The Business

The trouble with building sites is that you can never be quite sure what lies beneath, and the increased focus on the redevelopment of brownfield sites has made the need to know what is in the soil, and the composition of the ground structure below, even more important.

This is where Harrison Group Environmental enters the picture. The Norwich based company, founded over 30 years ago, is one of the UK leaders in investigating construction sites and environmental issues. The company has evolved radically from its beginnings in 1977, when Harrison was founded by civil engineer David Harrison, company chairman. Then, the company offered site investigation services and piling and underpinning works. With increasing awareness of environmental issues in the 1980s, the company was divided to allow its separate activities a greater focus, and has developed a thriving environmental consultancy division.

Harrison local

Locally, Harrison has been involved in many of Norfolk’s major construction projects of recent years, including the Castle Mall shopping centre, the Riverside development, expansion of the UEA, Norwich market, and the Broadland Business Park. More recently, the decision to locate Palm Paper's new paper mill in King's Lynn called on the company's expertise to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment for the site, addressing the potential impacts of the development, from archaeology to water resources, cultural heritage to noise and vibration, from scoping the works through to preparation of the final Environmental Statement.

Harrison has also been involved with various successful wind farm projects in the region. Although the wind turbines that sometimes appear as a result of these have not always sat well with the local population, the company’s reputation for integrity and reliability ensures that all issues are correctly addressed.

2012 Olympics

Nationally, Harrison is playing an increasingly major role: following its success working on the Greenwich Peninsula, the firm was appointed one of three site investigation contractors to carry out geo-technical and contaminated land investigations at the Olympic Park in Stratford, and was the first company to break ground on the site in December 2005. They are still there, carrying out ground investigations along with ground water and gas monitoring. The Olympic project has been worth more than £3m to the company, and Harrison hopes to have continued involvement over the next two years.

Further Afield

Internationally, Harrison has offices in Malta and Greece, and currently has projects as far afield as Libya, where it has teamed up with Yarmouth-based Gardline to assess the impact of seismic survey activity on dolphins, whales and some fish species on Libya’s Mediterranean coast. (Seismic surveys are undertaken to identify geological structures associated with petroleum deposits in the seabed: it is Harrison’s and Gardline’s job to assess the effects of these). And in Vietnam, the company is working on an EU funded project to introduce environmental considerations into that country’s urban planning, where flood risk associated with climate change, waste management and water pollution take their toll, especially on poor communities.

Harrison Group recently completed a major review of its operations, with the aim of doubling its turnover in the next few years. The core businesses are geotechnical engineering and environmental consultancy. The growth of Harrison’s international profile has led to the establishment of Harrison International, where international development manager Guy Bradley aims to continue growing its overseas business. The geotechnical testing laboratory and site testing sections have been merged into a third division, Harrison Testing Services, which operates a UKAS accredited geoenvironmental laboratory.

People & Training

The company’s main assets are its staff, and while there are always new recruits in a rapidly expanding business, some people have been with the company for more than 20 years. Steve Williams the Group Managing Directorsays, “One of the most important factors in the continued success of the company is our ability to attract, develop and retain high calibre staff. We look for people with the right technical skills but they must also fit in with the existing culture that exists in the business and be able to offer added value to our clients.”

Currently employing over 50 staff, the company invests heavily in providing training. Director Martin Rickard said, “I cannot understand why so many small and medium firms still ignore the importance of providing training in the misplaced belief that another company will benefit, as the trained employee will move to a higher paid job elsewhere. In fact, the opposite is true: training is one of the most important factors in generating staff loyalty and retention.”

A close working relationship with the University of East Anglia benefits the company, the university, and Norfolk: Harrison provides opportunities for undergraduates and MSc students to undertake environmental, marketing and management projects. Recently, the group has provided work placements for undergraduates in their Year in Industry, and three of these Environmental Science students are currently employed by Harrison in Norwich.

http://www.harrisongroupuk.com/