Consultant buys Birmingham-based firm run by Louise Brooke-Smith
Arcadis has bought a Birmingham-based planning and development consultant run by former RICS global president Louise Brooke-Smith.
The 8-strong firm, Brooke Smith Planning, was founded in 1994. Brooke-Smith (pictured) will now head up Arcadis鈥� UK-wide planning capabilities and a new 鈥榮ocial value鈥� service.
Brooke Smith Planning鈥檚 clients include Barratt Homes, Marriott Hotels, the MOD, Vinci Construction and Birmingham City University.
Its recent projects have included securing planning consent for a medical hub in Birmingham鈥檚 Egbaston Village, gaining approval for the relocation of Birmingham Dog鈥檚 Home and winning planning for the first drive-through Costa in the city.
Arcadis said it intends to launch a new social value service - overseen by Brooke-Smith - that will analyse how businesses can improve the quality of life of their clients, employees and the wider community.
This is the latest acquisition for Arcadis, which bought UK engineer Hyder Consulting over three years ago for 拢296m and QS EC Harris over five years ago for 拢253m.
Last month Arcadis reported writedowns totalling 鈧�19.4m (拢16.6m) in relation to legacy claims against Hyder, as well as costs of 鈧�28m (拢24m) relating to restructuring, acquisition and integration charges.
The firm also reported that Brexit had impacted on its UK building revenues as clients delayed investment decisions, but its UK revenue as a whole edged up thanks to increased infrastructure and utilities work.
Arcadis UK chief executive Alan Brookes, said: 鈥淪ocial value is an increasingly important part of our ongoing three-year plan, in terms of our staff, our clients and the communities they work with. We are excited to be welcoming Louise to add to our existing work in this arena, and will be explaining more about our strategy over the coming months.鈥�
Louise Brooke-Smith, UK head of town planning and head of social value at Arcadis, said: 鈥淭he devolution agenda, and all that it brings with it, has only increased the need for the very best when it comes to land use planning and development advice.
鈥淛oining Arcadis at this key time means that we are able to offer the very best to both the nation鈥檚 businesses and the communities they serve.鈥�
Arcadis managing director environment Andy Limage, said: 鈥淭his is a really significant move for Arcadis here in the UK. Adding the expertise and vast experience of such a well-respected town planning consultancy to our existing offering is good news for our clients and our business.
鈥淗aving worked on some of the most complex and important town planning projects the country has seen in recent times means our clients are set to benefit from a genuinely first class team.鈥�
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