Origin Enterprises, the Dublin headquartered, international agri-services group, has today (Thursday, October 31) confirmed the acquisition of two specialist ecology businesses in the UK.
The company said that the acquisition of Brooks Ecological Limited and GE Consulting Services (UK) Limited further complement the group’s existing environmental solutions.
Origin added that the deals align with the group’s strategy to strengthen its presence in this sector as part of the living landscapes division.
Origin
Brooks provides environmental consultancy services across the UK, bringing expertise in ecology and biodiversity along with arboriculture and landscape architecture to support clients on planning, development, and conservation projects.
Based in Leeds, Brooks works with regulatory authorities, charities, and companies ranging from small enterprises to multi-national corporations.
GE Consulting operates across the south of England and south Wales, providing ecological and arboricultural consulting services and practical land management solutions.
GE Consulting’s commercially focused advice serves a broad range of clients, from housing developers to government agencies.
TJ Kelly, divisional managing director for Living Landscapes, welcomed both teams into the Origin Group.
He added that the specialist businesses will “further strengthen the broad range of ecology, arboriculture, landscape and environmental contracting services we provide within our environmental business”.
Last month, Origin reported a fall in group revenue and operating profit in its financial results for the year ending July 2024.
Group revenue decreased by 16.7% to just over €2 billion – primarily because of “lower global feed and fertiliser raw materials pricing” but this was offset by a 7.1% volume increase driven by a “recovery in fertiliser volumes and strong feed volumes”.
Origin Enterprises’ operating profit dropped back to €83.5 million – from €90.8 million a year earlier, a reduction of 8% and also delivered adjusted earnings per share of 48.06 cent.
It also reported exceptional costs – net of tax – of €4.3 million for the latest financial year under review which included the closure of its operations in Ukraine and redundancy and restructuring costs from the restructuring of its agri UK business.