What Clarkson & Woods does

Clarkson & Woods is a UK ecological consultancy headquartered in Blackford, Somerset, providing protected species surveys, habitat assessments, ecological site works, specialist planning advice, and biodiversity monitoring for clients across housing and commercial development, the renewables sector (notably solar farms), local authorities, infrastructure projects, private residential work, and research/charities. The firm was founded as Michael Woods Associates, with Tom Clarkson assuming the Managing Director role around 2010 and rebranding the business to Clarkson & Woods; the team has since grown from four to twenty-five ecologists, administrators, and managers. The company won CIEEM's Best Medium Consultancy of the Year in 2019 and was commended in 2023, and operates a permanent four-day working week (32 hours at full pay) following a successful trial.

The firm's technical platform rests on standardized ecological survey methodologies combined with proprietary field-data workflows: a Solarview protocol for monitoring biodiversity on solar farms, developed jointly with Wychwood Biodiversity and Solar Energy UK, supports walk-over surveys, botanical quadrat sampling, butterfly and bumblebee transects, and bird surveys across 100+ sites. Principal Ecologist Harry Fox is recognised as a UK authority on artificial lighting design for bats, having co-developed national guidance with the Bat Conservation Trust and Institute of Lighting Professionals; Tom Clarkson sits on the Mammal Society's Scientific Advisory Committee. Co-authored publications, including the Solar Habitat annual reports with Solar Energy UK, Lancaster University, and Wychwood Biodiversity, and contributions to the Solar Energy UK Natural Capital Best Practice Guidance, position the firm as both a service provider and a shaper of UK industry standards.

Clarkson & Woods commercialises through project-based professional services engagements with quote-based pricing tied to scope, species, site complexity, and survey season. Customers are acquired through direct engagement, referrals, and repeat business from established relationships; distribution is entirely UK-domestic. Notable named clients include EDF Renewables, Eden Project, Bloor Homes, Bath and North East Somerset Council, and Maundrils Farm. Revenue is private and not publicly disclosed; the firm operates with no external funding, parent company, or known M&A activity, and has positioned itself as an employee-focused consultancy with formal wellbeing policies.

Name

Clarkson & Woods

Legal name

Clarkson Woods

Website

https://clarksonwoods.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UK ecological consultancy in Blackford, Somerset, providing protected species surveys, habitat assessments, specialist planning advice, and biodiversity monitoring for housing developers, solar farm operators, local authorities, infrastructure projects, and private clients across the United Kingdom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ecological Consultancy Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Terrestrial Ecology & Habitat Surveys (EUAHAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ecological Restoration Planning & Monitoring (Habitat, Wetland, Stream) (EUAHAHAF), Conservation, Restoration & Biodiversity Services (Habitat, Wetlands, Riparian) (IMAMAJAH)

Keywords

• Ecological consultancy services
• Protected species surveys
• Habitat assessment services
• Biodiversity monitoring
• Wildlife compliance consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Blackford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Ecological Consultancy Services: Project-based professional services providing ecological surveys, assessments, mitigation design, planning advice, and monitoring for developers, homeowners, local authorities, and other clients requiring wildlife compliance for planning and development projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Clarkson & Woods provides ecological survey, assessment, and consultancy services covering protected species (bats, badgers, great crested newts, reptiles, dormice, birds) and habitats for planning, development, and land management projects. Deliverables include Phase 1 habitat surveys, UKHAB assessments, species-specific surveys and licensing, mitigation design, ecological monitoring, habitat creation, and expert planning advice including representation at Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

Product overview

Clarkson & Woods is an award-winning ecological consultancy offering a comprehensive suite of survey, assessment, and consultancy services for wildlife and biodiversity. The company operates across multiple sectors (private homeowners, local authorities, housing developers, renewables) and specialises in protected species surveys (bats, badgers, great crested newts, reptiles, dormice, birds) and habitat assessments. The core consultancy services include habitat survey, specialist planning advice, ecological site works, monitoring, habitat creation, and research. The company also produces proprietary research publications including Solarview (annual solar farm biodiversity monitoring reports since 2018) and Solar Habitat (annual report co-authored with Solar Energy UK, Wychwood Biodiversity, and Lancaster University since 2023), which aggregate ecological data from solar farms to track biodiversity trends and inform best practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bat Surveys

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% nest box uptake rate demonstrating high effectiveness of bird mitigation and enhancement measures
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Bat Conservation TrustmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Collaborated with Bat Conservation Trust and Institute of Lighting Professionals to develop national guidance on Bats and Artificial Lighting in the UK. Principal ecologist Harry Fox widely regarded as leading authority on artificial lighting design for bats.
• Solar Energy UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-authors of Solar Habitat annual reports and developers of standardized ecological monitoring methodology for solar farms. Clarkson & Woods contributes monitoring data and expertise to inform policy and best practice guidelines for solar farm biodiversity management.
• Lancaster UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partnership for solar farm biodiversity studies. Collaborated on SPIES tool development for improving biodiversity-led management within operational arrays, and contributed to Solar Habitat reports analyzing data from 124+ solar farms.
• Wychwood BiodiversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of standardized solar farm monitoring methodology and co-authorship of Solar Habitat reports. Long-standing collaboration in ecological research and biodiversity assessment.
• Natural EnglandmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAwarded contract in 2018-2019 to survey over 600 waterbodies for great crested newt environmental DNA across Somerset, Dorset, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Work formed basis of emerging district licensing system.
• FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on pond enhancement work at Maundrils Farm under climate change resilience fund, working together on agricultural conservation projects.
• Mammal SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerManaging Director Tom Clarkson represents the Mammal Society on the Biodiversity in Planning Partnership and sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee.
• Bath and North East Somerset Council (BaNES)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConducted large-scale bat survey project along river Avon in Bath, developing planning guidance with Natural England that recognizes the river corridor as functionally linked land of equal value to the SAC.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SLR Consulting: Global environmental consultancy with a substantial UK ecology practice delivering EIA, habitat and species work to renewables, infrastructure and development clients—overlapping segment but with much wider service breadth.
• Arcadis: Global design and consultancy firm with UK ecology, biodiversity and environmental impact capabilities serving property, infrastructure and renewables clients—a broad incumbent with overlapping but wider offerings.
• RSK Group: UK-headquartered environmental and engineering services group operating a sizeable ecology and biodiversity practice (including ADAS), serving the same developer, infrastructure and renewables clients as Clarkson & Woods from a national platform.
• Jacobs: Global professional services firm with UK-based environmental, ecology and biodiversity teams supporting major infrastructure, energy and planning projects across the same client base as Clarkson & Woods.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consultancy with a UK environment and ecology practice serving renewables, development and infrastructure clients with overlapping EIA, biodiversity and habitat services.
• WSP: Major global professional services firm with a UK ecology and environmental team delivering habitat surveys, protected species work and EIA for property, infrastructure and energy clients—a broader competitor in adjacent services.
• Mott MacDonald: Global engineering and development consultancy with established UK ecology, environmental and biodiversity services supporting housing, infrastructure and renewables projects—an overlapping capability set at much greater scale.

Direct peers

• greengage environmental: UK-based ecological consultancy providing protected species surveys, habitat assessments and ecological support to developers, local authorities and infrastructure clients; similar size and sector mix to Clarkson & Woods.
• Wychwood Biodiversity: UK ecological consultancy specializing in solar farm and renewables biodiversity monitoring; co-author with Clarkson & Woods of the Solar Habitat reports and joint developer of the standardized solar monitoring methodology.
• ADAS Group: Long-standing UK environmental and ecological consultancy (now part of RSK) offering protected species surveys, habitat assessment and environmental impact work to agriculture, planning and infrastructure clients—directly overlapping Clarkson & Woods' core service lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/clarkson_woods
• Facebookfacebook.com/clarksonwoods
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/michael-woods-associates

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 Clarkson & Woods