, residential, retail and town centers, tourism and leisure, waste, and water sectors. With a varied client roster spanning commercial companies and landowners to government entities, the firm has several notable projects to its credit, including urban planning for a significant development outside London at Paradise Birmingham.
Gord Johnston, Stantec president/CEO
“Regionally, the project landscape is promising with the UK government’s policy to build 300,000 new homes per year, a five-year program to invest £4.4 billion ($7.4 billion CAD) in new and refurbished schools, a robust university upgrading initiative, and a major national investment program in UK infrastructure. These programs, paired with the existing role PBA is playing in projects like High Speed 2 and Crossrail 2, position us well for continued growth together,” said Gord Johnston, Stantec president/CEO in a media release.
The design teams at PBA provided traffic assessment and optimization of the existing highway network to transform 17 acres (7 hectares) of city centre land into new civic, retail, leisure and hotel facilities, public transport and public realm space.
Since 2010, the firm has been actively working on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, London’s largest sewer upgrade since the Victorian era. Previously, PBA managed the assessments for environmental impacts, health, transportation and energy and carbon footprint while also supporting stakeholder engagement and public consultation. The firm continues to provide extensive consultation on this project on several areas, including environmental planning and construction traffic strategy.
“Joining forces with Stantec will enable us to provide our clients with greater insights and expertise from the wider Stantec team and allow PBA to capitalize on the opportunities it is creating in the development and infrastructure markets,” said Keith Mitchell, PBA chairman in the release.
Of Stantec’s 22,000 team members, more than 2,400 are based in the UK.
