National law firm TLT is the first corporate partner of the regenerative estate Belmont.
The Bristol-based firm partnered with Belmont in 2022 and has since supported its mission to restore nature, climate and community through nature-based education, environmental conservation and shared experiences.
BusinessLive caught up with TLT’s head of future energy and real estate, Maria Connolly, and Belmont Estate owner Henry Rossiter to find out more about what corporate companies can do to support environmental initiatives in the new year.
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Mr Rossiter said: “We are a team of 20 or so that are quite literally committed to doing good in the environment and through community too. So when TLT were saying ‘we really want to get more involved’, we said ‘well there’s clearly a partnership here’ and it’s been wonderful ever since and a great place to start.”
The partnership is part of TLT’s commitment to working with other sustainability-minded organisations to support environmental and social goals and the communities where it is based, and has enabled TLT staff to learn about nature and conservation through a volunteering programme.
Ms Connolly expanded: “From our perspective, we are a law firm that’s been truly embedded in sustainability for generally over 25 years. That’s because one of our leading edges is the work that we do for clients in cleaner future energy space.”
She added: “We were also conscious that there was an increasing noise around the legal sector and corporates, perhaps talking about sustainability, climate, moving into ESG. It was really important to us that it wasn’t just talking about it, it was taking action and therefore being able to partner with the likes of Belmont enables us to properly take action in terms of what we are doing at a firm wide level.”
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Based in Wraxall, North Somerset, Belmont is a nationally important nature restoration and wellbeing project. Its strategy includes a completely free nature-based education programme, providing opportunities for thousands of children of every background every year to be inspired by the natural world and benefit from its unique ability to physically, mentally and emotionally restore.
Mr Rossiter told BusinessLive how TLT supports its enterprise, in relation to the wider question of ‘how can corporates help estates’. Not only does the law firm offer specific sector services it helps the estate’s directors draft terms and conditions as it moves through legal contracts, employment agreements, etc.
'We at Belmont, we don’t settle, we always want to do bigger and do better'
The Belmont owner added: "Having a firm such as TLT with such a breadth of knowledge and ability to help an organisation better understand the legal landscape is very useful. But also, being quite open and honest, having TLT allows us to provide that greater awareness of our mission from outside the southwest; it also provides us with direct funding for our nature and community projects."
He continued: "The partnership model is a sort of circular ecosystem and the funding from our corporate partnerships helps us to expand our nature recovery and nature connection efforts. For example, it allows us to deliver our latest nature recovery project, the Watercress Farm Rewetting project plus expand our nature-education programme allowing more children to access green space for free."
For TLT, Belmont reciprocates the benefits by enabling hundreds of TLT staff to step away from their desks and laptops and experience nature and volunteer.
Ms Connolly explained: “Being able to give our colleagues the opportunity to volunteer, to reconnect with nature, but also to reconnect with each other, I think that is so important in our post-pandemic environment.
“So we have had hundreds of employees being given the opportunity to volunteer and some of that was on the re-wetting project that Henry referred to. That might be putting up some information boards, that might be clearing, that be you know seeing what insects and bugs are around and that’s all important data as well. So I can’t stress enough just how important the volunteering side of this is.”
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Ms Connolly explained how corporate businesses are at different maturity models and stages in relation to sustainability and climate. TLT aims to become net zero by 2040.
The national law has always been involved in sector energy and has now embedded sustainability into its strategy. She said that it becomes a “key pillar” and is never far away from decision making; whether that is in relation to attracting new talent, retaining talent, or premises.
“We occupy one of Scotland’s most sustainable buildings in Glasgow, Cadworks.” Said Ms Connolly. “And that was very intentional to align that with our values. Eden in Manchester will again be one of the North West ’s most sustainable buildings.”
She added: “Also the work that we are involved in such as the Chancery Lane Projects; The Chancery Lane Project is an absolutely fantastic collaboration that promotes green drafting in all sorts of legal documents. But the commitment is that we want to be committed to be carbon neutral by 2025 and to be net zero by 2040.”
Prioritising sustainability is something that TLT can help other corporates understand and see where they can make a difference.
For example, for the law firm about 94% of its carbon footprint sits within its supply chain. This Ms Connolly said “presents a tremendous opportunity” because “if we (TLT) can turn up the dial in relation to putting the same pressures on our supply chain, we can make a huge difference and you get this beautiful cascading approach”.
Mr Rossiter added: “It is this reliance on private companies that will help move private finance into nature recovery to help both the climate and biodiversity crises and that’s the only way it’s going to move forward. Government will not act quick enough, but we, a private organisation with the correct expertise and corporate collaborations can, so we want to partner with more companies like TLT."
'I can’t stress enough just how important the volunteering side of this is'
Belmont bought an estate in Scotland last year and started “landscape-scale” work on it. They are currently restoring wetlands, replanting deciduous woodland over pine crop plantations and looking to restore biodiversity.
Looking forward Mr Rossiter said: “We are starting slowly because we’ve got quite a lot on at the moment but we are looking to partner with estates around the country as well, where we can create more opportunities for TLT’s offices that aren’t necessarily in Bristol but further afield so they can connect more easily without having a large carbon footprint coming across the company.
"We at Belmont, we don’t settle, we always want to go bigger and do better so we are exploring ways in which we can increase the number of corporates and the amount of people who can get involved in our nature recovery and community projects that we offer here."
Going forward Belmont wants to offer more volunteering days and increase the opportunity to access and connect with nature as well as connect with each other. The estate is looking at offering dining events and targeting more young people. Currently Belmont helps educate 3,000 children in nature a year free of charge and hopes to expand “quite dramatically”.
Mr Rossiter added: “Our desire is to go bigger and TLT is leading the way; it’s a fantastic partnership to have on our side.”
This was reiterated by Ms Connolly who said: “It’s a true partnership in that we get together on a regular basis to look at what the next quarter or the next year will look like and that’s genuinely unique in terms of the alignment of values, the alignment of commitment and ensuring that we are truly collaborating and working together, that is hugely beneficial. Just having that ability to have a partnership that genuinely works for all of us.”