Jonathan Withey welcomes listeners to episode 33 featuring a conversation with Ella Moseley, Director of Ecology at Pegasus Group. Ella describes her path into ecology through a physical geography degree in the UK and Australia, the value of gaining construction-side experience, and how Pegasus brought ecology in-house to complete a multidisciplinary offer and support clients from early land appraisals through post-consent delivery. They discuss biodiversity net gain (BNG) as a way to communi...
May 7
47 min
Jonathan is joined in central London by Julia Baker of Mott MacDonald to discuss how nature services connect biodiversity, climate resilience, carbon, and social wellbeing, arguing that nature recovery is a solution society and the economy need. The conversation focuses on biodiversity net gain (BNG), especially for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs), including the government’s announcement that mandatory BNG for NSIPs will go live on 2 November 2026 and planned interim pu...
Apr 22
40 min
Jonathan Withey hosts a conversation with David Hill CBE, described as a key architect of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), discussing its origin from David’s experience in environmental impact assessment, his push from biodiversity offsetting to mandated BNG, and why voluntary adoption failed. David argues onsite BNG is ineffective and advocates professional, audited offsite habitat banks, noting BNG costs about 0.6% of gross development value and warning that exemptions, environmental delivery p...
Apr 6
56 min
On this episode Jonathan Withey chats with Laurence Cummins, Sustainability Manager at Wates Group, who describes his path from a biology degree and applied research role into leading the nature strand of Wates’ environmental strategy. They discuss drivers behind Wates’ nature work, including the Nature Based Neighbourhoods programme and research with More in Common showing cross-political support for green spaces. Laurence outlines nature tech uses such as high-resolution satellite imagery a...
Mar 23
42 min
In this episode host Jonathan speaks with Joseph Gridley, CEO and founder of Soil Association Exchange, a for-profit arm distinct from the Soil Association charity, which helps companies and about 2,200 UK farms (around 4.5% of UK agricultural land) measure and improve environmental impacts through finance, advice, and simplified access to public and private funding options like SFI and other schemes. Gridley explains the business value for partners—supply chain resilience, credible fie...
Mar 16
38 min
On this episode Jonathan Withey hosts Peter Dorans, Business Development Director at the charity Plantlife. Peter shares his unconventional career path into the NGO environment sector, including roles in the civil service, New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment, 15 years at The Wildlife Trusts, and moving to Plantlife to build commercial engagement in nature restoration. Plantlife was founded by botanists to address the lack of attention on plants and fungi and focuses on species-rich gra...
Mar 9
38 min
In this episode Jonathan interviews Nick White, Principal Adviser for Net Gain at Natural England, about his career path into biodiversity work and his 14-year involvement in developing biodiversity net gain (BNG). Nick explains how Brexit created a political window to help get BNG onto the national agenda and ultimately enshrined into law, and discusses BNG’s global influence, including international uptake of the metric. They explore what natural capital means, why habitats are used as a pr...
Mar 2
40 min
On this episode Jonathan frames the conversation as a focus on Anglia Water’s work for nature recovery and biodiversity, while acknowledging wider water industry challenges around drinking water, sewage treatment, and infrastructure. Angus explains Anglia Water’s geographic coverage (from the Humber Estuary to the Thames Estuary and inland to Northamptonshire) and discusses work across the UK’s driest region, including river restoration, slowing flows, habitat creation and some wetland creati...
Feb 23
36 min
On this episode Jonathan has a conversation with Peter Rogers, co-founder of Lipton Rogers and former co-founder of Stanhope. They discuss Rogers’ long career in commercial and residential development, including insights into 22 Bishopsgate (“22B”), designed as a “vertical village” with shared amenities such as restaurants, bars, gyms, art in the lobby, and community-focused spaces to offset limited ground-level public realm. Rogers shares how he got into construction through early exposure t...
Feb 16
39 min
In this episode Jonathan dives into a captivating conversation with Edward Pollard, founder of Positive by Nature. Edward shares insights on sustainability, nature recovery, and biodiversity, drawing from his extensive experience in the field. Learn about the interconnectedness of climate and nature, the importance of business resilience, and the exciting projects driving nature conservation forward. Edward also shares memorable personal stories from his career, highlighting the crucial role ...
Feb 9
55 min
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