Stantec is expanding its United Kingdom (UK) presence with the planned acquisition of Reading, England-based Peter Brett Associates LLP (PBA). An independent firm of more than 700 engineers, planners, scientists, and economists delivering projects in a variety of sectors, PBA has 14 offices distributed across the UK and three across Central Europe. The transaction is expected to close in September.
“Both PBA and Stantec bring teams that possess a depth of expertise, experience, and passion for community. Together, our combined strengths will be essential to meet the growing opportunities in key UK markets,” said Gord Johnston, Stantec president and 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.”
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. The design teams at PBA provided traffic assessment and optimization of the existing highway network to transform 17 acres of city center land into new civic, retail, leisure and hotel facilities, public transport and public realm space. To support one of Great Britain’s largest mixed-use developments, PBA provided pre-application consulting to secure planning consent for the 1,420-acre Alconbury Weald in Eastern England’s Cambridgeshire area. Located on a converted airfield site, the project will include 5,000 new homes, 290,000 square meters of employment space, educational facilities, public space, and community facilities.
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.
Of Stantec’s 22,000 team members, more than 2,400 are based in the United Kingdom.
