Reflecting On The Year: 2025 Highlights From Team Accelar

To round off a successful year, we asked the team to reflect on their highlights from 2025. From project milestones and professional development to team growth and events, it’s been an action-packed year filled with achievements too good not to share.

With all of this under our belts, we can’t wait to see what 2026 will bring!

“It has been fantastic to see the worlds of UK infrastructure and environmental recovery really coming together in new ways to address what we refer to as the “triple transition” (decarbonisation, nature recovery and resilience) in specific places/projects and via initiatives like the Rebuilding Nature Alliance. And it’s always a pleasure to spend time with some amazing people working as genuinely cross-disciplinary teams on catchment-scale projects like the Adur River Recovery

and Wyescapes.”

Chris Fry, Managing Director

“We’ve welcomed six brilliant new members to the team and opened up office spaces in Birmingham and London which feels like a big milestone. On a project level, it would be getting planning permission for a national infrastructure development as part of the big grid upgrade and supporting our nation’s energy transition. And lots of sustainable travel across the country!”

Charlene Caten, Co-Founder & Director

“A standout moment of my year was visiting Knepp, a place at the heart of nature recovery, to see one of Accelar’s projects in action. From beaver dams reshaping the land to horses, storks, and the richness of the landscape (alongside excellent cheese and quiches), it was a powerful reminder of why this work matters. This year I also completed the Sustainable Finance course at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which deepened my understanding of blended finance mechanisms, supporting the impactful projects we do at Accelar.”

Twisha Gupta, Sustainability Consultant

“For me it’d be travelling around the West Midlands for the LINC project, which fulfilled a personal passion of mine which is improving green space and access to high quality green space in and around the West Midlands. Also, we were able to work with Sustainability West Midlands and travel by bicycle!

Michael Smith, Associate Director

“Attending the business optioneering workshop with the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. It was a really insightful day, and great to meet the team who are planning the project on the ground. They had insights into the true value of the project, both for the environment and for what it could bring for the farmers. The first six months I’ve spent at Accelar have been incredibly rewarding. I am excited to see what next year brings with the rest of our projects and beyond.”

Izzy Hardern, Sustainability Consultant

“Our biochar research project has been a particular highlight. I've learnt so much about a niche topic, and one that only gets more complicated and interesting the more we get into it. It's been a fun combination of financial modelling, working with a clever team and client, loads of research, and developing a strong slide deck to accompany it. Biochar is such a great product and could prove very beneficial for carbon sequestration, costs savings, yield improvements etc. I hope to do more research/ innovative/ creative type projects in the future!”

Nina Hees, Senior Consultant

“Representing Accelar at the Unlocking Hampshire’s Green Potential event and showcasing the Sustainability Business Tracker was a particular highlight, as it was supporting community and corporate green initiatives.

I also loved joining my first Accelar social event in Oxford, enjoying quality time with the team outside the office.”

Portia Davies, Senior Sustainability Consultant

“The highlight for me has got to be the December team social because our Directors went above and beyond to include my new puppy Finn into our plans from start to finish. I've also loved watching the team grow - not only in number, but also in strength as everyone continues to hone specialist skills and carve their niches.”

Hannah Needham, Principal Consultant

“The survey we did in partnership with Nature North was a fantastic way to capture insight from the UK infrastructure and built environment sector on their experience with investing in nature projects. It was also really inspiring to attend our volunteering day in at Boothby Wildland in the summer, where we got to support a landscape recovery project with some hands-on fieldwork.’”

Jennie Beebe, Marketing Manager

Team photo in Oxford, featuring Finn the puppy!