Hatch buys RobertsDay

Global consulting and engineering firm Hatch has expanded its Australian presence by purchasing Perth-based urban planning firm RobertsDay.

The sale comes 27 years after town planners Erwin Roberts and Mike Day established their business in Perth.

RobertsDay has since expanded nationally and has 50 people across five offices, with about half in WA.

Mr Day, who has been based in Melbourne since 2005, said his firm will become part of Hatch’s urban solutions business.

Urban solutions is a small part of Hatch, with about 120 people, and was not previously represented in Australia.

Mr Day said Hatch was attracted to the work RobertsDay was doing in the area of transit-oriented development while he was attracted to some of the long-term visionary planning Hatch was undertaking.

He said the combination would give Australian staff better access to Hatch’s intellectual property and provide more career opportunities for its people.

“By harnessing the combined potential of both companies, we can secure the most exciting projects and open up new career opportunities, while remaining true to RobertsDay’s original ethos,” he said.

Mr Day said he intended to keep on working in the business for as long as he was wanted, adding that all the equity partners in RobertsDay (about 12 people) had taken shares in Hatch.

Mr Roberts is not part of the deal as he retired last year.

Toronto-based Hatch is an employee-owned company with 9,000 staff across 50 countries including about 200 in Perth.

It is best-known in WA for its engineering work on mineral processing projects, in sectors like alumina, iron ore and lithium.

Hatch chairman and CEO John Bianchini said the challenges facing his clients in designing, delivering, and managing urban environments were increasing in size and complexity.

“The integration of Hatch and RobertsDay sets us up to take the lead on these challenges and create positive change for clients and communities worldwide,” Mr Bianchini said.

RobertsDay managing director Martine White said the combination would bring together its urban design and placemaking skills with Hatch’s urban solutions expertise in social and economic strategy and consulting.  

RobertsDay has worked on about 1,400 public and private projects.

The firm said its most celebrated project was the suburb of Ellenbrook, which has received over 30 state and national awards.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.