RSK Benelux BVBA has strengthened its operations and beefed up its platform to conquer Europe by acquiring 12-strong Belgian-based contaminated land assessment specialists Amberco BVBA, the sister company of Dutch-based EMN BV in which it holds a 51% stake.

The deal, which increases RSK Benelux BVBA’s staff numbers to 40 and brings with it new offices in Antwerp and Ghent, reinforces the company’s position as one of most capable multidisciplinary environmental consultancies in the Benelux region, a lends momentum to an strategic expansion drive by RSK Group to increase its presence in fertile business markets across Europe.

To this end, RSK Benelux BVBA last year acquired pioneering remediation specialists ESA shortly after the company had itself acquired the consultancy arm of Lisec, one of Belgium’s oldest and most respected companies in the contaminated land sector.

This was followed by the acquisition of a 51% shareholding in Ridderkerk-based contaminated land specialists EMN in February this year.

Founded in 1995 in Antwerpen-Stabroek, Amberco BVBA is a highly respected consultancy specialising in contaminated land assessment for businesses such as big-hitting blue-chip companies (Shell, Q8 and Texaco) as well as private and public sector clients across Holland, Belgium and France.

Amberco’s experience and contacts are set to diversify RSK Benelux BVBA’s client base to encompass the industrial, brownfield and local authority sectors.

Amberco, like RSK Benelux BVBA, holds specialist accreditations to work within the procedurally strict Flemish market (OVAM Deskundige Type II), the Brussels region (BIM/IBGE) and the fast-growing market in Wallonia (OWD).

This complements the RSK Benelux BVBA's ability – through EMN BV – to work in Dutch market by holding the BRL soil investigation fieldwork standards 1001 (reuse of on-site materials), 2001/2001 (sampling), 6000 (site supervision) and 6001 (traditional remediation methods such as ‘dig and dump’).

“This deal will allow us to scale up our business by becoming involved in more remediation projects,” noted Amberco and EMN BV managing director Jeroen Meisters.

“The benefit for RSK is that we have a huge amount of experience in Belgium and a great client base. We are a similar company to RSK and we already have a good working relationship, so we look forward to the future.”

David Taylor, RSK Group’s divisional director responsible for international businesses, added:

“Having the team from Amberco on board will greatly enhance our service offering to clients in the Benelux region. We are one of the largest pure environmental consultants in the region and we hope that more of our clients will be able to benefit from our solutions-focused business services with our broader geographical coverage”.

Moving forward, the expanded RSK Benelux BVBA business will be pivotal to a concerted business drive into mainland European countries like Germany and France.

Notes for editors

For more information or to set up an interview contact Neil Jaques (njaques@rsk.co.uk, 0141 332 8440/07917 425212).

About RSK Group

RSK Group is one of Europe's fastest growing multi-disciplinary environmental consultancies with 950 staff across 46 strategic locations in the UK, Europe, the Gulf and Caspian regions. RSK offers clients a one-stop shop for environmental services and a peerless dedication to best practice, which includes maintaining certification to the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards for quality, environmental and health and safety management.
www.rsk.co.uk