Davis Langon and Cyril Sweett head for nuclear

Davis Langdon and Cyril Sweett are attempting to break into the nuclear sector.

The news follows the government’s energy review this week, which confirmed its intention to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.

Davis Langdon is planning to offer due diligence and risk assessment services to funders of nuclear new builds, including banks. It will avoid direct involvement in construction work.

Senior partner Rob Smith said he believed that new builds would be funded by the private sector though PFI-type deals. He said: “Our competitors are forming armies of people to measure things and price things and get out on site. We would rather offer high-end, professional services.”

Smith said such services were more lucrative and also that it was difficult to persuade staff to work at remote nuclear sites.

Cyril Sweett has yet to decide on the services it would offer the sector. Andrew McSmythurs, director of project management at the firm, said: “We have decided we will go in, now it’s a question of the best way of entering the sector.”

The firm is looking at three options, which it may or may not combine. They are new build work, decommissioning contracts and the funding side.

McSmythurs said Cyril Sweett was also weighing up whether to enter the market through an acquisition or an alliance or consortium.

Davis Langdon has not worked in the sector for 10 years. Its last nuclear project was Sizewell B.

The firm is currently conducting research into the nuclear sector before making a final decision.

If Cyril Sweett did enter the sector it would be following in the footsteps of several consultancies that have intensified their focus on the nuclear industry in recent months. These include EC Harris and Turner & Townsend, which formed an alliance that has won a contract worth £20m in fees to handle project controls at Sellafield nuclear power station. Franklin + Andrews is emerging as another serious contender in the market after it won a role on the project to build a £2bn new power plant in Finland.

In the UK, forthcoming clean-up work on existing nuclear plants is expected to cost around £70bn, to be spent over around 75 years. If new builds are green-lit, the government is thought likely to spend £30bn on 10 reactors.