From left to right: Alan Dew – Principal Geo-environmental Consultant at Tetra Tech, Steve Packer – Director at Property Insurance Initiatives, Duncan Spencer – Director at EDIA Limited
Our geo-environmental team organised an informative Belfast breakfast seminar at the Ten Square Hotel on 4th April to discuss the benefits of using environmental liability insurances to manage property risk.
Joined by a great turnout of developers, investors, solicitors and property advisors, the seminar acted as a great opportunity for our team to educate industry professionals on the role of environmental due diligence and how it is evolving in a rapidly changing world, particularly with regards to flooding and climate change. The talk on environmental due diligence was led by Alan Dew, Principal Geo-Environmental Consultant at Tetra Tech.
A key takeaway from the event was that Northern Ireland market still lags behind the curve in use of environmental due diligence in property transactions, management of properties/operations and corporate responsibility. Without properly managing risks, the industry may incur huge liabilities, the panellists said.
And despite their significant commercial benefits, environmental insurances remain a very underused tool, with little awareness of the available products in the Northern Ireland markets.
The event also featured informative talks from Duncan Spencer, Director at EDIA Limited, and Steve Packer, Director at Property Insurance Initiatives, on the availability and application of liability insurances and flooding/Warranty & Indemnity insurances.
Our environmental due diligence experts have recently assisted several clients in understanding the potential environmental liabilities associated with major property transactions. Last year, they lent their expertise to Lotus Group following its acquisition of a £60 million portfolio of 1.3 million square feet of assets in Dundee, Scotland. The portfolio acquisition of industrial, mixed use, retail, leisure, and industrial elements is a stepping stone to wider regeneration efforts in the city following a strong period of growth.
To learn more about what our environmental due diligence service has to offer, please get in touch with us via the contact us section of this site: