ADAS (company)

Adas
Industry Environmental consultancy and services
Founded 1997
Headquarters UK
Revenue c.£31m
Number of employees
 450+ (2014)
Website http://www.adas.uk/

Adas is the UK’s largest independent agricultural and environmental consultancy and provider of rural development and policy advice.[1] ADAS provides independent science-based research, consultancy and contracting services to a wide range of organisations in both the private and public sectors, throughout the UK and internationally.

History

The UK's National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAAS) was established in 1946 as the advisory and research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) because of the harsh food rationing of World War II that continued in the UK into the early 1950s. Plant pathology, entomology, soil and other specialist advisers throughout the country advised farmers and growers how to maximise their output.

The NAAS was rebranded as ADAS in 1971. In 1992, ADAS became an Executive Agency of MAFF until the business was privatised in 1997.

In 2016 the business, operating assets and employees of ADAS were acquired by environmental consultancy, RSK.[2]

Company Info

ADAS operates from 16 principal sites throughout the UK. The business employs 300 staff on permanent or fixed-term contracts and calls on a further 250 on contingent terms.

ADAS has a large number of customers in the UK and abroad ranging from small rural enterprises to major corporations, government departments and agencies, including:

  • National Government Departments and Agencies
  • Utility companies, forestry, countryside and environmental organisations
  • Rail, road and house builders, industrial companies and commercial developers
  • Food processing, retailing, manufacturing and packaging industries
  • Farmers and growers, levy bodies and the agricultural and horticultural supply industries

Farmer's Voice is an annual farming survey (held up till 2006 at least)[3]

Business Structure

ADAS Group has two major brands – ADAS and Cambridge Environmental Assessments (CEA). These businesses cover the following areas:

  • Soils, Crops & Water: Provision of applied research and knowledge transfer, focusing on the development of sustainable and profitable crop production systems including implementation of pest, disease and weed management strategies, improving arable and horticultural crop performance, development of biomass and biofuel crops and use of natural plant products in new markets. Protection and management of soils. Water use and quality. Investigation and evidence collection. Policy and economics.
  • Sustainable Food and Farming: Provision of applied research, and strategic consultancy to government, levy and corporate clients to help them develop their businesses and strategy. Delivery of applied research; interpretation of evidence and advice on its impact and implications. Particular focus on helping corporate organisations improve their supply chain resilience and sustainability. Livestock and crops.
  • Agriculture and Land Management: Provision of on-farm implementation of advice and programmes for government and other regional clients. Farm business advice, technical assistance and solutions for infrastructure. Pipeline construction impact advice. Catchment management advice for water companies, government and corporate. Consultancy and land management advice for farmers, growers and land owners.
  • Environment: Provision of consultancy and research focusing on ecology, arboriculture, forestry, land management, soils, archaeology, landscape, wayleaves and planning underpinned by expertise in data capture, GIS, modelling and software development. Delivering environmental solutions to landowners, developers and utility providers, from small residential developments to nationally significant major infrastructure projects, with a practical, reliable and responsive service.
  • Biotechnology: Development of novel serological tests for both veterinary and human diagnostics. Isolation of subunit vaccine candidates for application within veterinary medicine. Development of immunoreagents and their application within different immunoassay formats for detection of a variety of analytes. Development of novel assays to measure disease associated misfolded proteins, with a specific expertise in the biology of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Development and application of molecular biology/DNA based tests to detect environmental DNA within aquatic environments for monitoring endangered or invasive species. Biotechnology also operate a commercial service for the detection of GCN eDNA within environmental water samples.
  • Chemicals in the Environment (CIE): Specialists in regulatory environmental risk assessments for chemicals, providing strategic support for product registrations across Europe. In addition to desk-based support, CIE offer bespoke higher tier aquatic (mesocosms and laboratory studies) and terrestrial ecotoxicological field and environmental fate studies according to GLP. Some CIE services are marketed and delivered within the separate brand Cambridge Environmental Assessments (CEA).

References

  1. ↑ "RSK". Environment Analyst. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  2. ↑ "RSK buys ADAS". Environment Analyst. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  3. ↑ "ADAS Farmers' Voice survey reveals a lack of respect for farm community". Farmers Weekly. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
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