Envos, the rapidly-growing environmental management and compliance consultancy, has agreed a strategic partnership with leading Birmingham law firm Anthony Collins Solicitors, which will see Envos providing environmental consultancy and auditing for the firm’s clients. It also gives Envos’ clients ready access to high quality legal advice on commercial matters including commercial conveyancing, regulatory issues and the purchase of carbon-reducing technology.
The partnership will mainly focus around Anthony Collins Solicitors’ conveyancing and planning work for commercial property owners and on the provision of Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme audits, helping the firm’s clients ensure that they meet the growing demands of UK and EU driven environmental legislation.
The agreement comes as a range of UK companies (including supermarket chains, hotel chains, and office-based service organisations) prepare for the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency scheme in April 2010 which will require those firms using more than 6,000 MWh / year of electricity (amounting to an electricity bill of around £500,000 a year) to register their annual energy usage, and ultimately to buy allowances covering their energy-use carbon footprints.
The scheme effectively rolls out the concept of carbon trading to smaller organisations in a wider range of business sectors and Anthony Collins Solicitors is keen to ensure it has a specialist environmental consultant on board to supplement its legal services and help its clients adopt a practical approach to the new legislation.
In addition Envos will offer to Anthony Collins Solicitors clients, consultancy around the Code for Sustainable Homes environmental planning laws and provide environmental consultancy advice around sales and conveyancing for commercial property, particularly focusing on Energy Performance Certificate audits.
The partnership is the latest in a number of significant agreements signed by Envos as it continues to grow its environmental auditing and compliance services across the UK, via the roll out of franchised operations.
Wade Barker, Managing Director of Envos, stated: “We are delighted to have signed this strategic partnership agreement with Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP, which, from its office in Birmingham, is one of the UK’s leading law firms.
“This agreement underlines Envos’ ability to provide a UK-wide service and to work in partnership with property service and legal firms to provide tailored environmental consultancy and auditing as an integral part of the wider service they offer.”
Sarah Webb, Partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors, said: “This partnership with Envos broadens our existing offering to clients enabling them to keep on top of the green agenda and ensure that they can quickly implement the changes required to meet the demands of environmental legislation, including the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme when it is introduced in April 2010.
”Many businesses in the West Midlands and further afield are already seeking clarification on their legal obligations under new UK and EU driven environmental legislation and, it is very important for us to be able to provide access to environmental auditing and advice..,thereby adding a further dimension to the value we can offer clients as they look to understand their obligations under the growing remit of environmental legislation.”
This story was reported in the Birmingham Post and can be found on their website at http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/legal-business/2009/11/26/anthony-collins-takes-on-consultant-to-green-up-clients-65233-25254436/