Meet the Team: Principal Consultant, Hannah Needham

For the latest instalment of Meet the Team, we caught up with our resident rewilder and Principal Consultant Hannah Needham.

Tell us about your career so far, how did it lead you to where you are today?

I'm grateful to have had a varied and challenging career, which really kicked off when I left academia to pursue practical nature conservation in 2018. The shift was mind-blowing - from a lab coat to chainsaw trousers in a matter of weeks - and I've never looked back. With brilliant colleagues, dangerous machines to play with, and stunning wild spaces to explore, my experiences in the field were the most fun I've ever had at work. Despite this, however, my mind was (and still is) constantly whirring, endlessly searching for ways we could restore larger areas, and faster. This was my driving factor when I co-founded the charity Heal Rewilding in lockdown, with a clear mission to rewild land across England. I joined Accelar to take this to the next level, and I'm now delighted to be working with some of the most ambitious projects in the UK to deliver landscape-scale restoration of globally rare chalk streams, saltmarsh and coastal habitats, woodlands and so much more.

“I left academia to pursue practical nature conservation in 2018. The shift was mind-blowing - from a lab coat to chainsaw trousers in a matter of weeks - and I've never looked back”

What does your role at Accelar involve and what do you find most rewarding about it?

I am privileged to work directly with clients that are making transformational changes on the ground to deliver nature and climate benefits. This includes some of Britain's best-loved charities, ambitious local authorities and, crucially, visionary farmers and private landowners taking brave steps to innovate and diversify. With the support of our skilled in-house team, I help clients to build business models centred on nature restoration and to seize financial opportunities from public funders and private nature markets. I love watching the evolution of our clients' plans over time, as high-level concepts become detailed financial models spanning dozens of habitat types and hundreds of thousands of hectares. However, there is no better high than landing funding for a project you love and watching it come to life - that's what it's all about. 

What do you value most about being part of the Accelar team?

Our team are some of the brightest and most diligent people I've worked with, but mostly importantly they're all nice, kind people. There's no ego in the Accelar team, and everyone goes above and beyond to support each other. Because we're a small team, we each have our own niche skills and areas of expertise, and we work flexibly to make sure everyone's talents are recognised and utilised. Our senior leaders encourage innovation and creativity, providing the freedom to explore new ideas, make new connections and collaborate.

“Our team are some of the brightest and most diligent people I've worked with, but mostly importantly they're all nice, kind people. There's no ego in the Accelar team, and everyone goes above and beyond to support each other”

So far, which moments or achievements stand out as highlights of your time at Accelar?

My highlight at Accelar has to be every moment I get to spend in-person with the team, clients and with collaborators old and new. Groundswell is up there as one of the top moments of the year - there's nothing like sunshine, delicious food and dancing to Groove Armada to bring people of all backgrounds together. A close second has to be our away day to Boothby Wildland, as I got to revisit my first love (rewilding) and introduce the Accelar team to the magical world of moth trapping. Don't knock it ‘til you try it!

“My highlight at Accelar has to be every moment I get to spend in-person with the team, clients and with collaborators old and new”

Where would you love to see Accelar heading in the future?

With 11 Landscape Recovery projects and a multitude of other nature finance projects under our belts (NEIRF, FIRNS, LINC and more), we have obtained detailed insights from a variety of landowners, project developers and funders across the country. As UK nature markets continue to evolve, I'm looking forward to expanding our work with businesses and government to unlock large-scale investment for nature restoration and climate mitigation. The world of nature finance is small but growing fast, and so new partnerships and collaborations will be key to our future success as we refine and expand our offering.