OUR
TRAILBLAZERS

Since the Industrial Revolution, the commercial world’s gain has been the natural world’s loss. At Environment Bank, we decided to start a revolution of our own. And it can’t come soon enough.

Meet the team

Established in 2006, Environment Bank is led by our Founder, Professor David Hill CBE and James Cross, in partnership with our funder, Gresham House PLC. We’ve taken care to hand-pick extraordinary people who are as much driven by the why, as they are the what, to make our bold new plan a reality.

David Hill, Chairman

With a doctorate in ecology from the Department of Zoology at Oxford, David brings an abundance of ecological expertise to the table. A passionate conservationist, he was a founding member of Natural England, a member of the Government’s Ecosystem Markets Taskforce, and a Commissioner with the independent Food Farming and Countryside Commission. When it comes to implementing BNG, there’s nobody better. In fact, he introduced the concept to the UK in 2006 and his unparalleled work has now been embedded into the Environment Act.

James Cross, CEO

James has a proven track record for driving organisations forward and leads with exemplary business expertise. He has a succession of leadership roles under his belt, including Board Trustee and Chair of Audit & Risk Committee at the University of Teesside, Chair and founder of Teddy’s Towers Charitable Association. His experience includes former CEO of Natural England, Marine Management Organisation and a former Executive Committee member with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He was the founding CEO of the pioneering charity Urban Green Newcastle, and the founder and Chair of the Newcastle National Park City campaign.

Peter Bachmann, Gresham House PLC

Peter is the Managing Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure division at Gresham House and a Fund Manager for BSIF. Peter has over 20 years of public and private equity investment and fund management experience and has invested into and exited over 170 infrastructure and technology companies. Peter is also a judge and mentor of the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Accelerator and the CleanTech Challenge. Peter is an active investor in early-stage sustainability companies.

Ruth Murray, Gresham House PLC

Ruth is an Associate Director at Gresham House in the Sustainable Infrastructure division. Ruth has 20 years’ of infrastructure experience through her first career as a Projects lawyer during which she worked on infrastructure projects both large and small across a range of sectors. Prior to joining Gresham House, Ruth spent 15 years at a top 100 law firm where she was a senior partner who founded and was the head of the Projects Team, head of the Energy and Waste Sector Team, and she spent 3 years as a member of the firm’s management board.

Alexis Perry, Commercial Director

Sixteen years of acquiring land and obtaining planning permissions with leading national housebuilders have provided Alexis with a wealth of experience spanning financial, legal and planning disciplines. As a qualified Chartered Surveyor, Alexis ensures Environment Bank delivers habitat banks in the best places around the UK alongside providing an efficient supply of BNG Credits.

Emma Toovey, Ecology Director

As a trained ecologist, Emma has over 18 years of ecological consultancy experience across diverse industries, specifically the development sector, working with landowners, developers, planning authorities and a range of stakeholders in the development consenting process. Emma ensures that sound ecological principles and technical integrity underpin every decision we make as a business.

Abi Underhay, Finance Director

Abi has held a variety of senior finance positions at private equity backed businesses in diverse industries over the last ten years. She is a Fellow of the ICAEW with over 20 years of accounting and finance experience, having initially started her career within accountancy practice as an auditor. Abi ensures that the business delivers excellent financial performance and cash flows, underpinned by robust controls, efficient processes, and insightful financial reporting.

Dana Foster, Chief Operating Officer

Dana is an experienced Business Manager with a demonstrated history of working at a senior level. As Chief Operating Officer, Dana oversees the operational activities of the business and ensures that the workforce is productive and achieves their career objectives. She works with other senior staff on strategic planning, ensuring that staff are all aware of operational best practices and implementing new technologies.

Alexa Culver, General Counsel

As a lawyer with over 12 years’ experience working on land and planning based projects and in the emerging fields of Natural Capital and environmental legislation, Alexa ensures that all legal aspects of our Habitat Bank model are robust, and legal transactions progress smoothly as we bring forward our national network of Habitat Banks.

Project team

Our ever-expanding team covers every corner of the UK and are made up of an inspiring group of individuals. With a wealth of expertise across many disciplines, including ecology, consultancy, surveying, legal, and business, they each have a crucial part in the important work we do.

Funding partner

Gresham House is a specialist alternative asset management group, dedicated to sustainable investments across a range of strategies, with expertise covering forestry, housing, infrastructure, renewable energy and battery storage, public and private equity with assets under management in excess of £6.0 bn as at December 2021. Gresham House has partnered with Environment Bank through its British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (BSIF) strategies which operates with an investment philosophy to provide real asset based solutions to environmental and societal challenges.

Join our team

We are always looking for like-minded individuals to join our team and become part of our plan. For more information about current vacancies, please email [email protected]