Stantec buys UK-based Barton Willmore
Stantec, a global design and engineering firm, has acquired Barton Willmore, a Reading, UK-based planning and design consulting firm. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1936, Barton Willmore provides services in architecture, town planning, masterplanning and urban design, infrastructure and environmental planning, landscape planning and design, development economics, and communications.
The firm's more than 300 professionals work on projects in the residential, logistics, retail, infrastructure, energy, higher education, and urban regeneration sectors. Barton Willmore has over a dozen offices across the UK.
The acquisition will expand Stantec’s UK headcount to more than 2,500 people. The Edmonton-headquartered firm has approximately 25,000 people on six continents.
“Barton Willmore and Stantec share a passion and commitment to delivering sustainable, dynamic projects that improve communities,” said Cath Schefer, Stantec’s global chief operator officer. “It’s incredibly exciting to welcome Barton Willmore to our growing global team as we look to strengthen our project delivery expertise across several sectors. Barton Willmore’s master planning and urban design capabilities greatly enhance our ability to drive innovative solutions for clients across the globe.”
The move builds on the Canadian firm’s UK bolt-ons of ESI Consulting and Peter Brett Associates.
“Both Stantec and Barton Willmore are passionate about drawing on our shared expertise to deliver sustainable and lasting projects that improve communities around the world. By combining our respective technical and creative capabilities, plus our extensive collective strategic understanding, we believe we can deliver a real step-change to the UK market,” said Iain Painting, senior partner at Barton Willmore.
Stantec’s other notable acquisitions in the last six months include Cox McLain Environmental Consulting (CMEC), an Austin, Texas-headquartered full-service environmental consulting firm, and the North American and Asia-Pacific businesses of Cardno, an Australia-based design and engineering firm.
