ERM boosts marine environment capabilities with MarineSpace deal

Global sustainability consultancy ERM has acquired MarineSpace for an undisclosed fee. The move sees ERM add around 50 employees to its headcount, enabling it to support more marine infrastructure projects around the world.

Founded in 2006, MarineSpace is a UK based team of marine scientists and development consultants. The firm advises clients on their largest and most complex marine development projects, offering expertise in fields such as site selection, geological surveying, marine development planning, data management and interpretation, and maritime engineering.

Clients of MarineSpace span the public and private sectors, including the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Balfour Beatty, and Dong Energy, among others.

With several offices in the UK, the Southampton headquartered company has now obtained a global reach though ERM’s extensive network of hubs. MarineSpace’s professionals will now be able to bring their expertise and technical capabilities to ERM’s global clients.

Stuart Lowe, Founder of MarineSpace, commented, “The best-in-class marine expertise we offer will bring ERM a breadth of skills and depth of resources to respond rapidly to evolving market needs. For our people at MarineSpace, it gives them the opportunity to be part of a global consultancy and develop personally and professionally as part of ERM’s global footprint.”

Meanwhile, the acquisition will enable ERM to support more marine infrastructure projects around the world, as part of its ambitions to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving renewables market. As the shift to renewables has seen consulting demand in this area increase, ERM has been acquiring capacity in the area, with MarineSpace’s arrival complementing other recent acquisitions including the Renewables Consulting Group and Arcus.

Tom Reichert, ERM Group CEO, remarked, “MarineSpace is bringing best-in-class marine expertise to ERM at a time when the shift to renewables as part of the global energy transition has never been more critical. We’re looking forward to working with the MarineSpace team to support more marine infrastructure projects around the world, as part of our ambitions to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving renewables market and shape a sustainable future with the world’s leading organisations.”

Over the past decade, ERM has been expanding at pace, accelerated by a buy-and-build strategy that saw over 20 acquisitions join its ranks since 2010. The firm now boasts a global team of more than 7,000 experts in over 170 offices across 39 countries, making it one of the largest independent sustainability consultancies in operation.