NATUREBUREAU LIMITED

What NATUREBUREAU LIMITED does

NatureBureau Limited is a privately held UK ecological consultancy and specialist nature publisher headquartered in Newbury, West Berkshire, founded by Paul Goriup in 1990. The company operates as a single integrated business with two distinct service lines: (1) Ecology Services — terrestrial, coastal and marine ecological consulting covering bat surveys (including drone-based roof inspections), preliminary roost assessments, biodiversity audits, biodiversity net gain (BNG) assessments, habitat assessments, and protected species licensing work; and (2) Design and Publications — creative agency services producing conservation reports, editorial content and visual design for clients such as the Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest, alongside the Pisces Publications imprint and its e-commerce bookshop. Pisces Publications sells dozens of authoritative natural history titles — county floras, bryophyte atlases, entomology guides, pocket field guides — direct-to-consumer globally via the Bluepark-powered online shop, with unit prices ranging from £5.95 (pocket guides) to £50 (premium atlases).

The company serves a diversified client base including developers and property owners (planning-consent-driven surveys), Natural England, the European Commission Environment Directorate and EU CINEA, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, RSPB/BirdLife International, Eton College, conservation charities and land trusts, and individual naturalists and ecologists through the bookshop. Notable engagements include the 2024 EU CINEA seabed carbon dynamics contract (collaboration with Scottish Association for Marine Science, Nord University, Climazul) and ongoing work on the East Atlantic Flyway Initiative. Technology use is light but differentiated in one area: drone-based survey methods for hard-to-reach bat roosts, marketed as a safer, faster, lower-cost alternative to traditional access methods. The company is a CIEEM Registered Practice and its 2025 Highly Commended recognition for Small Consultancy of the Year was its first industry award.

Revenue mechanics combine project-based professional services fees (engagements such as bat surveys, BNG assessments, EU marine policy reviews) with unit-pricing on retail publishing through the online bookshop. Distribution is direct — consultancy via direct client engagement and the publishing arm via its own e-commerce storefront with international shipping. The business is founder-led with no disclosed institutional investment, acquisitions, or external funding rounds; headcount sits in the 11–50 range and recent senior hires (Dr Lissa Batey as Senior Marine Ecologist, June 2024) suggest measured capacity expansion aligned with contract wins.

Name

NATUREBUREAU LIMITED

Legal name

NatureBureau Limited

Website

https://naturebureau.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NatureBureau Limited is a UK-based ecological consultancy and specialist nature publisher (Pisces Publications) serving developers, government bodies (Natural England, European Commission), NGOs (RSPB), and naturalists through bat surveys, biodiversity assessments, and natural history book retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ecological Consultancy Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Terrestrial Ecology & Habitat Surveys (EUAHAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biodiversity Baseline Studies & Long-Term Monitoring Programs (EUAHAHAE), Natural Resource Inventory & Forest/Woodland Assessments (Timber, Vegetation, Invasives) (EUAHAHAG)

Keywords

• Ecological consultancy
• Wildlife publishing
• Bat surveys
• Biodiversity assessments
• Field guides

Headquarters

HQ city

Newbury

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Ecological Consultancy Services: NatureBureau provides terrestrial, coastal and marine ecology consulting services including bat surveys, biodiversity audits, habitat assessments, preliminary roost assessments, emergence surveys, and biodiversity net gain assessments. These are project-based professional service engagements.
2. Bookshop and Field Guide Publications: NatureBureau publishes and sells natural history books, field guides, floras, and atlases through its e-commerce bookshop under the Pisces Publications brand. Products include wildlife guides, entomology titles, bryophyte floras, and regional wildlife books sold directly to consumers and institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

NatureBureau provides professional terrestrial, coastal and marine ecology consultancy services, including bat surveys (with drone-based roof inspections), preliminary roost assessments, biodiversity audits, habitat assessments, and biodiversity net gain assessments, alongside creative design and natural history publishing through its Pisces Publications imprint (county floras, entomology and bryophyte atlases, and pocket field guides) sold via its own online bookshop. The company also produces conservation reports and editorial design for NGOs and public-sector clients.

Product overview

NatureBureau operates as one company with two core divisions: Ecology Services and Design/Publications. The Ecology division provides terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecology consulting including bat surveys, drone-based roof inspections, biodiversity audits, and marine strategy support. The Design and Publications division serves as both a creative agency producing conservation reports and communications, and as a book retailer for Pisces Publications—a publishing imprint specializing in wildlife, flora, entomology, and field identification guides. The product portfolio includes county floras (The Flora of Derbyshire, The Flora of Lanarkshire), the A Guide to Finding series of pocket field guides, entomology publications covering butterflies and insects, bryophyte atlases, and regional wildlife books. Products are sold through the NatureBureau Bookshop.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ecology Services Terrestrial, coastal and marine ecology consulting services including bat surveys, preliminary roost assessments, biodiversity audits, habitat assessments, biodiversity net gain assessments, and drone-based roof inspections for planning and licensing clients.
• Design and Publications Creative design service producing guides, reports and books that communicate conservation and ecological topics, including editorial content, visual design, layouts, graphics and illustrations for NGOs and public-sector clients.
• Bookshop Online retail store selling nature and ecology publications, field guides, floras and wildlife books published under the Pisces Publications imprint.
• Pisces Publications NatureBureau's publishing imprint producing specialised books on wildlife, ecology, entomology, bryophytes and field identification guides for Britain, Ireland and beyond.
• Flora Publications

Quantifiable outcome

• Pennyroyal conservation at Bray Pennyroyal Field SSSI achieved 'favourable condition' status from Natural England through a strategy combining grazing with mechanical soil disturbance, significantly expanding the rare plant's population
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest (ASR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025NatureBureau was commissioned by the Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest to design and produce the Saving Scotland's Rainforest Progress Report 2025. Design and Publications Manager Helen Walsh developed both the editorial content and visual design for the report and accompanying leaflet, covering five years of progress in restoring Scotland's temperate rainforest. The report was launched at the Scottish Parliament on World Rainforest Day.
• Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatureBureau has been a CIEEM member for over 30 years. Director of Ecology Paul Goriup is a Chartered Ecologist and Fellow of CIEEM and serves on the CIEEM Strategy Panel. NatureBureau was shortlisted and received Highly Commended at the CIEEM 2025 Awards. The company participates in CIEEM events including attending the National School and College Leavers Festival under the Green Jobs for Nature initiative.
• European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive AgencymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatureBureau secured an 18-month contract with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency for a project focused on seabed carbon dynamics in EU marine regions. This project involves collaboration with the Scottish Association of Marine Scientists, Nord University (Norway), and Climazul (Greece).
• RSPB / BirdLife InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatureBureau continued work in 2024 for the RSPB BirdLife International East Atlantic Flyway Initiative, conducting data analysis to determine optimal population levels for threatened lowland wet grassland waders and identifying critical sites for restoring their habitats across England, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
• IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and Species Survival CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPaul Goriup is an invited member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and the IUCN Species Survival Commission, contributing expertise to international biodiversity policy and protected area management.
• Knepp Rewilding ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPaul Goriup serves as a member of the scientific advisory panel for the Knepp Rewilding project, contributing ecological expertise to one of the UK's most prominent rewilding initiatives.
• Great Bustard GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPaul Goriup serves as a Trustee for the Great Bustard Group, dedicated to reintroducing the great bustard to Salisbury Plain. NatureBureau provides ongoing conservation expertise to support this reintroduction programme.
• Restore4Life (EU-funded Research Project)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRestore4Life is an EU-funded research initiative in which NatureBureau participates, promoting the restoration of ecological functions of degraded wetlands through nature-based solutions. NatureBureau is embedded in much of its wetland and floodplain-related work through Restore4Life.
• Natural EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatureBureau conducted comparative analysis of plant quadrat surveys for Natural England, evaluating differences in species presence and cover assessments. Results improved data collection for grassland habitat condition assessments, particularly for areas managed under agri-environment schemes.
• European Commission Environment DirectoratemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatureBureau supported the European Commission's Environment Directorate in implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, reviewing national reports from EU Member States. Additionally facilitated multinational workshops as part of the Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process contributing to the Nature Restoration Regulation, preparing technical briefs and multilingual Natura 2000 information materials.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• NatureMetrics: UK-based environmental DNA and biodiversity technology company offering species monitoring and ecological assessment services. Emerging competitor in the survey/assessment space with a tech-led, scalable delivery model.
• Habitat People's Trust (Habitat Aid): UK ecological consultancy providing habitat management, woodland advisory, and biodiversity audits. Comparable niche consultancy serving landowners and conservation organisations in the UK.

Direct peers

• Middlemarch Environmental: UK-based ecological consultancy providing similar terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology services including bat surveys, BNG assessments, and ecological impact assessments for developers and planning authorities. Closest direct competitor in size and service mix.
• Ecology by Design: Boutique UK ecological consultancy specialising in bat surveys, Preliminary Ecological Appraisals, and Biodiversity Net Gain assessments. Comparable in size and operating model, serving the same developer/landowner segment.
• Summerfield Books: UK independent bookshop specialising in natural history, ecology, and environmental science titles. Competes directly for the same specialist buyer purchasing field guides and conservation reference works.
• NHBS (Natural History Book Service): Largest UK specialist retailer of natural history books, wildlife guides, and ecological literature. Direct competitor to NatureBureau's Pisces Publications bookshop for the same ecologist, naturalist, and student customer base.
• Thomson Environmental Consultants: UK ecological consultancy delivering habitat surveys, protected species work, biodiversity net gain assessments, and marine ecology. Operates in the same developer and public sector segments with overlapping service lines.
• Pisces Conservation: UK publisher producing ecological software, distribution, and natural history publications including county floras and wildlife guides. Directly comparable publishing catalog despite different imprint name.

Broad incumbents

• WYG / Tetra Tech Environment: Large multinational environmental consultancy offering ecological surveys, BNG, and EIA services across the UK and globally. Competes on the same developer/landowner survey work but at a much larger scale with broader service portfolio.
• Bloomsbury Natural History: Major UK publisher with a Natural History imprint covering field guides, wildlife reference, and ecology titles (including A&C Black Helm and Collins Wild Guides). Competes for shelf space and author relationships in the same field-guide category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NatureBureau

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 NATUREBUREAU LIMITED