Senior Renewable Energy hires make Bidwells’ new Sustainability service the ‘most comprehensive offer in real estate professional services’

• Bidwells consolidating services around three pillars: Natural Capital & Sustainable Investment; Renewable Energy and Sustainable Buildings & Places

• Suite of 28 specialist Sustainability services on offer

• Four key industry hires in expansion of Renewable Energy team

Bidwells is today launching three core Sustainability service areas with Senior Partner Nick Pettit calling it “the most comprehensive offer in UK real estate professional services”.

The new services bring together the depth and breadth of Bidwells’ business across Scotland and England and build on its long-standing market leadership in the Forestry and Energy & Renewables sectors.

The firm is now providing a total of 28 specialist services for forward-looking investors, developers and landowners striving to meet their ESG goals.

Nick said: “We have been developing these specialisms over the past 18 months after noticing a significant change in the ESG-focussed requirements of our clients. Their needs are changing fast - and our teams are developing rapidly too - so by building on our 30 years of experience in Forestry and Energy & Renewables we’re putting ourselves at the forefront of some of the UK’s most exciting markets.

“By joining the dots between the nature-based solutions we’re delivering on the ground each day with the ESG goals of commercial & residential developers and investors, we think we can make a genuine difference to the real estate sector’s response to climate change.

“We believe the comprehensive nature of our service offer is unsurpassed in real estate professional services and we’re all thoroughly excited to see what we can do together now that we are beginning to connect our Sustainability services in a more thoughtful, strategic and efficient way for our clients.”

The 28 distinct Sustainability services Bidwells is now providing are focussed on some of the most forward looking and exciting sectors in real estate, including: Carbon Investment, Biodiversity Offsetting, Carbon offsetting, Peatland Restoration, Battery Storage, Solar Energy, Anaerobic Digestion & Gasification and Onshore Wind farms.

Nick added: “We’re making the links between wildlife habitat creation in Scotland and delivering new homes in southern England. We’re helping London real estate investors purchase carbon credits in Perthshire.

Developers are connecting new developments to renewable energy providers with our help and advice.

“By bringing together such a diverse and innovative group of services under a single banner; we want to play our part in educating and inspiring investors, developers and landowners looking for innovative opportunities to meet their own sustainability goals and secure attractive long-term returns on their investments.”

The 184-year-old firm is also announcing a significant expansion of its Renewable Energy team with two new Partners joining and two senior industry consultants arriving this year.

Former Land & Estates Manager at Scottish Power Renewables, Lesley Kelly, joined this week as a Divisional Partner alongside Christina Lamond, who arrives as a senior Renewables consultant from Scottish Power Renewables.

Andy Fewings joins as a Group Partner from Statkraft, where he was Principal Land Manager at Europe’s largest generator of Renewable Energy along with senior consultant Kirsty Gordon from Scottish Power Renewables, both of whom arrive in October.

Bidwells currently manages one million acres of the English and Scottish countryside and coastline including half of the Scottish coastline for Crown Estate Scotland. The firm also advises on, or manages, forestry resources amounting to 80 million trees.

Rosalind Clifford, Partner, Head of Energy & Renewables said:

“We’re thrilled to expand our Renewable Energy team with four highly skilled and experienced property professionals from the renewable energy generation sector. Our work across onshore wind, hydro, solar energy and storage is growing fast and these areas of expertise are increasingly not seen in isolation but as a fundamental part of delivering a climate positive future and ensuring investors’ portfolios of land and property deliver on their Sustainability goals.

“Pension funds are now not only using Bidwells to manage their existing property and land use. They’re asking us to identify the full ESG credentials and carbon impact of their entire portfolio of land and property because they know we can pull-in the range of specialist services they need.

“As the world tackles the climate challenge, the principles of sustainability and Natural Capital are transforming the face of investment, government policy, and therefore how land is managed and developed.”

Bidwells’ Sustainable Buildings and Places teams are delivering some of the most sustainable buildings in the UK across Cambridge and Oxford as corporate investors demand Net Zero commercial & residential development opportunities to invest in.

Bidwells is also one of the pioneers in creating Biodiversity Net Gain solutions for developers, advising on enhancing biodiversity for development projects delivering a total of 25,000 homes and 15m sq ft of commercial space.

Earlier this year, Bidwells appointed Alistair Blackmore as our new Head of Sustainability. Alistair has 17 years’ experience in corporate sustainability and will focus on driving Bidwells’ continued transformation into a highly sustainable business.

Part of Alistair’s role will be to ensure that Bidwells’ specialist knowledge is fully transferred across its UK business and its more than 500 people.