Design firm sold to Spanish engineering giant
BWB, the design engineering consultant, has been sold to global transport engineering giant CAF Group.
Nottingham-headquartered BWB employs more than 300 people across seven offices, including 50 at its offices at Whitehall Waterfront on Riverside Way in Leeds, and has an annual turnover of more than £23m.
CAF, which is headquartered in Spain and has annual revenues in excess of €1.3bn, designs, manufactures, maintains and supplies equipment and components for rail systems across the globe.
In addition to rolling stock, CAF provides integrated rail solutions for all types of rail systems – feasibility studies, design of civil engineering, electrification and signaling works, maintenance and system operation services.
It is acquiring BWB in a phased transaction over the next three years. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed, but BWB’s entire management team, led by CEO Steve Wooler, are staying with the business and will continue to direct and drive its growth strategy.
While BWB will remain a standalone business, it will be positioned alongside CAF Group’s turnkey engineering subsidiary, CAF TE – a technology leader in rail systems engineering.
BWB Group chief executive Steve Wooler said: “This is undoubtedly the most exciting moment in the history of our business. We started from small beginnings in Nottingham in the UK’s Midlands and have grown to become one of the most agile and entrepreneurial design engineering consultancies in the UK, driven by a very talented leadership team.
“We have become a consultant of choice for key blue-chip Clients, who see us a trusted partner in complex, high-profile projects. Having grown the business significantly, the challenge for us was how best to secure the resources necessary to properly exploit the opportunities that our track record of delivery has opened up.
“We believe there is a once in a lifetime opportunity for BWB, over the next decade or so, to play a leading role in digital engineering, Smart Cities, and colossal investment in infrastructure, not just here in the UK but across the world. Becoming part of a hugely respected business like CAF not only unlocks the door to that opportunity, it materially extends BWB’s horizons.”
Josu Imaz, CAF Group’s chief officer, subsidiaries and corporate development, said: “We see BWB Consulting as the best of British design engineering. It has strong leadership, a talented team of people, and complements our own culture of versatility and flexibility. We have ambitious plans to diversify our business, to extend our turnkey engineering activities, and we see BWB playing an important role in that strategy.
“We are already committed to substantial investment in the UK through CAF Rail UK. With BWB, we will put the resources in place that will enable them to pursue both their own strategy and to work together with CAF to explore new markets and new opportunities.”
BWB Consulting was founded in Nottingham more than 25 years ago as a structural engineering business. It underwent a management buyout in 2008 and has grown into an integrated multi-disciplinary consultancy delivering advice and solutions nationally for private and public sector clients in buildings, the built and natural environment, and transport and infrastructure.
BWB’s administrative headquarters and main technical centre are based in Nottingham, where it employs 120 people, but it also has substantial operations in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
In recent years, the business has also expanded through targeted acquisitions aimed at extending both services and geography.
BWB was advised in the transaction by Paul Bevan, Partner with Mazars. He said: “This is clearly a significant transaction, with an incredibly positive message. Helping to lead this assignment has been extremely rewarding and such a pleasure.
“The integrity and personal drive of the team has made for a formidable proposition; CAF TE has recognised these qualities and is backing BWB’s ambitions.”
