What Pells Sullivan Meynink does

Pells Sullivan Meynink (PSM) is an Australian specialist geotechnical and water services consulting firm, incorporated in New South Wales and operating since 1993. The firm provides investigation, interpretation, design, analysis, and construction-phase support to clients in the mining, civil infrastructure, dams, tunnelling, and water sectors, with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Geelong, and project execution extending across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas, India, the Middle East, and Russia. Clients include government agencies (NSW Government, Government of New Zealand) and tier-one contractors on flagship Australian infrastructure projects including Sydney Metro Victoria Cross Station, Western Sydney Airport earthworks ($644M contract), Cross River Rail, and the Transmission Gully motorway in New Zealand.

PSM's technical differentiation rests on a senior-heavy team of more than 50 principal-level engineers, engineering geologists, hydrogeologists, and hydrologists, supported by in-house capabilities in 3D engineering geological modelling, Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) modelling, borehole imaging, in-house photogrammetry, BIM and Digital Engineering. The firm operates a flat principal-involvement model where senior staff lead complex design packages rather than delegate to junior pools. The firm maintains ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental), and ISO 45001 (OH&S) certifications and has been Technically Assured Organisation certified.

Revenue is generated almost exclusively through professional service fees billed on project-specific engagements, including feasibility, detailed design, and construction-phase support contracts. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. PSM supplements its commercial practice with thought-leadership assets including the free Defect Waviness Calculator, a freely-shared Safety Dynamic Cone Penetrometer design, an eBook on estimating rock mass properties authored by a principal engineer, and an on-demand webinar catalogue — used primarily for top-of-funnel brand development rather than as revenue streams in their own right. The firm is privately held with no disclosed external funding, M&A activity, or recapitalisation events since founding.

Name

Pells Sullivan Meynink

Legal name

Pells Sullivan Meynink Pty Ltd

Website

https://psm.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Pells Sullivan Meynink (PSM) is an Australian specialist geotechnical and water services consulting firm founded in 1993, serving mining, civil infrastructure, dams, tunnelling, and water clients in Australia and internationally with a senior team of 50+ principal-level professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Geotechnical Engineering Consulting

NAICS

Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD)

Keywords

• Geotechnical consulting services
• Mining engineering consulting
• Tunnelling design services
• Dam safety consulting
• Hydrogeology water services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ryde

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Consulting Services: PSM provides geotechnical and engineering consulting services to mining and civil industries. Revenue is generated through professional service fees for investigations, design, analysis, and construction support across civil, dams, mining, tunnelling, and water projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PSM is a specialist consulting engineering firm that delivers geotechnical and water services for the mining and civil industries. Core offerings include investigation, interpretation, design, analysis and construction support across six service lines: Civil, Dams, Mining, Tunnelling, Water, and Specialist Services (forensic investigations, photogrammetry, borehole imaging, 3D modelling, DFN modelling, engineering geology, remote sensing and BIM/Digital Engineering). The firm also freely distributes industry tools such as the Defect Waviness Calculator and the open-source Safety Dynamic Cone Penetrometer design.

Product overview

PSM is a specialist geotechnical and engineering consulting firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of services for the mining and civil industries internationally. The core offering consists of geotechnical and engineering services including Civil, Dams, Mining, Tunnelling, Water, and Specialist Services (Engineering Geology, Remote Sensing, BIM and Digital Engineering). Supporting these core services, PSM provides educational tools and resources including a free Defect Waviness Calculator spreadsheet and the Estimating Rock Mass Properties eBook by Dr. Robert Bertuzzi. PSM also developed the Safety Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (SDCP), a physical safety tool whose design is freely shared with the industry. The firm leverages advanced techniques including 3D modelling, DFN modelling, photogrammetry, and borehole imaging to enhance site investigations and analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 14 of 180 papers accepted at ANZ2019 conference - highest by any single organisation
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Macquarie University Geology DepartmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSM sponsors the development of ImageMatrix, a web-based learning and teaching platform for Virtual Petrographic Microscopy. The platform uses clustered 2D image data sets to simulate a broad range of lithologies for earth science educators.
• University of Arizona Geotechnical Center of ExcellenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSM is proud to be supporting the Geotechnical Center of Excellence at the University of Arizona, contributing to academic research and education in geotechnical engineering.
• John Holland CPB GhellacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner on Sydney Metro Victoria Cross Station project. PSM responsible for temporary cavern support and permanent structural lining design during tender, detailed design and construction phases.
• Taylor Thomson Whitting (TTW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative design partnership on Wynyard Walk project, integrating geotechnical (PSM) and structural (TTW) disciplines. Partnership resulted in multiple industry awards.
• Australian Geomechanics SocietyminorOthersPSM staff actively participate in AGS events, present papers, and receive awards through this professional society.
• Australasian Tunnelling SocietyminorOthersPSM sponsors ATS events including annual golf day, presents at conferences, and won Best Paper Award at 19th Australasian Tunnelling Conference.
• Australian Conference on Engineering Geology (ACEG)minorOthersPSM is a Gold Sponsor of the inaugural Australian Conference on Engineering Geology.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Arup: Global engineering design firm with deep Australian tunnelling, geotechnical, and infrastructure credentials, competing with PSM for complex underground and transport projects such as Sydney Metro and Cross River Rail.
• GHD: One of Australia's largest employee-owned engineering, architecture, and environmental consultancies, providing geotechnical, dams, tunnelling, mining, and water services across the same end-markets as PSM, but at materially greater scale and scope.
• Aurecon: Australian-headquartered engineering and infrastructure advisory with strong capabilities in transport, water, dams, and ground engineering, directly comparable to PSM in tunnelling and water projects.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with a major Australian practice covering transport, water, environment, and mining - including geotechnical and tunnelling capabilities that directly overlap with PSM's service portfolio.
• Jacobs: Global professional services firm with significant Australian operations in transport, water, mining, and geotechnical engineering, frequently bidding against PSM for major public-sector infrastructure work.
• WSP Australia: Global engineering consultancy with a substantial Australian business delivering geotechnical, tunnelling, mining, and water services - one of PSM's principal competitors for major public infrastructure and mining clients.
• SMEC (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation): Australian-origin global engineering consultancy with geotechnical, dams, water, and transport expertise, operating in many of the same ANZ and Asia-Pacific geographies as PSM.
• Stantec Australia: Global engineering consultancy with an Australian practice covering water, mining, infrastructure, and geotechnical services, competing with PSM for water- and infrastructure-related engagements.

Direct peers

• Douglas Partners: Boutique Australian geotechnical, environmental, and groundwater consultancy serving the same mining, civil, and infrastructure end-markets as PSM with a comparable principal-led, specialist delivery model.
• Tetra Tech Coffey (formerly Coffey International): Australia's most recognised specialist geotechnical and environmental engineering consultancy, offering mining, civil, dams, and water services. Closest direct competitor to PSM in the ANZ specialist geotechnical segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/psm-au

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Pells Sullivan Meynink