Octavius Infrastructure, formerly the rail and highways division of the Geoffrey Osborne until its disposal in 2021, is now part of RSK.
Octavius and its 700 employees will continue to operate under the leadership of chief executive John Dowsett, with Matt Smith and Gavin Pritchard continuing as managing directors for the rail and highways respectively.
The addition of Octavius marks a pivotal step for RSK in the transport infrastructure sector, extending it from its consultancy roots into tier one main contracting.
Octavius recorded turnover of 拢322.9m for the year to 31st March 2025 (2024: 拢276.7m) with pre-tax profit rising to 拢8.6m (2024: 拢4.7m).
RSK Group turned over 拢2,241m in the year to 5th April 2025, up 21% over the previous year helped by 11 acquisitions during the year. However, it made a pre-tax loss of 拢124.5m and has not made a profit since 2017, focusing instead on acquisitions to maintain revenue growth.
RSK started out as an environmental engineering consultancy but to maintain growth has moved far and wide in its acquisitions, from steel fabrication and drilling to garden nurseries and public relations.
Octavius chief executive John Dowsett said: 鈥淚 am very excited about joining the RSK Group and embarking on the next stage of the Octavius journey. Having thrived under the ownership of Sullivan Street Partners, expanding our capabilities, reputation, revenue and profitability, RSK feels like the natural long-term home for us to continue our ambitious growth plans.
鈥淲e will retain our proud Octavius brand and maintain a strong level of autonomy, while enjoying a wealth of support from the considerable expertise within the RSK Group. We have a strong cultural fit with RSK, with complementary strengths, and share a vision for ambitious but sustainable growth, delivered with an unwavering commitment to the safety, health and wellbeing of our people and our environment. I am looking forward to working closely with the RSK leadership team and our partner businesses to deliver the Octavius vision of being the most respected transport infrastructure provider.鈥�
RSK founder and chief executive Alan Ryder said: 鈥淚 am very proud to see Octavius, a high quality and trusted partner in the UK rail and highway sectors, choose RSK as its long-term home. John and his team have built a remarkable business, and I look forward to working with them as they continue to lead Octavius through many more successes.鈥�
He added: 鈥淚nfrastructure is one of RSK鈥檚 core strategic growth markets and, in Octavius, we have found a large, well-established business with a proven track record in safety-critical infrastructure delivery. With many complementary businesses already in the group, we see significant opportunity for collaboration, further improving the value we can bring to our shared client base.鈥�
Layton Tamberlin,聽 founding partner of Sullivan Street, said: 鈥淥ur journey with Octavius has been a fantastic one. From carving out the business, to executing the organic growth plan and adding additional capabilities through add-ons, the business has been transformed into a national player of considerable scale. It has been a pleasure working with this excellent management team throughout our ownership, and we have every confidence that Octavius will continue to thrive as part of RSK Group.鈥�
Current Octavius projects include the refurbishment of Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight and Waterloo Station roof, the construction of new railway stations at Okehampton and Charfield, the A46 Walsgrave junction upgrade, the construction of a new link road in Colchester and completion of the newly opened A140 Long Stratton Bypass.
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