Northern Archaeological Consultancy

What Northern Archaeological Consultancy does

Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd (NAC) is a privately held, Northern Ireland-based professional services firm providing archaeological consultancy to public and private sector clients. Founded in 1997 by Stephen Gilmore and Alan Reilly, the company is the longest established archaeological consultancy in Northern Ireland and operates from its headquarters at Farset Enterprise Park, Belfast. It employs 11-50 staff and operates exclusively within the Northern Ireland market, supporting clients through the archaeological requirements of the region's planning process — from desktop assessments and planning-stage heritage consultancy through to fieldwork surveys, excavation, and post-excavation analysis.

NAC delivers five integrated service modules: Desktop Assessment (desk-based studies, impact assessments, and expert witness work), Surveys (geophysical, auger, borehole, and historic building surveys using Trimble R8/R10 RTK systems and photogrammetric modelling to English Heritage Levels 1-3), Excavation & Post Excavation (mitigation works with in-house specialists in lithics, pottery, and brick), Community Archaeology (public engagement and community-led digs), and Heritage Consultancy (early-stage planning advice). The firm is ISO 9001 certified, Safe-T-Cert accredited, Constructionline registered, NVIR-O-CERT certified, and a corporate member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland and the Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers.

The company operates a project-based professional services revenue model, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Go-to-market is driven by direct client relationships, professional referrals, and the firm's established reputation with Northern Ireland's local planning authorities. Customer segments are split between public sector planning bodies requiring archaeological evaluations as planning conditions, and private developers across residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure projects (including windfarms, solar farms, pipelines, and roads). Notable community partnerships include Historic Royal Palaces (Hillsborough Castle, 2016) and the Cuilcagh to Cleanish Great Place Project (Arney Fort, 2019).

Name

Northern Archaeological Consultancy

Legal name

Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd

Website

https://northarc.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Northern Archaeological Consultancy is Northern Ireland's longest established archaeological consultancy, founded 1997, providing desktop assessments, surveys, excavation, and heritage consultancy to public planning authorities and private developers across the region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Archaeological Consultancy Services

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Historical Sites (712120)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAJADAG

Archaeological Sites & Heritage Interpretation Centers

Travel & Hospitality/Tours, Attractions & Experiences/Museums, Galleries & Cultural Institutions

Keywords

• Archaeological consultancy services
• Heritage impact assessment
• Archaeological excavation services
• Planning condition compliance
• Historic building surveys

Headquarters

HQ city

Belfast

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Archaeological Consultancy Services: Professional archaeological consultancy services provided to public and private sector clients for development projects. Services include desktop assessments, surveys, excavation, and post-excavation analysis.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Northern Archaeological Consultancy provides a comprehensive range of archaeological services to the public and private sectors across Northern Ireland, supporting development projects through the planning process. Offerings span desktop assessments and heritage consultancy, geospatial and historic building surveys (using Trimble RTK systems and photogrammetric modelling), excavation and mitigation works, and post-excavation analysis supported by an in-house soil processing facility and specialist lithics, pottery and brick analysis.

Product overview

Northern Archaeological Consultancy is a single-service firm providing archaeological consultancy to the public and private sectors in Northern Ireland. The company offers five integrated service modules: Desktop Assessment (desk-based studies, impact assessments, and expert witness services), Surveys (geospatial and physical site surveys using Trimble technology), Excavation & Post Excavation (archaeological mitigation works and comprehensive post-excavation analysis), Community Archaeology (public engagement and community-led excavations), and Heritage Consultancy (early-stage archaeological guidance). These services are designed to support clients through the planning process, from initial site evaluation through to discharge of archaeological conditions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Desktop Assessment Desk-based assessments conducted in advance of land purchase to identify archaeological issues early in the development process for developers and planning authorities. Includes archaeological impact assessments, cultural heritage assessments, chapters for Environmental Impact Statements, archaeological programmes and schemes of work, BH3 archaeological evaluations, and expert witness services for planning appeals.
• Archaeological Surveys Archaeological survey services including auger survey, borehole survey, site planning and setting out using Trimble R8/R10 RTK systems, targeted photogrammetric modelling, and historic building surveys following English Heritage Building Survey guidelines (Levels 1-3). Used by developers, planning authorities and heritage clients requiring accurate site documentation.
• Excavation & Post Excavation Archaeological excavation services for developments requiring mitigation works, including watching brief conditions, detailed site investigation, and post-excavation analysis. Offers in-house specialists for lithics, pottery and brick analysis plus soil processing facilities and comprehensive artefactual and environmental analyses for public and private sector clients.
• Community Archaeology Community engagement and public participation in archaeological investigations, enabling communities to directly participate in the preservation, investigation and enjoyment of local heritage. Includes community-led excavations, school visits, and talks to community groups for heritage organisations and community groups such as Historic Royal Palaces.
• Heritage Consultancy Guidance on how development might affect archaeological remains, identifying archaeological issues at early development stages and advising on design solutions to address identified archaeological concerns. Targeted at developers and planning authorities needing early-stage heritage advice within the Northern Ireland planning process.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Cuilcagh to Cleanish: A Great Place ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Community-led excavation project at the Scheduled Monument of Arney Fort, County Fermanagh completed in September 2019. Project focused on community engagement and heritage preservation.
• Historic Royal PalacescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Partnership to design and run a successful community excavation at Hillsborough Castle, County Down in 2016. This was a significant community archaeology project involving public engagement with heritage.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Oxford Archaeology: Major archaeological services organisation delivering consultancy, field investigation and post-excavation services for development and infrastructure projects across the UK and Ireland. Comparable services and clients, with substantially larger bench.
• Archaeological Development Services Ltd (ADS): Irish commercial archaeological consultancy delivering environmental and archaeological impact assessments, excavations and post-excavation analysis across the island of Ireland. Closely comparable to NAC's NI-focused service offering and customer base.
• Wessex Archaeology: One of the UK's largest archaeological consultancies offering the same desktop assessment, survey, excavation and post-excavation services across planning-led development work. Directly comparable service mix and customer base to NAC, but with national reach and far greater scale.
• AOC Archaeology: Archaeological consultancy offering heritage impact assessment, fieldwork and post-excavation services across the UK and Ireland. Comparable end-to-end development-led archaeology services to NAC.
• MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology): Large archaeological practice delivering planning-led archaeology, historic building recording and post-excavation across major infrastructure and development projects. Directly competes for the same types of commercial tenders as NAC.
• Cotswold Archaeology: UK-wide archaeological consultancy providing heritage assessments, fieldwork and post-excavation analysis for developers and planning authorities. Closely comparable offering to NAC across commercial development-led archaeology, with broader geographic coverage.
• Thames Valley Archaeological Services (TVAS): Mid-sized UK archaeological consultancy offering desk-based assessment, evaluation, excavation and post-excavation for developers and local authorities. Comparable mid-tier service profile to NAC.
• CFA Archaeology: Scottish-based commercial archaeology practice delivering desktop assessment, fieldwork and post-excavation for development and infrastructure projects. Comparable consultancy model and service stack to NAC, though regionally focused.
• Rubicon Heritage Services: Ireland-based archaeological and cultural heritage consultancy providing planning-led archaeological services and community archaeology. Highly comparable operational model to NAC, particularly relevant as an Irish peer given shared regulatory context.
• Headland Archaeology: Commercial archaeology firm providing integrated services from desk-based assessment through to publication, serving the same developer and infrastructure client base as NAC. Direct competitor for planning-condition mitigation work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/northarc

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Northern Archaeological Consultancy