What The Fifth Business does

The Fifth Business's available source material describes ERM (Environmental Resources Management), operated under the legal entity The ERM International Group Limited, a privately held UK-incorporated sustainability consultancy founded circa 2000, as evidenced by the firm's copyright notice spanning 2000–2026. ERM operates as a global professional services firm offering sustainability-related advisory and transformation services to enterprise clients across nine vertical sectors: Chemical, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Mining & Metals, Oil & Gas, Power, Renewables, Technology/Media & Telecommunications, and Pharmaceutical. The firm markets an extensive solution portfolio spanning assurance & certification, capital projects & infrastructure, carbon markets, circular economy, clean energy procurement & risk management, climate & net zero, compliance & auditing, data & digital, EHS management, energy transition, health & safety, M&A and transactions advisory, nature & water, product stewardship, remediation & regeneration, reporting & disclosure, social impact & human rights, strategy & transformation, supply chain, sustainable finance, training, and visual communication & design.

Within this portfolio, the source specifically examines the firm's Strategic Change & Cultural Transformation capability, a human-centered change management practice that integrates behavioral strategies with technical expertise. ERM describes a five-stage engagement approach — Explore, Develop, Involve, Build, Sustain — and assembles cross-functional teams from four disciplines: change management, competency & learning, communications, and creative design. The firm emphasizes alignment across organizational levels ('from boots to boardroom') to translate evolving sustainability standards and stakeholder expectations into new mindsets, behaviors, and resilient operating models.

ERM's business model is a fee-for-service professional services model with globally distributed direct client engagement; specific pricing, contract structures, customer counts, and revenue figures are not disclosed in the provided source material. Distribution is direct enterprise sales rather than channel-based or productized, and the firm markets its capabilities through its corporate website (erm.com) and social platforms (X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube). No AI/ML, API, or technology platform disclosures are present in the source.

Name

The Fifth Business

Legal name

The ERM International Group Limited

Website

https://fifthbusiness.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Global sustainability consultancy providing enterprise advisory and change management services across nine industry verticals including chemical, manufacturing, energy, mining, financial services, and technology, focused on transforming organizations to meet evolving ESG and net zero expectations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Advisory (BPAHAFAA)

Keywords

• Sustainability consulting
• Change management
• Environmental advisory
• EHS management
• Carbon markets

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Fifth Business (operating as ERM) is a global sustainability consultancy that sells change management, competency and learning, communications, and creative design services to enterprise clients. The firm helps organizations respond to evolving sustainability standards by aligning workforces from "boots to boardroom" through behavioral strategies, leadership development, and stakeholder engagement. Services are packaged under the Strategic Change & Cultural Transformation capability and delivered alongside technical sustainability specialists across multiple industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Change Management Structured change management service that empowers people by enabling new ways of working, developing skills, and driving confidence and performance across the organization. Targeted at enterprise clients pursuing sustainability transformation.
• Competency & Learning Tailored learning programs that blend leadership development, learning theory, and organizational strategy to improve business outcomes for enterprise clients undergoing transformation.
• Communications Communications advisory service that assists clients and specific teams with communicating their role in shaping and delivering transformation messages to internal and external stakeholders.
• Creative Design Visual communication service that helps clients communicate their programs, messages, and change roadmaps through compelling visual tools, enabling change to be understood and sustained.

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles9 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WSP: Earth & environment and climate-change advisory practice inside a major engineering consultancy, serving power, mining, oil & gas, and infrastructure clients globally — directly comparable to ERM's EHS, energy transition, and climate capability set.
• Ramboll: Denmark-based engineering, environment, and sustainability consultancy with deep chemicals, oil & gas, manufacturing, and renewable energy exposure; its integrated sustainability and transformation advisory offering directly overlaps ERM's sector + capability model.
• SLR Consulting: Global environmental and sustainability consultancy serving mining, oil & gas, infrastructure, manufacturing, and finance clients — a close mid-to-large pure-play comparator in transformation, EHS, and climate advisory.
• Arcadis: Global design, engineering, and sustainability consultancy that serves many of the same heavy-asset verticals (energy, chemicals, manufacturing, mining) and offers change- and transformation-adjacent advisory alongside environmental services, making it one of the closest large-scale comparables to ERM.

Emerging players

• Anthesis Group: Pure-play sustainability consultancy focused on ESG strategy, climate advisory, supply chain and disclosure work; smaller and more product-tilted than ERM but increasingly competing for the same corporate sustainability and transformation engagements.

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company (Sustainability practice): Global strategy consultancy whose Sustainability and Organization practices compete for transformation, operating model redesign, and change-management work with the same heavy-asset and consumer-facing clients as ERM.
• McKinsey & Company (Sustainability & Climate practice): Top-tier strategy firm with a large dedicated Climate and Sustainability practice offering transformation, organizational change, and net-zero strategy that directly competes with ERM on C-suite transformation mandates.
• Jacobs: Major science and technology consultancy with a Critical Mission Solutions and cyber/environment portfolio that competes for energy transition, climate adaptation, and large transformation mandates across many of ERM's core sectors.
• AECOM: Mega-cap infrastructure and environmental services firm whose climate, ESG advisory, and program management practices compete for the same transformation, EHS, and reporting mandates across the same heavy-asset verticals as ERM, though as part of a much broader services portfolio.
• Stantec: Global engineering and environmental services firm with a growing sustainability, climate, and ESG advisory practice serving energy, infrastructure, mining, and community development clients — comparable in vertical mix to ERM though more asset-heavy in delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fifthbusiness
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ERMGlobal
• Facebookfacebook.com/ERMGlobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/erm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The Fifth Business