Global environmental group SLR Consulting last month acquired South African specialist consultancy firm CCA Environmental, which has blue chip clients across the oil and gas, minerals, infrastructure, energy and waste sectors.

Cape Town-based CCA has established a reputation across South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius since it was founded by CCA MD Jonathan Crowther and CCA director Fuad Fredericks in 2004.

In the oil and gas sector, CCA’s expertise includes project managing environmental management plans, developing environmental-impact assessments (EIAs), as well as permitting for new offshore oil and gasfields. Key clients include international oil and gas companies Anadarko, Shell and Total, and international petroleum refineries company ExxonMobil.

CCA also provides environmental consultancy services on linear infrastructure projects for government clients, including the South African National Roads Agency and the Western Cape government. Waste-related work includes a recent EIA for a new regional landfill site to service the Cape Town metropolitan area for the next 30 years.

The move establishes SLR as the market leader in Southern Africa for EIA-related work with a 37-strong team of highly experienced technical professionals. Like SLR, CCA has a high level of client retention, with the majority of its work generated from clients of more than five years’ standing.

SLR CEO Neil Penhall says: “SLR and CCA are a great match and this move will provide another platform from which to extend the wide range of technical services offered to clients in sub-Saharan Africa and throughout the world. CCA’s expertise in upstream activities, including exploration, pipeline and field development will be of particular interest to oil and gas clients seeking to develop opportunities in Southern Africa’s exploration hot spots.”

“SLR’s approach to promoting best practice and assisting clients in securing permit consents and a social licence to operate, mirrors our position that development needs to be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. We are delighted to be part of the SLR team,” Crowther adds.

This is SLR’s fifth acquisition in Southern Africa. It will provide further leverage to promote the company’s multi-disciplinary offering to new and existing clients in regulatory compliance; social licence to operate; engineering; health, safety and environmental services; and EIAs across the expanding sub- Saharan market.

SLR is an international environmental consultancy, based near Oxford in the UK, with over 1 000 employees working from 70 offices in Europe, North America, Australasia and Africa. It is considered one of the top five niche global specialist environmental consultancies.

It provides global advice and support on a wide range of strategic and site-specific issues to a diverse and growing base of business, regulatory and governmental clients.

Key areas of SLR’s business are across client sectors, namely industry, infrastructure, mining and minerals, oil and gas, planning and development, renewables and low carbon, and waste management.

In the UK, SLR employs over 350 staff working out of 24 offices across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.