ep group: a new brand, new website and our first impact report

Last year we decided to use the Covid crisis to fundamentally change our businesses, effectively to ‘build back better’. This led to a process of considering our collective ambition as a team, how we maximise our positive impact, how we are organised, and how we communicate. With the launch of our new website, our new brand, and our impact report you can now see the results of some of that work.

Accelerating the shift to a net zero carbon world is a critical challenge facing all of us in order to combat the urgent threat of climate change, but we also need to move beyond ‘sustainability’ towards a regenerative economy that addresses climate change and the many wider environmental problems, as well as the social problems of inequality in opportunity and wealth.  Doing so will create massive business opportunities and produce a better environment, a better economy and a better society.

To accelerate the shift we need to maximise both the quantity and quality of investment going into companies, projects and programmes that move society towards a net zero, regenerative and more equitable economy. This requires:

• building capacity amongst decision makers across business, finance, the public sector, governments and multi-lateral institutions
• shifting investment flows towards high-performance projects, programmes and companies that support the transition.

Our work across the ep group is in three areas that contribute directly to these needs:

• we build capacity by research, consultancy, training and advocacy
• we bring investment by originating opportunities, accessing capital, undertaking due diligence, and developing new business models
• we develop and deliver high performance projects.

The way we do those things is reflected in our new brand, the equals sign captures our commitment to finding equitable solutions that work for all stakeholders. More equitable collaboration is needed to solve the big problems we face.

Our organisational structure is also changing. As well as bringing our companies together into a formal group we are committed to transitioning to a steward-ownership structure that reflects two important principles: self-governance, and profits serve purpose. We believe that steward-ownership better supports the shift towards a net zero and regenerative economy. Our aim is to create a structure that combines entrepreneurial skills, steward-ownership, and patient capital to create and build successful impact driven businesses.

We are best known for our work in energy efficiency but the ep group has expanded our work into other key areas of sustainability and the regenerative economy, particularly resource efficiency, the built environment, the circular economy, and sustainable finance. Our latest offering, through ep projects, includes architecture and design, planning, and development services and we are already working on a number of exciting regenerative property developments.  As ep group, we are pioneering a new, more equitable ownership and funding model and we will be sharing our progress on that with you as it evolves.

If you are committed to accelerating the shift to a net zero, sustainable and regenerative economy but need help building capacity, bringing investment, or developing projects, please contact us. We would like to help enable you to turn that commitment into impact.