Stephen Sykes

Head of Environment, Climate and Sustainability Law | Real Estate

Practice Areas

Contact

+44 (0)7899 843 248
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Stephen is a leading environmental and insurance lawyer, specialising in mitigating ESG liabilities for corporates, lenders and public sector bodies.  

Stephen advises environmental and construction insurers on non-litigious issues. He is a specialist in ESG, contaminated land and environmental insurance and has co-founded several successful ventures in the environmental data, insurance and consulting sectors, providing legal, practical and commercial advice to entrepreneurs, start-ups and other early-stage businesses.

He is chair and Non-Executive Director of environmental organisations. He is Past Chair of the UK Environmental Law Association (2015-17) and has chaired several scientific consultancies.

He is a Visiting Fellow at Birkbeck College’s Centre for Innovation Management Research, which is part of the University of London, where he tutors postgraduate students from around the world on the Entrepreneurial Venture Creation course.

He is a director of Ashfield Risk Transfer Solutions – a specialist independent broker of environmental, construction, planning and legal indemnity insurance solutions which are used to facilitate complex commercial transactions.

Expertise

  • Environmental law
  • Corporate due diligence relating environmental liabilities
  • Commercial Property
  • Construction, Energy & Projects
  • Real Estate
  • Social Housing
  • Contaminated / brownfield sites
  • Remediation
  • Green buildings / leases
  • Environmental data to support property transactions and development
  • Environmental permits / licences
  • Environmental insurance claims
  • Water pollution
  • Air pollution
  • Noise pollution
  • Climate risk management
Cegin

Recent work

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Worked on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill helping BP to quantify its financial provision for the world’s most expensive pollution incident (>$50bn).

The UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA)

Chaired Europe’s leading environmental law professional association – the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) between 2015-2017. He set up UKELA’s Brexit Task Force to assist the devolved administrations with the management of the complex implications which leaving the EU will have on environmental laws. His leadership of UKELA was recognised by Lord Carnwath as ‘strong and innovative’.

The National Judges College

Presented paper on land contamination to a forum of 125 environmental judges at the National Judges College in Beijing in December 2017.

Languages

  • French

 

 

Testimonials

  • I am immensely grateful to David at Capital Law for his exceptional support during my redundancy process. His expert knowledge in employment law, coupled with a compassionate approach, made a potentially challenging time much more enjoyable. David provided clear, practical advice and was always available to answer my questions, ensuring I felt confident and well-represented throughout. I highly recommend him and Capital Law to anyone in need of dedicated and professional employment law services.

    WP | Managing Director

  • Terrafend is a fast growing, venture capital backed sustainability company. Consequently, many of our transactions are diverse in nature and have tight execution timetables. In Sarah, we found the ideal legal counsel to guide and support our business growth. She has a strong understanding of corporate finance, great attention to detail and an innovative and pragmatic thought process – imperative for early stage businesses who have to ‘get things done’, without compromise and to the highest possible professional standards.

    Benjamin Reid | Chief Executive Officer
    Terrafend

  • Gareth, Mel and all of the team at Capital Law have been fantastic – they provided pragmatic advice and calmly guided us throughout the process.

    Steve Edwards | Founder and CEO
    Silvertel

  • Gareth, Sara & the team at Capital Law have been a huge support for us in getting this deal done. Their advice, knowledge and project management have been invaluable. The team have been a real pleasure to work with and we look forward to working together again soon.

    John Cordrey | Private Equity Principal
    Foresight Group

  • I can’t recommend Capital Law enough if you are selling equity in your business. The team led by Gareth Williams-Davies were thoroughly professional and were able to offer a commercially balanced view on all aspects of the transaction. The breadth of skills within Capital Law allowed Gareth to bring in specialist colleagues when required and I could not have been represented better. Gareth’s calm and experienced tone was a great advantage during some of the trickier negotiations and he was a significant factor in completing the transaction.

    Paul Daly | Founder
    Energy Saving Lighting

  • Duncan is a highly experienced Private Equity and Corporate lawyer with the rare gift of pragmatic commercialism combined with the charm of the human touch and a fine dash of humour. He understands entrepreneurs, business people and investors. His capable & highly responsive team get to the nub of an issue and deliver swift practical results for clients. He is in huge demand and still first on my Speed Dial.

    David Williams | Senior Partner
    Dunedin Capital