Hundreds of jobs saved as Wolverhampton environmental consultancy is sold
HUNDREDS of jobs – including almost 60 in Wolverhampton – have been saved following the sale of parts of an agricultural and environmental consultancy based in the city.
ADAS Group brought in administrators on Monday (December 5) after the business, which also supplied rural development services and policy advice, failed.
David Baxendale, Michael Denny and Matthew Hammond, of PwC, who were the appointed joint administrators after the group’s board realised insolvency was inevitable given the extent of the business’ liabilities.
The assets of the group have been divided up between two buyers – Cheshire-based RSK and Drayton Manor Farms.
RSK acquired seven of the group’s operations: Environmental; Chemicals in the environment; Biotechnology Group; Soils, crops and water; On-farm implementation; Sustainable food and farming; and Resolved Renewables.
Drayton acquired the contract research organisation.
Robert Moran, deals partner, PwC, said: “The deals result in 346 jobs in 15 locations transferring to the purchasers, underlining the strength of the businesses and the talent of the workforce.
“They come at the end of a long robust sales process and we would like to thank the ADAS senior management team for their support throughout.”
Mr Baxendale added: “The group’s board came to a decision that an insolvency process was unavoidable given the extent of liabilities across the group. The transaction has enabled continuity of service for the group’s customers, preserving value in the group as well transferring all employees.”
In total, 317 employees – including 58 in Wolverhampton – have transferred to RSK and 29 to Drayton.
The £100m-turnover RSK Group is thought to have invested at least £10m in the purchase.
RSK was backed by the Business Growth Fund, which is also supporting the company’s longer-term growth plans.
Working with clients such as Shell, Taylor Wimpey, and HS2 Ltd, RSK provides environmental impact assessments, clean-up operations and geotechnical analyses on major infrastructure projects in the UK and worldwide.
Dr Alan Ryder, CEO, RSK Group, said: “I am delighted to join forces with ADAS. The company has extremely experienced and skilled people who share our common values. RSK and ADAS see food production, energy and the environment as the most important issues facing humanity, so we will work together to deliver the best solutions for our customers.”
Andrew Walker, Executive Director, ADAS, added: “The announcement of RSK’s acquisition of ADAS is very positive news for our business. It brings together two organisations that will, between them, offer an unrivalled breadth of expertise in the natural and built environment and that will be capable of delivering powerful solutions to our clients’ problems across the complete spectrum, from agriculture and the food chain to sustainable development, transport, energy and civil engineering.”
