Business Owner
As a business owner, you may have overall responsibility for a company, or partial responsibility over a specific sector or activity within that business.
Businesses can encounter a wide variety of environmental liabilities, and the extent of these is often dependent upon the type of commercial activities undertaken, as well as the geographic location it operates within. Ashfield understands the inherent intricacies associated with differing commercial activities when dealing with environmental risk, and how to avoid turning these into liabilities which may otherwise cause lasting financial impacts.
Our experience in managing commercial risk often leads us to providing the following services to our clients.
Regulatory Advice and Risk Management
Ashfield help business owners to ensure they can manage risk through operating within their legal and regulatory framework. By achieving this, it is ensured that no adverse harm is caused to the environment, and no consequential environmental liabilities are identified which could be commercially damaging.
Examples of our work with business owners include assessing the potential impact that spilled inventory or fire water could cause to a site or the wider environment, and determining optimal solutions such as the provision of secondary or tertiary containment. Furthermore, Ashfield’s expertise in flood risk management has led to supporting Upper and Lower Tier COMAH operators in demonstrating to their Competent Authority how a Major Accident to the Environment (MATTE) through flooding can be avoided.
We are well versed in dealing with the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency to name but a few.
Business Impact Assessment
The UK’s economic conditions are frequently tested against unforeseeable events more so than ever. These can cause direct or indirect impacts upon your business, whether it be from natural perils such as flooding and storms, recent human health pandemics or even terrorism. There has never been a more important time to ensure that your business is prepared and can be resilient against such events.
Our partners at D-Risk are able to help you minimize exposure by making your business as resilient as possible against unforeseen risks.
Andrew Pullman, Managing Director of both Ashfield and D-Risk was recently quoted as saying:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the disparate effects that have been experienced by the UK economy. Many businesses have strained, some have prospered, but the overarching factor which will dictate a business’s future existence is it’s resilience. Many will argue that the core of a business is a stable financial footing, but in extraordinary times, this alone may not be sufficient for it to survive and succeed in future.”
For further information on how to bolster the resilience of your business, please visit the D-Risk website, or contact us.
Climate Change Resilience
The Bank of England has tasked all UK banks and financial institutions to ensure they are positioned to individually measure the potential effects of Climate Change within their lending practices. D-Risk is already at the forefront of guiding various lenders along the correct path, thanks to its use of best of breed data, coupled with business risk intelligence. Ashfield’s expertise is utilized along this entire journey, meaning we are also able to offer such a service to individual clients or business owners who want to be ahead of the curve when understanding potential future risks from a changing climate.
Our experts can help you to protect commercial portfolio assets against climate-related volatility such as flood risks, subsidence, and coastal erosion, using the latest data intelligence and analysis from D-Risk.
For further information on better understanding climate related business risk, please visit the D-Risk website, or contact us.