Sanctus is a specialist land remediation contractor delivering technically complex remediation, earthworks and enabling works across the UK.
Our in-house environmental, regulatory and technical capability allows us to assess ground risk, develop remediation strategies, identify permitting requirements and deliver contractor-led land remediation services on site through a single accountable team.
Across contaminated land, from contaminated soils and groundwater to asbestos, hydrocarbons, coal tars, landfill and emerging contaminants, we develop pragmatic, commercially focused solutions that reduce risk to the environment and human health, protect programme and prepare land for safe redevelopment.
By combining technical assessment, environmental permitting, remediation delivery, materials management, pollution control, waste management, earthworks and verification, Sanctus helps clients move from initial ground risk through to compliant, sign-off-ready land, and provide a single point of accountability from initial risk assessment through to verified, sign-off-ready land.
Integrated remediation, earthworks and enabling works
Many organisations can assess and advise on land remediation. Fewer can also provide design services, secure the necessary permissions and physically deliver the works.
Sanctus’s environmental, regulatory and technical expertise exists to support delivery, not to stand apart from it.
Our teams and plant carry out the remediation, bulk earthworks and enabling works on site, with our in-house technical capability and practical knowledge there to de-risk that delivery from the outset.
Sanctus is an experienced specialist remediation, earthworks and enabling works contractor, delivering some of the UK’s most technically challenging brownfield, regeneration and environmental improvement projects across the UK, and have completed almost 4,000 environmental engineering and improvement projects over close to 20 years.
Explore our specialist remediation services
Land remediation covers a wide range of contamination types and site conditions. That’s why Sanctus are proud to offer dedicated expertise across a full range of remediation disciplines.
Brownfield Remediation
Remediation of former industrial, quarry, landfill and infrastructure sites for redevelopment, including work on contaminated land and brownfield land, drawing on projects such as the transformation of former power stations into renewable energy hubs.
Groundwater Remediation
Treatment of contaminated groundwater using methods such as MPE/SVE, oil water separators, clarifiers and granular activated carbon, as used on our Richborough Energy Park and Temple Island schemes.
PFAS
Remediation
Remediation planning and delivery for sites affected by PFAS and other emerging contaminants, with remediation methods selected from physical, chemical, biological or management approaches as UK regulation of these substances develops.
Contaminated land remediation in practice
Mayfield School, Portsmouth
At Mayfield School, Sanctus delivered a complex remediation scheme across a 2.8-hectare live educational site in a densely populated residential area. Faced with widespread asbestos and hydrocarbon contamination that had previously made redevelopment financially unviable, Sanctus deployed its HSE-licensed team and Bespoke Mobile Plant Environmental Permit to execute ex-situ treatment on site.
The team successfully treated 7,800m³ of asbestos-impacted soils using precision hand-screening and bespoke dust suppression, alongside enhanced bioremediation for hydrocarbon-contaminated materials. Delivered while the school remained fully operational, the strategy generated over £3 million in cost savings and achieved full regulatory sign-off with zero complaints.
Temple Island, Bristol
Appointed by Bristol City Council to undertake enabling and remediation works for the Temple Quarter regeneration project, Sanctus addressed heavy historical hydrocarbon and asbestos contamination on a former railway maintenance depot.
Sanctus designed and operated an innovative In-Situ Thermal Remediation (ISTR) system with Multi-Phase Extraction (MPE) to recover Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPL) from fractured bedrock adjacent to the River Avon. Powered by 100% certified green electricity and powered by HVO fuels, the targeted treatment safely removed 300 litres of NAPL while preventing pollutant pathways to the river.
The scheme also delivered enabling infrastructure, utility realignments, and district heating connections, all while exceeding its social value targets by 177%.
Identifying risk
Environmental permitting requirements are frequently identified too late in a project. Depending on the activities involved, the treatment methods proposed, the status of the materials and the regulatory route, a new permit application can carry a lead-in period of six months or more.
Identifying permitting requirements early, and determining the right permitting strategy for the site, is one of the ways Sanctus protects a client’s programme. Sanctus has held a Bespoke Mobile Plant Environmental Permit since 2006, which, where the proposed works fall within the appropriate regulatory scope, can support faster mobilisation and greater programme certainty than starting a permitting process from scratch on a project-by-project basis. Bringing permitting into the remediation strategy from day one, rather than treating it as a separate workstream, is a core part of how Sanctus delivers land remediation projects.
Remediation, earthworks and materials management as one integrated capability
Land remediation is rarely a standalone discipline. On most sites it is closely bound up with excavation and segregation, bulk earthworks, soil and materials management, treatment, reuse, import/export requirements, groundwater management, and site preparation for the development that follows. Treating these as separate appointments, one contractor for remediation, another for earthworks, another for materials disposal, adds cost, risk and interfaces that someone has to manage.
Sanctus deliver remediation and earthworks as one integrated capability, so that decisions about materials, what can be treated and reused on site, what needs to be imported, what genuinely needs to leave site, are made once, by one team, rather than negotiated between separate contractors with different incentives.
Handled well, this integration delivers real commercial outcomes for clients: reduced off-site disposal, greater reuse of materials, less need for imported material, fewer vehicle movements, lower overall cost, reduced regulatory risk, greater programme certainty, and a single accountable delivery partner rather than a chain of subcontractors.
Why choose Sanctus for brownfield land remediation
Sanctus brings technical assessment, environmental permitting, remediation delivery, earthworks and materials management, and verification together.
A single accountable delivery partner
One team responsible for ground risk assessment, permitting strategy, remediation, earthworks and verification, rather than a chain of separately appointed specialists.
Early identification of permitting risk
Including a Bespoke Mobile Plant Environmental Permit held since 2006, supporting faster mobilisation on qualifying works
Specialist asbestos accreditation
The first specialist of asbestos remediation in soils to be issued with an unconditional Licence to Undertake Work with Asbestos from the HSE
A proven track record
With almost 4,000 environmental engineering and improvement projects delivered over close to twenty years.
Award-recognised delivery
Sanctus have been shortlisted for a long list of national awards with wins spanning remediation, sustainability, social value, best place to work, innovation, demolition and the re-use of materials.
Our approach to land remediation
- Understand the site and ground risk: desk study, Preliminary Risk Assessment, intrusive investigation and detailed quantitative risk assessment (DQRA) to characterise the contamination present, develop a conceptual site model and understand pollutant linkages; detailed quantitative risk assessments use specialist modeling packages where needed.
- Develop the remediation and materials strategy: deciding what can be treated and reused on site, what needs to be imported, and what genuinely needs to leave site. Selected remediation techniques may include soil vapour extraction, which extracts volatile organic compounds from soil using a vacuum system, chemical oxidation, which involves injecting oxidants into the ground to destroy organic pollutants, or phytoremediation, which uses plants to uptake or degrade contaminants from the soil, depending on site conditions.
- Identify environmental permitting and regulatory requirements: establishing early which permits or exemptions apply, in line with relevant guidance, to protect programme against long permit lead-in times.
- Design the solution and obtain the necessary approvals: finalising the remediation approach and securing the regulatory permissions it depends on.
- Deliver remediation and associated earthworks: carried out by our own directly employed operatives and specialist plant, supervised throughout by our in-house technical team.
- Treat, manage and maximise reuse of soils, materials and water: reducing off-site disposal, imported material and vehicle movements wherever the site allows.
- Verify the works and support sign-off: testing and reporting to confirm remediated land meets the agreed specification, with results provided to the client’s engineer and, where required, the regulator.
This same disciplined approach underpins all of our services, from land remediation and enabling works through to ecology and social value delivery, and reflects the standards described across our About Us page and company policies.
Talk to Sanctus about your land remediation project
Whether you are a developer or landowner assessing ground risk on a new site, need a specialist licensed to remediate asbestos in soils, or are trying to understand the permitting route for a proposed remediation strategy, Sanctus have the technical expertise, accreditation and track record to deliver a pragmatic, commercially focused solution from feasibility through to onsite delivery.
We work closely with client teams and project managers through delivery to support programme certainty and reduce financial risk. To discuss your land remediation requirements, get in touch with our team via our Contact Us page, or find out more about the people delivering these projects on our Meet the Team page.
Land Remediation Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the activities proposed, the treatment methods used, the regulatory status of the materials involved, and the permitting route that applies to the site. Some remediation works can proceed under an exemption; others require a bespoke permit, which can carry a lead-in period of six months or more if it is only identified once works are already planned.
Because of this, permitting requirements should be identified as early as possible, with permitting and remediation decisions aligned to regulatory guidance, alongside the remediation strategy itself, rather than treated as a separate, later workstream and risking delays to permits or regulatory approvals.
Land remediation is the process of removing, treating, or containing contaminants in soil and groundwater. It is required on brownfield or previously developed sites to remove ground risk, protect human health and the environment, and make the land safe for its intended future use in line with UK planning and environmental regulations.
Sanctus handles a comprehensive range of contaminants. This includes hydrocarbons, heavy metals, asbestos in soil, coal tars, pesticides, soil vapour, explosive residues, biological agents, landfill gases, and emerging contaminants such as PFAS.
Sanctus holds a full, unconditional Licence to Undertake Work with Asbestos from the HSE (LN 132105659), renewed on a three-year cycle. This allows our directly employed team to safely identify, assess, manage, treat, and remediate asbestos-contaminated soils on site while ensuring strict regulatory compliance. We also have a Bespoke Mobile Plant Environmental Permit from the Environment Agency, which allows the onsite treatment of asbestos in soil, along with any other contaminants that may be present.
A DQRA is a technical assessment used to evaluate the specific risks posed by contaminants on a site to human health, groundwater, and local ecosystems. Sanctus uses DQRAs during the initial design phase to establish realistic remediation targets and design site-specific, cost-effective strategies rather than relying on off-the-shelf options.
Our technical team carries out rigorous sampling, testing, and validation in accordance with an approved remediation strategy throughout delivery. Upon completion, we provide a robust verification report to the client's engineer, local planning authorities, and the Environment Agency to prove the site meets all agreed target criteria for safe development.
Yes. Sanctus designs and operates bespoke mobile groundwater treatment systems. Using technologies such as oil-water separators, clarifiers, air-stripping units, and granular activated carbon (GAC) vessels, we treat contaminated groundwater on site to allow safe, permitted discharge into local watercourses or sewers.