GBG

What GBG does

GBG (legal entity: GB Geotechnics Ltd) is a privately held UK engineering consultancy founded in 1982 by George Ballard, headquartered in Cambridge with offices in London, New York, and Sydney (plus secondary presence in Perth, Melbourne, and Los Angeles). The firm specializes in forensic structural and geophysical investigation, serving civil engineers, infrastructure owners, heritage organizations, government agencies, and property developers across the UK, USA, and Australia.

The company's core offerings fall into five integrated service lines: Structural Investigation, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), Measured Building Survey (MBS), Geotechnics/Geophysics, and Structural Design/Consultancy. Underlying technology centers on non-destructive testing modalities — impulse radar, ultrasonics, metal detection, thermography, electrical resistivity tomography, electromagnetic profiling, MASW/shallow seismics, and micro-gravity surveys — combined with traditional techniques such as trial pits, boreholes, concrete coring, and petrographic studies. Dimensional capture uses CAD, BIM, Finite Element modelling, photogrammetry, and 3D laser scanning. The 2003 acquisition of Technotrade added in-situ structural investigation to the original NDT/geophysics offering.

GBG operates on a professional services, project-based revenue model. GTM is sales-led and direct: customers engage via phone, email, or website enquiry form for project quotes and on-site consultancy. Notable customers include English Heritage, the British Museum, The National Gallery, the Highways Agency, Cambridgeshire County Council, Arup, Balfour Beatty, and Mott MacDonald. The company is founder-led (James Ballard, Managing Director; George Ballard, Director), privately held with no disclosed external investment, and has completed over 4,000 projects across its four-decade history.

Name

GBG

Legal name

GB Geotechnics Ltd

Website

https://gbg.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GBG (GB Geotechnics Ltd) is a UK-based forensic structural and geotechnical engineering consultancy founded in 1982, delivering non-destructive testing, structural investigation, measured building surveys, and remediation design to civil engineering, heritage, government, and property clients across the UK, USA, and Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Structural Investigation & Geotechnical Engineering Services

NAICS

Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Testing Laboratories and Services (541380), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Geotechnical & Subsurface Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Geotechnical Site Investigation & Engineering Geology (Borings, Lab Testing) (EUAHAFAE)

Keywords

• Structural investigation
• Non-destructive testing
• Geotechnical engineering
• Measured building survey
• Forensic engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Professional Engineering Services: GBG provides specialist engineering consultancy services for structural investigation, non-destructive testing, geotechnical investigation, and remediation design. Revenue is generated through project-based professional service fees for investigation and consultancy engagements across bridges, tunnels, historic buildings, modern structures, roads, and ground investigations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

GBG (GB Geotechnics Ltd) is a specialist engineering consultancy providing forensic structural and geophysical investigation services. The firm delivers structural investigation, non-destructive testing (NDT), measured building surveys, geotechnics/geophysics, and structural design/remediation consultancy for civil engineering, building, heritage, and infrastructure projects. Services are delivered on a project-by-project basis by chartered engineers, physicists, and geologists across offices in the UK, USA, and Australia.

Product overview

GBG (GB Geotechnics) is a structural investigation and geotechnical engineering consultancy established in 1982, offering a portfolio of complementary services. The core offering consists of Structural Investigation, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), Measured Building Survey (MBS), Geotechnics/Geophysics, and Structural Design/Consultancy. These services work together to provide holistic investigation and remediation solutions: NDT enables investigation without damage to structures, Structural Investigation provides materials testing and analysis, Measured Building Survey delivers dimensional data via CAD/BIM/FE modelling, Geotechnics/Geophysics characterizes ground conditions and foundations, and Structural Design/Consultancy provides remediation design solutions. The company serves clients across heritage buildings, modern structures, bridges, tunnels, roads, and industrial facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Structural Investigation Independent materials testing and site investigation consultancy for civil engineering, building and construction industries. Covers civil and structural engineering, site investigation, water engineering, and building materials chemistry. For infrastructure owners, contractors, and developers needing structural condition assessment.
• Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Investigation of built environments without disturbance or risk to inhabitants, using electro-magnetic, acoustic and visual techniques including impulse radar, ultrasonics, metal detection and thermography. Enables condition assessment of historic buildings through to industrial facilities without damage. For heritage bodies, asset owners, and engineers needing non-invasive assessment.
• Measured Building Survey (MBS)
• Geotechnics / Geophysics

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 4,000 projects completed across UK and Europe
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SOCOTEC: SOCOTEC is a UK-headquartered testing, inspection and certification firm offering structural investigation, NDT and geotechnical services to construction and infrastructure clients - the closest direct functional peer to GBG's multi-disciplinary forensic investigation stack.
• Fugro: Fugro is a global geotechnical and geoscience services firm providing site investigation, geophysical surveys and ground characterisation - directly comparable to GBG's Geotechnics/Geophysics practice for infrastructure and asset owners.
• Coffey Geotechnics (Tetra Tech): Coffey, now part of Tetra Tech, is a specialist geotechnical and geo-environmental consultancy with overlapping site investigation, ground modelling and infrastructure characterisation services for UK and international clients.
• Plowman Craven: Plowman Craven is a UK measured building and laser scanning survey specialist - directly comparable to GBG's Measured Building Survey line using 2D/3D laser scanning, BIM and photogrammetry for as-built data.

Broad incumbents

• Waterman Group: Waterman is a UK multidisciplinary engineering consultancy with structural, infrastructure and environmental practices - a broader incumbent that competes with GBG for structural investigation work as part of a wider portfolio.
• WSP: WSP is a global engineering professional services firm whose property and infrastructure assets advisory practice overlaps with GBG's structural and geotechnical investigation work for buildings and transport infrastructure.
• Stantec: Stantec is a global engineering, architecture and environmental services firm; its geotechnical and structural assessment capabilities overlap with GBG's investigation and remediation design services across infrastructure and building clients.
• WYG (now KBR): WYG, now part of KBR, was a UK engineering consultancy with infrastructure, environment and project management practices that bid for many of the same public-sector structural and geotechnical investigation frameworks as GBG.
• RSK Group: RSK is a UK-based environmental and engineering consultancy with a substantial geotechnical, structural and site investigation capability that competes with GBG for infrastructure and developer clients across the UK.

Emerging players

• Geoquip Marine: Geoquip Marine is a specialist offshore geotechnical site investigation contractor using geophysical and drilling techniques; an adjacent specialist with overlapping methods to GBG's geophysical investigation toolbox.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gb-geotechnics-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/gbgusa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GBG