What The Bates Partnership does

The Bates Partnership is a UK-based specialist consultancy (legally structured as Anthony D Bates Partnership LLP) founded in 1976 that provides expert advisory services across the dredging, harbour, and offshore sectors. The firm delivers services through twelve distinct consulting modules covering the full project lifecycle—from feasibility studies and strategy reports, through licensing, environmental planning, design, contracts, procurement, and on-site supervision, to expert witness and dispute resolution. Specific service lines include maintenance dredging, capital dredging, surveying and investigations, land reclamation, beach replenishment, mineral dredging, energy and offshore projects, remedial dredging, and training. The partners collectively hold in excess of 80 years of combined specialised professional experience in dredging and hydrographic survey.

The company targets government and maritime infrastructure clients, with more than 70% of its workload traditionally in the UK and Ireland and the remainder spread across over 30 countries globally. It has completed over 700 projects since inception, accumulating 48+ years of continuous industry presence. The firm emphasises a personal, partnership-based engagement model and positions itself as a leading independent advisory in the global dredging market.

Its business model is project-based consultancy: clients engage the firm directly for expert advice and supervision on dredging-related projects, with pricing likely quote-based and project-specific. The firm has no software products, no proprietary technology platform, no disclosed AI or automation capabilities, and no publicly disclosed revenue, funding, or headcount growth data. Marketing is conducted primarily through its website, and distribution is exclusively via direct enterprise engagement by the partners.

Name

The Bates Partnership

Legal name

Anthony D Bates Partnership LLP

Website

https://anthonybates.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bates Partnership is a UK-based specialist dredging, harbour, and offshore consultancy that advises government and maritime infrastructure clients across all project stages—from feasibility through dispute resolution—operating in over 30 countries worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Dredging Consultancy Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations (213112), Support Activities for Mining (2131)

SIC

Construction - Special Trade Contractors (1700)

akta.pro primary industry

Dredging & Channel Deepening (Capital & Maintenance) (IMAFAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD), Marine Service Provider Coordination (Diving, Inspection, Class/Survey Support) (TLAHAJAI)

Keywords

• Dredging consultancy
• Harbour engineering
• Offshore consulting
• Marine infrastructure
• Coastal engineering

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Bates Partnership provides expert dredging, harbour and offshore consultancy services across the full project lifecycle, from feasibility studies and licensing through design, implementation, contracts and procurement, on-site supervision, and dispute resolution. The firm advises government bodies, port authorities, and private sector clients on maintenance dredging, capital dredging, land reclamation, beach replenishment, mineral dredging, energy and offshore works, surveying, environmental compliance, and serves as expert witness in dredging disputes.

Product overview

The Bates Partnership is a specialized consulting consultancy providing expert advisory services across all aspects of the dredging industry. The company operates as a unified service offering rather than a software platform, with its portfolio comprising 12 distinct consulting service modules: Dredging Feasibility & Strategy Reports, Maintenance Dredging, Capital Dredging, Surveying & Investigations, Land Reclamation, Beach Replenishment, Licensing & Environmental, Expert Witness & Dispute Resolution, Mineral Dredging, Energy & Offshore, Remedial Dredging, and Training. These services support clients at every project stage from feasibility studies through licensing, design, implementation, contracts, procurement, on-site supervision, and dispute resolution. The company has operated in over 30 countries with a track record of 700+ projects completed.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dredging Feasibility & Strategy Reports Feasibility studies for projects where the main requirement is dredging or dredging-related work, supporting government and maritime infrastructure clients in evaluating project viability.
• Maintenance Dredging Advisory services to maintain water depths in areas where sedimentation occurs, typically for ports, harbours, and navigation channels.
• Capital Dredging Consulting on capital dredging operations, defined as the removal of material from beneath water to create a greater depth than had previously existed.
• Surveying & Investigations Surveying and investigation support for capital or maintenance dredging, beach recharge, land reclamation, or maritime construction projects.
• Land Reclamation Consulting services for land reclamation projects, increasingly common in coastal and waterfront development.
• Beach Replenishment Advisory and supervisory services for proposed beach re-charge projects, tailored to client needs.
• Licensing & Environmental Environmental planning and engineering services supporting licensing and compliance for a wide range of dredging and maritime clients.
• Expert Witness & Dispute Resolution Expert witness and dispute resolution services for dredging and hydrographic survey disputes, backed by over 80 years combined partner experience.
• Mineral Dredging Specialist consulting service in mineral dredging operations.
• Energy & Offshore Consulting services for outfalls, landfalls, and SPM (Single Point Mooring) projects, leveraging hands-on experience across all phases.
• Remedial Dredging Environmental dredging services for remediation purposes, also known as remedial dredging.
• Training Training services in dredging and related disciplines, provided by The Bates Partnership.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• COWI: Large international engineering consultancy with an established marine, coastal and dredging practice that competes for similar port, harbour and offshore infrastructure advisory mandates at greater scale.
• WSP: Global professional services firm with maritime and coastal engineering capabilities that bundles dredging advisory into broader infrastructure programmes for similar government and developer clients.
• Arcadis: Global design and consultancy firm with a maritime and coastal resilience practice that competes for port, harbour and dredging advisory work as part of wider infrastructure mandates.
• Royal HaskoningDHV: Large global engineering consultancy with a dedicated maritime and dredging practice offering feasibility, design and supervision services across the same client base, but as part of a much broader multi-disciplinary portfolio.

Direct peers

• Witteveen+Bos: Dutch engineering consultancy with a strong maritime, dredging and hydraulic engineering practice delivering feasibility, design and supervision services to port authorities and reclamation developers in comparable project types.
• HR Wallingford: Independent hydraulics and dredging research and consultancy firm, also based in the UK, with comparable specialisation in dredging feasibility, sedimentation and hydrographic survey advisory for ports and harbours worldwide.
• Baird & Associates: Specialist coastal and maritime engineering consultancy focused on ports, harbours, dredging and coastal protection, with a comparable boutique service model targeting similar government and infrastructure clients globally.
• Moffatt & Nichol: Coastal, port and maritime engineering consultancy providing dredging advisory, design and supervision services to similar public and private port clients across multiple geographies.

Others

• Royal Boskalis Westminster: Major global dredging and marine contractor that is both a potential client (purchasing dredging advisory) and adjacent participant in the same value chain; comparable as the largest single buyer of specialised dredging consultancy services.
• Jan De Nul Group: Large international dredging and marine contractor that procures specialist consultancy support for its capital and maintenance dredging projects, making it a key buyer-side counterpart to The Bates Partnership's advisory services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/anthony-d-bates-partnership-llp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 The Bates Partnership