Consulting engineer WYG has taken over Harrogate-based SCA Planning, which trades under the name of its subsidiary Signet Planning, for £3.7m.
WYG said that the acquisition, made through its subsidiary WYG Environment Planning Transport, cemented its position as one of the UK’s top three planning consultants.
For the year ended 31st March 2015, Signet Planning reported turnover of £3.5m and pre-tax profit of £700,000. It has net assets of £1.3m.
Signet Planning is a town planning and urban design consultancy that was established by Simon Chadwick, James Hobson and Ian Rowe in 2005. Clients include Quintain, Peveril Securities, Arena Racing, Story Homes and JD Wetherspoon.
Managing director Simon Chadwick and three other principal directors have agreed to lock-in provisions for the next three years.
WYG chief executive Paul Hamer said: “We are delighted to be joined by Simon Chadwick, and his colleagues in Signet Planning. We are confident that they will be a significant enhancement to WYG’s planning and urban and landscape design capabilities.
“Following our recent acquisitions of Alliance Planning, FMW Consultancy and North Associates, we now have more than 140 planning specialists representing the third largest team in the UK. This leading market position leaves us well placed to take advantage of the strong demand we expect for these specialist skills within a buoyant UK market for property and infrastructure development.”