Three become one as merger creates new consultancy giant

The proposed merger between Oscar Faber, Maunsell Europe and Metcalf & Eddy UK has been completed. As first revealed in BSJ November 2001, the merger will see the creation of a new company, named FaberMaunsell, forming one of the largest consultants in the UK.

The merger follows the acquisition in October 2001 of Oscar Faber by US giants Aecom. The new company will operate through a network of 34 offices in the UK and Europe and will be split into four principle divisions – building engineering, transportation planning, transportation infrastructure, and infrastructure and the environment. FaberMaunsell has a combined workforce of nearly 1900 and projected annual revenue of over £80 million.

"The successful management of a forward-looking organisation depends on understanding the needs of all stakeholders and striving to achieve a balance between them," comments chief executive, Ken Dalton. "As well as providing a stimulating and rewarding working environment for our employees, this approach has proved in the past to be effective in delivering strong organic growth and bottom-line profitability."

"With this merger we are into a whole new area of true global engineering," says Dalton. "Engineering consultants have to take their seat at the top table with the clients and principle decision makers. Having a certain critical mass makes that easier, particularly in some of the very large infrastructure projects."

"Globalisation of the business and the opportunity to offer a wider range of services from the four divisions is the best ways to maintain strong growth for the future," he adds.

As well as increasing business across the group in Europe, Faber Maunsell will be looking to share expertise with sister companies in the US. "Global traffic will be two-way," explains Dalton. "In many ways our skills are complementary to those of Aecom, and we are keen to support them in areas where we have particular centres of excellence."