Bristol City Council decarbonisation partnership celebrates

Published On: June 20th, 2023

The City Leap Legal team at Bristol City Council was recently awarded the prestigious title of Legal Team of the Year at the Lawyers in Local Government award ceremony, held on Friday 9 June. This incredible achievement is a testament to their hard work and dedication.

Bristol City Leap, a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership between Ameresco Limited and Bristol City Council, aims to decarbonize council buildings and land and contribute significantly to reducing carbon emissions throughout the city by 2030. A major part of this initiative includes the expansion of Bristol’s district heat network.

Kye Dudd, Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology, Waste, and Energy at Bristol City Council expressed his delight in seeing such recognition come to fruition. He acknowledged that the innovative advice provided by City Leap’s legal team was crucial in navigating complex legal issues related to Bristol City Leap operations. Through their extensive experience supporting similar complex agreements throughout various market sectors, they have gained invaluable expertise – an asset that will continue to benefit this ever-growing industry.

“A key project in delivering our city’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030, Bristol City Leap is an exciting decarbonisation project, which will make a real difference for Bristol and its residents. £630 million of investment is planned by 2028, creating 1,000 new jobs and cutting 150,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. We look forward to continuing to work with the team to achieve our goals.”

The team demonstrated considerable project management skills and dealt sensitively with clients from across the council to incorporate a range of views. This was essential for Bristol City Leap to be a success and support the aim to decarbonise the city. The team’s contributions were essential during the successful procurement process and in securing the commitments from the strategic partner to deliver considerable decarbonisation and social value.

Bristol City Leap Legal team were selected as winners in this category thanks to the extensive knowledge, creativity, dedication and team work of:

City Leap Client and Energy Service Manager: Helen Reed
Team Managers: Commercial and Governance Sinead Willis and Husinara Jones
Specialist Lawyers – Commercial and Governance: Claire Jeffwitz and Anita Kearney
Lawyers: Kevin Froud, Magdalena Stecka, Paul Bromhead and Kate Fryer
Apprentice Solicitor: Amera Telfer-Ross
Legal Assistants: Jason Fowler, Louise Mckenna and Jodie Blackmore
Team Manager – Property: Andrew Jones

Alongside their successful win at the awards ceremony, the legal team were also awarded highly commended for the Local Council Community Impact award and Helen Reed, City Leap Client and Energy Service Manager, was also highly commended in the Lawyer of the Year category.

City Leap is a world-first partnership which is expected to bring in over £1bn of investment into the city to transform the way the city generates, distributes, stores, and uses energy. Enabling Bristol to become a greener city. The partnership will help Bristol to tackle climate change and improve air quality.

You can find out more about Bristol City Leap on the City Leap website: https://www.bristolcityleap.co.uk/.

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