A London-headquartered sustainability consultancy, formed in 1987 from a UK firm founded in 1971, that advises businesses on environmental, health, safety, risk and social issues around the world.
ERM, short for Environmental Resources Management, is a sustainability consultancy headquartered in London. It advises companies on environmental, health and safety, risk and social issues. A consulting-industry profile calls it the largest pure-play sustainability consulting firm and says it serves over half of the Fortune 500, a list of the biggest companies in the United States. In practice, that means ERM staff help businesses understand and reduce their effect on the planet and on communities, from measuring carbon emissions to assessing the environmental effects of big building projects.
According to Wikipedia, ERM Limited was formed in 1987 by merging a UK firm, ERL, founded in 1971, with a US firm, ERM, founded in 1977. The entry gives no named founders. The firm's work has included the environmental statement for High Speed 1 in the 1990s and environmental assessment work for part of High Speed 2. A consulting profile gives its stated long-term goal as to shape a more sustainable future. We could not fetch ERM's own website, so we have not quoted a mission statement from it. Wikipedia names Sabine Hoefnagel as interim chief executive, although leadership may have changed since then.
ERM's head office is at 33 St Mary Axe in the City of London, according to the consulting profile, and Wikipedia confirms London as the base. Wikipedia reports about 8,000 employees in 2023, while the profile gives about 5,500, and says it has more than 160 offices in over 40 countries. We only confirmed the London office and could not find a full list of other UK offices, so check ERM's website for locations near you. The 2026 consultancy.uk sustainability ranking also lists ERM among the leading UK sustainability consultancies in its top tier.
We found nothing reliable about culture and day-to-day working life, and we have not guessed. The sources suggest a large international firm where teams are organised by expertise and sector, and where work often means joining client projects with colleagues in other countries. Because many people in ERM's field build careers over many years, the firm's mixed UK and US roots, and its partners who hold part of the business, are worth asking about when you research it.
Roles in a consultancy like this include environmental scientists and engineers, climate and carbon specialists, health and safety experts, social and human rights advisers, data analysts and project managers, plus business development, finance, legal and human resources staff. Typical backgrounds are science, engineering, geography, economics and law. If you want a broad view of how companies tackle sustainability across many industries, a consultancy such as ERM is one of the clearest places to see it.
Website: www.erm.com
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