Bruntwood buys stake in Scottish wind farm

Property investor and developer Bruntwood has taken a 42.2% stake in a new wind farm at Kirk Hill in Ayrshire, Scotland, allowing it to source energy for its own offices and shared spaces in Manchester from renewable sources.



Property investor and developer Bruntwood has taken a 42.2% stake in a new wind farm at Kirk Hill in Ayrshire, Scotland, allowing it to source energy for its own offices and shared spaces in Manchester from renewable sources.

The Manchester-based firm, which has commercial property in and around the city, as well as sites in Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cambridge, said it was the first commercial real estate company to make such a move.

In the deal, Bruntwood’s energy supply business Unify Energy has become a partner to a new cooperative formed to supply the wind farm being developed by Ripple Energy, which will be the largest consumer-owned wind farm in the UK.

Bruntwood CEO Chris Oglesby said: “Bruntwood was the first commercial property company in the UK to sign up to the 2030 World GBC Net Zero target and this investment will provide a huge step in us reaching our goals.

“We recognise the significant impact our buildings have on the environmental performance of our cities, largely through their energy consumption. Our portfolio in Manchester, for example, accounts for 0.6% of the city’s emissions once you also include our customer’s energy use. Sourcing power from Kirk Hill will make a major dent into this.

“In helping our cities take a big step forward in their own net zero journeys, we’re also giving customers the opportunity to minimise their emissions and some protection from the inflationary pressures on energy prices through greater stability.”

Bruntwood employs more than 800 people and has over £1.4bn in assets, with more than 100 properties across Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham.

Bruntwood claims to be the UK’s first commercial property company to have signed up to the Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Commitment pledge, which aims for new buildings to be net zero carbon by 2030 and older buildings to hit that target by 2050.