Site investigation and environmental due diligence

Before a site changes hands, or a spade goes into the ground, you need to know what is beneath it. I provide the investigation — and the judgement — that turns unknown ground into a decision you can defend to a board, a lender or a regulator.

Phase 1 desk study and preliminary risk assessment

A properly researched Phase 1 desk study is the cheapest risk-reduction money you will spend on a site: history, setting, a sound conceptual site model, and a clear view of whether there is a question worth answering intrusively at all. Often it settles the matter on its own.

Phase 2 site investigation and quantitative risk assessment

Where intrusive work is warranted, targeted Phase 2 investigation with generic and detailed quantitative risk assessment for human health and controlled waters, worked up in line with LCRM. The point is proportion: enough investigation to answer the question, and a risk assessment that decides what a development genuinely needs — no more, and no less.

Baseline surveys for acquisition and permitting

Baseline soil and groundwater surveys to establish the reference position — whether for a permit application or to fix a known starting point before a transaction or a change of use.

Environmental due diligence for acquisition and lending

Environmental risk assessment of property and portfolios for acquisition, merger and sale-and-leaseback: clear answers for buyers, investors and lenders, including liability and remediation cost estimation where a number is what the deal actually turns on. Twenty-five years across landfill, gasworks, fuel and industrial sites means the estimate is grounded in what remediation really costs, not a textbook range.