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Sustaining the UK’s natural capital
Award winning civil engineers, Land & Water Group celebrates 27 successful years in business
SUSTAINING THE UK’S NATURAL CAPITAL
Established 27 years ago, Land & Water Group has grown to become recognised as the UK’s thought leader for adaptive environmental engineering and civil engineering, driving change in the industry and learning to operate amongst the most sensitive natural capital in the UK.
In 1994, Land & Water Group was founded by James Maclean, current CEO at Land & Water Group, and Richard Melhuish, current Chairman. Initially specialising in lakes and canal maintenance, the business has since grown substantially to a family of businesses - Land & Water Services (environmental civil engineers), Land & Water Plant (providers of specialist machinery), Land & Water Remediation (habitat creation), Terraqua Environmental Solutions (aquatic plants and wetland works) and Geomac Ltd (marinas and property). Working collaboratively, the group is able to offer innovative, comprehensive solutions and works with prestigious clients including the Environment Agency, Thames Tideway Tunnel, The Olympic Delivery Authority and the Canal & River Trust.
With a focus on innovation and a dedication to protecting the environment, Land & Water Group is at the forefront of the industry. This includes the development of bespoke plant and machinery, and the continued drive to reuse waste and enhance habitats wherever they work.
Not only this, wellbeing of its staff is at the heart of everything it does,
Land & Water CEO, James Maclean employing 190 people across a range of roles, including a successful cohort of young apprentices. From site labour to chartered professionals, Land & Water Group is renowned as a leading employer in the industry, with a dedicated wellbeing officer and mental health support offered around the clock for those in need, at work or at home. “Family values and partnerships up and down our supply chains underpin our behaviours” recounts CEO James Maclean. “As a business, we are full of people who are passionate about caring for our coastline and the nation’s network of rivers, streams, wetlands and waterways. Our people are definitely our most valuable asset. We ensure that people join us in a career where they can reach their full potential in whichever role that may be, and we spend time working in preserving our culture as we grow towards a net zero society, asking for feedback and listening to our teams.
“From modest beginnings 27 years ago, our business has grown and flourished.
As a group we recognise that we need to support the changing landscape and environments we live in. Our ultimate objective is to leave the world in a better place, a value Richard Melhuish and I hold true to this day. We love to innovate to solve our clients’ problems, and we celebrate building relationships that will be sustained in the longer-term.” The work Land & Water Group is doing is becoming increasingly relevant as we feel the increasing afflictions of climate change and as we mobilise our plans to achieve a net zero society. We are playing our part in the transformation, setting industry standards with the use of HVO (plant based) fuels, establishing a Carbon Team which looks at how we buy, behave, construct and think and scores our improvements. We 100% recognise that the combined effects of an ever-increasing global population and climate change will drive new ideas, industries and strategies in the space we are in.
One of the major projects Land & Water is currently working on is its wetland habitat creation on the River Thames at Rainham Marshes - the largest habitat creation project ever constructed inside the M25 and London’s biggest wildlife haven. The project involves creating a significant area of new wetland habitat from re-engineered spoils, coupled with a strategic investment in riverside infrastructure to support significant projects along the Thames Corridor for decades to come. We’re thinking about the future of the River Thames and how Land & Water can play an integral part in using it in different and creative ways. Our plan involves using the wharf as an opportunity for logistics and supplying commodities into and out of London. We hope our hub will feed a fleet of electric distribution vehicles deep inside the city, which will have a positive longterm effect on the environment, and ease congestion.
We are also funding some fascinating research into reed-bed and wetlands, writing a carbon code for these valuable natural assets and potentially enhancing their carbon sequestration performance. This is environmental engineering for the future.
At the same time our core businesses continues to expand and we are currently building an exciting new UK holiday destination at Shakespeare Marina at Stratford-upon-Avon, supported by NatWest Bank. Our relationship with NatWest has been exemplar, we have a partnership that understands where our business is going and a Relationship Director, who understands our longerterm strategies.
Land & Water Group aims to stay at the forefront of innovation in the civil engineering sector, continuing to provide solutions with regards to sustainability issues, supporting its employees and customers and building on its specialist knowledge of environments where land and water meet.
