Last updated July 27th 2022
Waterman Group
Waterman Group is one of the UK’s largest engineering and environmental consultancies. Founded in 1952, the firm’s services cover structures, building services, environmental, infrastructure and specialist secondment services and it has annual revenues of just under £120 million.
The group”s shares were publicly quoted in London from 1988 but in May 2017 Waterman was acquired by a leading Japanese consultancy CTI Engineering in an agreed £43m deal which marked the company”s first acquisition outside Japan. Waterman’s senior management, its London hq and its company name were retained.
Waterman has wide experience provides advice across two key segments Property (covering structures and building services consulting) and Infrastructure & Environment (covering infrastructure and environmental consulting, highways, transport and water).
Today, around 88% of its revenues come from UK clients and in 2021, over three quarters was generated from the highways, retail, commercial and residential markets. The firm employs around 1 030 staff and a further 500 temporary and contract staff.
Waterman”s strategy has been to strengthen its relationship with CTI and use each other”s experience and client links for the good of the organisation. The group has 13 offices in major cities across the UK and overseas, in Melbourne and Sydney – focused on building services design and engineering – as well as Dublin, which provides a multi-disciplinary service.
Following recent growth in the North West, Waterman recently relocated its Manchester office to a a premium site at Trinity office building with a ten-year lease on over 4,000 sq ft of space which it says will allow it to ‘fully embrace hybrid working practices.’
Financials
To see the financials for Waterman plc visit Companies House and use Company ID 02188844.
Waterman reported a solid increase in turnover in 2021 and a spectacular rebound in profits as the economy re-opened post-Covid. Turnover rose by 21% to £117.2 million in 2021, up from £97.2 million. Meanwhile, pre-tax profit soared to £6.5 million from £1.66 million previously. Meanwhile, the group had cash at bank of £22.3 million, down from £23.99 million previously.
Property
Waterman’s property team is involved in the structural and building services engineering design in the private and public sectors in the UK, Ireland and Australia on a single or multi-discipline basis. Annualised revenues in the year to December 2021 were £38.7 million, up from £36 million and the division generated an operating profit of £1.6 million, compared to a loss of £1.7 million previously.
Waterman”s core business includes long term clients such as British Land, Land Securities, Stahope, Core, Aviva, Quadrant Estates and Berkeley Group. More recent clients have included Old Parklane Management, Telford Homes and Unite and various universities.
Major projects where the firm has worked in recent years include Ropemaker in the City, the huge Canada Water residential scheme in London”s docklands, the residential towers Vauxhall and the landmark K1 mixed use development in Knightsbridge.
During 2022, recent projects where Waterman has worked and which have won awards include: Joules’ new 600,000 sq ft corporate HQ (winner of the Corporate Workplace Award at the BCO Regional Event for the Midlands and Central England); Southwest St Helier Visioning Framework (shortlisted for The Developer’s Pineapple Awards in the ‘Future Place’ category) and Barts Square, Helical Plc’s 2.3-acre mixed-use redevelopment of London’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital as well as the London Borough of Southwark’s Inclusive Learning Service Key Stage 3 (both named winners at the RIBA London Regional Awards).
Infrastructure & Environment
Waterman has a strong track record in providing advice on transport and infrastructure-related engineering projects. In recent years, the firm has had over 550 highways and transportation engineers seconded to local authorities across the country. The firm should benefit from the government”s plans for more road investment over coming years. It also has long term frameworks with large consultants such as Atkins and Aecom.
The group”s infrastructure & environment business performed well in 2021 with annualised revenues of £78.5 million up from £61.1 million and an operating profit of £4.9 million, up from £3.3 million previously.
Key frameworks where the firm has appointments include the London Borough of Bexley (civil engineering, urban transport and traffic consultancy); Manchester City Council (bridge inspections); Mersey Travel Green routes; Slough Borough Council (highway scheme design); Kent County Council (highways and engineering and other services) and Hampshire County Council (technical services).
In June 2022, plans were approved for SeAH Wind’s £300m Teesside offshore turbine base factory – the largest such facility in the world- involving 1.13 million sq ft of factory space – where Waterman designed the building services with a focus on energy efficiency and environmental controllability.
Earlier, in spring 2022, the Morlais tidal project off Anglesey received £31m of funding from the EU’s regional funding programme. Waterman’s client Stockton Drilling is to undertake the installation of five 600 metre-long horizontal directional drills on the project.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Brueacre Village regeneration scheme in Inverclyde – involving 650 new homes, retail space and community facilities on the site of the former Inverkip power station – secured planned permission in early 2022. Waterman provided services included geo-environmental, drainage strategy and flood risk assessment.
Glenigan data
Figures from Glenigan show that Waterman is busy on some significant projects nationwide. They show that the group is the architect (along with Atkins) on the Dudley Bus Station Transport Interchange where work is set to start in summer 2023 and run for six months (Project ID: 16450538). Glenigan data also shows that Waterman is the structural consultant on the £72 million Midsummer Place Intu Shopping Centre Redevelopment in Milton Keynes where work is due to start in autumn 2022 (Project ID: 15085603).
Conclusion: Expanding in transport and winning major infrastructure projects
Despite facing an inevitable slowing in its London commercial and residential markets in the wake of Brexit and Covid, the range and breadth of Waterman”s markets have enabled it to maintain momentum. The firm has seen some significant commercial projects from its blue chip clients and is well-placed to benefit from more infrastructure spending. The firm appears to be expanding its transport-related workload for hard-pressed councils. It can also take advantage of its good links with the larger consultants” groups as well as winning more longer term projects and frameworks. Meanwhile, Waterman”s Japanese owner should also bring new opportunities and will reinforce its know-how in areas such as highways and flood defence.
How to win work with Waterman
Waterman works across the complete life cycle of an asset starting from initial surveys and concept planning, to design, delivery, project management, supervision and on-going maintenance. The group has Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme certification for all of its UK businesses.
Contacts:
Nick Taylor, Chief Executive
Email nick.taylor@watermangroup.com
Tel 0207 928 7888
Craig Beresford, Chief Operating Officer (Property)
Email craig.beresford@watermangroup.com
Tel 0207 927 7888
Neil Humphrey, Chief Operating Officer (Infrastructure & Environment)
Email neil.humphrey@watermangroup.com
Tel 0207 927 7888