Amberside Advisors News and Views

Updates from November, 2019

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  Amberside 8:55 am on November 29, 2019  

  Richard Turner appointed as a board director of Amberside Advisors Ltd 

  Amberside Advisors Ltd is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Turner as a board director.

  Richard has 25 years of experience advising on, lending to and investing in infrastructure projects. His appointment to the board follows a successful period in the role of Head of Infrastructure where he led the practice’s structuring and finance-raising advisory mandates, including:

  • leading a number of refinancing transactions across the renewables and infrastructure sectors
  • securing £100m, out of an available total of £500m, of low-cost infrastructure loans from HM Treasury for a replacement energy recovery facility in London
  • supporting Central Government through two rounds of applications for investment in Heat Networks
  • advising OfGEM on implementing the “competition proxy” model as the reward mechanism to National Grid for developing new separable high value transmission assets to Hinkley Point C new nuclear facility.

  Since Richard joined in January 2018, Amberside has grown to 40 professional staff and completed nearly 300 mandates across a variety of industry sectors, including renewables, transport and healthcare, with a total value of £4.5bn.

  Paul Austin commented: “I am delighted to confirm the appointment earlier this month of Richard Turner as director of Amberside Advisors. On joining the firm, Richard’s knowledge and expertise enhanced our growing advisory practice; looking to the future, his strategic leadership skills at Board level will help Amberside achieve its goal of becoming the ‘go to’ advisory firm.”

  Richard was previously a project finance banker firstly at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and then NM Rothschild, where he advised on and arranged debt for a number of significant infrastructure projects.

  More recently, Richard led project and export finance for a major infrastructure contractor, where he successfully bid and financially closed 35 projects both domestically and internationally, raising £6bn of debt and investing £250m of equity. In that role, Richard led a number of significant project financings across a wide range of sectors, and also managed a key relationship with UK Export Finance (the UK export credit agency) where he supported the company in raising approx. US$1bn of export finance for construction projects.

  

   

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• 

  Amberside 11:36 am on November 7, 2019  

  NLWA earns favourable borrowing deal for £100m funding of vital community assets 

  Neil Rutledge, Director at Amberside Advisors Ltd and lead Financial Advisor to North London Waste Authority, commented:

  “We are delighted to have secured the maximum amount available from HM Treasury for this highly eligible Local Infrastructure project. It was in our mind, when the bidding window opened on 1st Jan 2019, that widespread use of prudential borrowing by other local authorities might crowd out more essential infrastructure and elicit a reaction from HM Treasury which, if not addressed, could harm the project’s prospects. Our client, North London Waste Authority, agreed. When a month ago, HM Treasury duly sought to put the brakes on more general borrowing, by adding 1% to the margin over gilts paid by Local Authorities, our foresight in pursuing this funding source became clear. That we have secured £100m at a cost of Gilts plus 60bp for our client represents a strong start to a more comprehensive funding programme we are now putting in place.”

  Today North London Waste Authority (NLWA) announces the successful outcome of a competitive bid to borrow £100m from the government at a reduced interest rate. The money will be used to finance the Authority’s flagship infrastructure project to replace its existing Energy from Waste plant with a new Energy Recovery Facility in Edmonton, north London.

  The successful application to borrow £100m at a reduced borrowing rate of 1.7% interest instead of the usual 2.9% is just one of the Authority’s actions to deliver the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP) at the lowest possible cost for the residents of north London

  The award for this nationally significant infrastructure project further highlights the NLHPP as a vital piece of waste management and energy infrastructure with strong benefits for the environment and society. It will help NLWA to build long-term capacity for London’s non-recyclable waste and in so doing, also make a positive contribution to addressing the Climate Emergency. As a result of the lower rate borrowing available the Authority can now continue to make rapid progress on delivering the project, particularly the most capital intensive stages of the work.

  The assessment criteria for this award included an evaluation of the environmental and societal benefits the NLHPP will provide, such as:
  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) saving when treating non-recyclable waste in an Energy Recovery Facility
  • Improved air quality and other environmental benefits
  • Over 2,500 employment opportunities during construction and operation, as well as
  • Over 100 apprentices and 225 onsite skills training opportunities for the local community.

  The scheme will see the modernising of Edmonton EcoPark to replace the 50-year-old Energy from Waste plant with a world-class Energy Recovery Facility and flagship Resource Recovery Facility which includes a brand-new Reuse and Recycling Centre open to the public. Part of the project incorporates a new education and community centre called EcoPark House, which will help local people learn about the circular economy values of reducing, reusing and recycling their waste, and in doing so reduce their impact of the environment.

  The NLHPP represents the most cost-effective and sustainable way to treat non-recyclable waste in north London over the coming decades and forms a key part of NLWA’s strategy to increase recycling rates to 50% and encourage waste prevention amongst residents.

  In the context of the Climate Emergency, the NLHPP is part of the solution for moving towards a Net Zero carbon economy, consistent with recommendations from the Committee for Climate Change.

  For more information, please contact Trudi Axtens, North London Heat and Power Project Communications Manager, on 020 8489 3940 or Trudi.Axtens@nlwa.gov.uk