Bristol-headquartered law firm Burges Salmon and Greenhouse PR, also based in the city, were this week among the winners at the prestigious BusinessGreen Leaders Awards.
Burges Salmon collected the Law Firm of the Year trophy for the breadth of its work in the green sector while Greenhouse secured the Green PR Company of the Year title for the second year running.
The awards, which took place in London on Wednesday, recognise the contribution of leading UK businesses and pioneers to building the green economy and leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The BusinessGreen team said of Burges Salmon: “With its focus on first-of-a-kind clean energy projects, [the firm] has carved out a deserved reputation as one of the UK’s greenest law firms.
“The judges were won over by the range of the firm’s work, offering legal advice on everything from giant offshore wind farms to small-scale community energy projects.”
Burges Salmon energy power and utilities sector group head Ross Fairley added: “We have specialised in and led the market for a number of years in legal advice to the environmental and energy sectors – and our clients include many major utilities as well as the highest profile developers in renewables.”
“We are therefore extremely pleased to have been recognised in this way at a major awards ceremony in front of the key players in the energy and environment sectors.”
Beating off challenges from global PR agencies Hill & Knowlton and Edelman, Greenhouse PR won its award for its high impact work with organisations focused on creating social and environmental impact.
Judges highlighted the agency’s creativity and in-depth knowledge of sustainability issues. In the last year alone Greenhouse PR has worked on successful campaigns ranging from clean tech and renewable energy to global finance and the Paris Climate Change Summit.
BusinessGreen editor-in-chief James Murray said: “Greenhouse PR retained its title in a competitive category thanks to a wide range of campaigns that took in everything from the Paris Agreement to hydrogen car start-ups and community energy fund-raising.
“The judges were impressed with the firm’s in-depth understanding of a wide range of green businesses and environmental issues, as well as its innovative and professional approach to getting its client’s messages across.”
The award highlighted successful Greenhouse PR campaigns including:
- Putting climate risk on the global financial agenda with Carbon Tracker
- Championing business solutions to climate change at the Paris Climate Summit
- Helping local authorities and researchers tackle air pollution with Enviro Technology Services
- Raising £11m in the UK’s biggest renewables mini-bond offer to finance a 34MW portfolio of solar farms for Big 60 Million;
- Supporting Hubbub, the UK’s leading behaviour change charity, to tackle litter, recycling and fuel poverty;
- Launching the Riversimple RASA, the UK’s first Hydrogen car built on a sustainable business model
Greenhouse PR founder Anna Guyer said: “It’s great to be recognised for the work we do promoting the transition to a low-carbon economy. Bristol is such a good place to be based, in an area with a thriving community of organisations focused on sustainability. We would love to connect with pioneering businesses in the South West area so that we help build their profile and help to take their ideas to scale.”
Pictured, from left: Comedian and BusinessGreen Leaders Awards host Hal Cruttenden with the Greenhouse PR team – Bethan Halls, Faye Holst, Jade Duggan, David Mason, Anna Guyer and Rachel Parkes
