What Five Rivers Environmental Contracting does

Five Rivers Environmental Contracting is a UK-based environmental consultancy and contracting firm that delivers nature-based solutions for rivers, wetlands, and aquatic ecosystems. The company structures its offering across five integrated service pillars: ecological monitoring, design and consultancy, habitat creation and restoration, ecological mitigation, and civil engineering, allowing it to take projects from baseline survey through to design and physical delivery using in-house teams rather than subcontracting the chain. Its primary customer base is the regulated UK water utility sector, where it operates under multi-year framework agreements for schemes including the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) unit delivery; named clients include Thames Water, Wessex Water, Affinity Water, Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, and Anglian Water. Secondary customers include government and infrastructure clients such as the Royal Parks, HS2, Highways England, the Environment Agency, BAM Nuttall, and various Wildlife Trusts.

The business model is project-and-framework based, with revenue generated through long-term framework call-offs and discrete habitat restoration and mitigation contracts. The firm converts regulatory and planning requirements (e.g., WINEP drivers, Environment Act BNG obligations, planning consent mitigation) into deliverable ecological and civil works. Pricing mechanics are typical of environmental contracting: cost-plus or fixed-price construction contracts, framework rate cards, and unit-based pricing for BNG and habitat creation. The firm converted from a private limited company to a Limited Liability Partnership in 2022, indicating a governance shift toward profit-sharing economics as the company scales.

Five Rivers holds accreditations including NHSS 18 and is pre-qualified on multiple water utility and Environment Agency frameworks. Technical capability rests on its integrated design-build model, ecological field expertise, and use of survey technologies such as LiDAR, drones, and eDNA sampling for habitat characterisation. With a headcount of 51-100 employees, the firm positions itself between boutique ecological consultancies and large integrated engineering groups, competing on specialist domain depth, in-house delivery, and regulatory framework access. The 2024 leadership transition moved founder Jason Lovering to an Executive Chair role, with operational leadership reconfigured to support the next phase of growth.

Name

Five Rivers Environmental Contracting

Legal name

Five Rivers Environmental Contracting Ltd.

Website

https://five-rivers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Five Rivers Environmental Contracting is a UK environmental consultancy and contracting firm delivering nature-based solutions across rivers, wetlands, and aquatic ecosystems. It serves UK water utilities, government bodies, and infrastructure clients through integrated design, habitat restoration, and civil engineering services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Contracting Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Works General Contracting (IMAFAAAG)

Keywords

• Environmental consulting services
• River restoration contracting
• Ecological monitoring services
• Habitat creation services
• Civil engineering works

Headquarters

HQ city

Andover

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Environmental Consultancy: Ecological and environmental consulting services including monitoring, design, and advisory services
2. Design & Build Contracting: Design and construction delivery of nature-based solutions, river restoration, wetland creation, and civil engineering works
3. Civil Engineering Works: Wet civil engineering including sheet piling, fish passes, revetments, and infrastructure projects
4. Environmental Monitoring Services: Water quality monitoring, fish surveys, aquatic ecology assessments, and habitat monitoring

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Five Rivers Environmental Contracting is a UK-based specialist environmental consultancy and contracting firm that delivers nature-based solutions for river, wetland, and aquatic environments. The company integrates ecological surveying, design, habitat creation, mitigation, and civil engineering works into an end-to-end service covering initial assessment through to long-term (up to 30-year) monitoring. Services are delivered primarily to water utilities, infrastructure contractors, government bodies, wildlife trusts, and developers.

Product overview

FiveRivers is an environmental consultancy and contracting firm offering a comprehensive suite of nature-based solutions for environmental management. The company operates across five integrated service pillars: Monitoring Services (aquatic ecology, fish rescue and surveys, water quality monitoring, and hydrometry), Design & Consultancy (aerial surveys, design services, biodiversity net gain, and expert witness), Habitat Creation & Restoration (wetlands, river restoration, fish passage, erosion protection, and civil engineering), Ecological Mitigation (habitat translocation and species protection), and Civil Engineering. Services are delivered end-to-end from initial assessment and design through to construction and 30-year monitoring and maintenance, with particular expertise in watercourse biodiversity net gain, Water Framework Directive compliance, and WINEP frameworks for water utilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Natural Capital Services A service line helping public and private sector clients understand, value, and manage natural capital assets. Targeted at water companies, local authorities, landowners, and infrastructure clients seeking to quantify environmental benefits, biodiversity uplift, and ecosystem service value tied to development or conservation projects.
• Monitoring Services Ecological and hydrological monitoring covering aquatic ecology, fish rescue and removal, fish surveys (including European eel), hydrometry and telemetry, invasive species surveys, water quality monitoring and surveys, and macroinvertebrate sampling. Used by water utilities, environmental regulators, and conservation organisations to meet statutory monitoring obligations such as Water Framework Directive assessments.
• Design & Consultancy Environmental design and consultancy services encompassing aerial photography and LiDAR surveys, Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), outline and detailed design, river condition assessments (MoRPh), topographic surveys, WFD assessments, geomorphology services, biodiversity net gain planning, nutrient neutrality, and environmental expert witness work. Designed for water companies, infrastructure schemes, developers, and planning processes.
• Habitat Creation & Habitat Restoration Construction-phase delivery of river, wetland, and habitat restoration works including biodiversity net gain, constructed wetlands, erosion protection, fish passage creation, habitat translocation, natural flood management, nutrient neutrality solutions, peatland restoration, river restoration, saltmarsh restoration, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), wet civil engineering, wetland creation and restoration, boardwalks and revetments, and hibernacula creation. Delivered for water utilities, conservation trusts, developers, and public-sector clients.
• Ecological Mitigation Mitigation services supporting planning and development consents, including biodiversity offsetting, habitat translocation, wetland creation, hibernacula creation, tree planting, and Biodiversity Net Gain delivery. Targeted at developers, planning consultants, and infrastructure projects requiring ecological compensation.
• Civil Engineering Wet civil engineering contracting including boardwalks, revetments, fish passage structures, erosion protection, and in-channel construction works in aquatic and riparian environments. Delivered for water utilities, highways bodies, and infrastructure contractors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 22% Biodiversity Net Gain achieved on Lewes Winterbourne project
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mott MacDonaldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Mott MacDonald and Rivers Trusts for Anglian Water AMP7 River Restoration Framework. FiveRivers serves as primary supplier for Lots 3 and 4, with Mott MacDonald as project manager for collaborative delivery of river restoration solutions.
• South East Rivers TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on multiple river restoration and wetland creation projects including Chamber Mead wetland creation and Hogsmill project. Collaborative design and delivery with SERT.
• The Rivers TrustscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFramework partnership through which FiveRivers secured place as key supplier on Thames Water River Restoration Framework in partnership with The Rivers Trusts.
• AtkinsRealisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly Contractor Involvement collaboration on river restoration projects. AtkinsRealis consulted on ECI value and economic impact studies.
• WSPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Lewes Winterbourne project delivering ecological surveys for water voles, otters, and bats.
• BakerwellminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned to undertake Biodiversity Net Gain assessment on Lewes Winterbourne project.
• University of SouthamptonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduate placement partnership with Dr Linley Hastewell. Partnership has resulted in two Southampton graduates joining the business permanently. Expanding to include placements, research links and networking events.
• The Coca-Cola FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChamber Mead wetland creation was part of wider partnership between South East Rivers Trust and The Coca-Cola Foundation to help clean Britain's polluted rivers.
• Affinity WatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWINEP AMP7 River Restoration Framework partnership - awarded Lots 1 (Design) and 2 (Construction). Ongoing collaboration on multiple river restoration projects across Affinity Water region.
• Environment AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcoSF4 Framework award for specialist macroinvertebrate services (Lot 1) and fish passage design services (Lot 4). Long-standing client relationship.
• The Royal ParkscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongford River Revetment Framework award for revetment repairs and river restoration at Bushy Park and other Royal Parks locations.
• Nottinghamshire Wildlife TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on Water Vole Recovery Project for Natural England's Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme. FiveRivers delivered detailed designs for 10 hectares of water vole habitat.
• Herts & Middlesex Wildlife TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesign and build partnership for River Lea restoration project addressing low-flows, flood events and freshwater lagoon habitat improvements.
• Kingsmeadow PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Hogsmill River restoration ensuring alignment with upstream restoration works at Kingsmeadow.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Jeremy Benn Associates (JBA): UK-based environmental and water engineering consultancy providing river restoration, flood risk management, and ecology services to water utilities and government — closely overlapping FiveRivers' design/consultancy side.
• Land & Water Services: UK specialist civil engineering and environmental contracting firm delivering river restoration, wetland creation and watercourse construction — directly mirrors FiveRivers' design-build delivery model.
• Thomson Ecology: UK ecological and environmental consultancy covering aquatic ecology, BNG, habitat creation and monitoring — overlapping with FiveRivers' ecology and monitoring service lines.
• Ironside Farrar: Scotland-based environmental and landscape architecture consultancy with strengths in river restoration, BNG and SuDS — comparable boutique environmental player in the UK market.

Broad incumbents

• RSK Group: Large UK environmental and engineering services group offering ecological, water and contracting services across utilities — broader incumbent competing for the same framework agreements.
• Arcadis: Global design and consultancy firm with a sizeable UK water, environment and ecology practice; competes for Tier 1 contractor-led river restoration and BNG work.
• WSP: Global engineering consultancy that has partnered with FiveRivers on river projects (e.g., Lewes Winterbourne) and competes for AMP frameworks with end-to-end environmental capability.
• AtkinsRéalis: Global engineering and project management consultancy collaborating on FiveRivers' ECI engagements and also bidding independently for UK water utility river restoration frameworks.
• Mott MacDonald: Global engineering consultancy partnering with FiveRivers on the Anglian Water AMP7 River Restoration Framework and competing for adjacent EA/water-utility work.

Emerging players

• SLR Consulting: Global environmental and advisory consultancy with strong UK water, ecology and BNG practices — overlapping with FiveRivers' environmental monitoring and advisory offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FiveRiversEC
• Facebookfacebook.com/FiveRiversEnvironmentalContracting
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/five-rivers-environmental-contracting-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/fiveriversec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Five Rivers Environmental Contracting