WEBVTT 00:00:07.030 --> 00:00:10.529 You're listening to the Decarbonisation Dialogue, 00:00:10.830 --> 00:00:14.589 a podcast from Salix. Welcome to Delivering on 00:00:14.589 --> 00:00:17.489 Climate Change, our collective challenge. Welcome 00:00:17.489 --> 00:00:20.109 to the Decarbonisation Dialogue. I'm Hannah Walker, 00:00:20.350 --> 00:00:21.910 and I believe that the best way to communicate 00:00:21.910 --> 00:00:24.030 a message is by being passionate about what you 00:00:24.030 --> 00:00:27.609 are talking about. Today, my guest is Roli Martin, 00:00:27.890 --> 00:00:30.070 who is Managing Director and Head of Finance 00:00:30.070 --> 00:00:34.039 at Global City Futures. which is a consultancy 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.380 specializing in practical funding solutions for 00:00:36.380 --> 00:00:40.539 public sector net zero projects. So, Roli works 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:43.579 with local authorities, for example, NHS Trusts, 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.100 as well as education estates to develop commercially 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:50.719 robust business cases for decarbonization, focusing 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.539 on blending public and private capital to achieve 00:00:53.539 --> 00:00:56.920 sustainable net zero infrastructure, because, 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:58.939 of course, we can't do anything without the finance. 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:04.629 So, welcome to Roli. my guest today and really 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:07.950 looking forward to understanding the finance 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:10.870 behind these projects. I know you're a chartered 00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:13.750 accountant with more than 20 years of experience 00:01:13.750 --> 00:01:17.349 and you've also previously been leading a big 00:01:17.349 --> 00:01:19.329 four corporate finance infrastructure advisory 00:01:19.329 --> 00:01:21.890 practice so huge amounts of experience so thank 00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:25.930 you very much for joining us today. Now really, 00:01:26.030 --> 00:01:28.150 can you just tell us to start with a little bit 00:01:28.150 --> 00:01:30.689 about your own career journey and what drives 00:01:30.689 --> 00:01:33.609 you to this mission and obviously to global city 00:01:33.609 --> 00:01:35.489 futures. Tell us a little bit about what that 00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:37.829 is and what you do. So I began as a childhood 00:01:37.829 --> 00:01:41.349 accountant, took that wide and well trodden path 00:01:41.349 --> 00:01:44.209 of getting my articles and becoming an auditor 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:46.930 and all that kind of stuff and then sort of moved 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:50.390 up the ranks at a big four company at Deloitte 00:01:50.390 --> 00:01:53.909 and got increasingly frustrated that you couldn't 00:01:53.909 --> 00:01:56.290 get a lot done. lots of red tape, lots of things 00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:59.390 in the way. I guess at the same sort of time, 00:01:59.450 --> 00:02:03.909 it was an emerging industry in terms of net zero 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:08.969 infrastructure. Once I escaped audit, once my 00:02:08.969 --> 00:02:12.449 experience was in the infrastructure space and 00:02:12.449 --> 00:02:14.810 helping public sector organizations, it occurred 00:02:14.810 --> 00:02:18.430 to me they needed a lot of help outside of the 00:02:18.430 --> 00:02:21.389 day -to -day. So if you can imagine a hospital, 00:02:21.870 --> 00:02:23.889 they're firefighting all day trying to treat 00:02:23.889 --> 00:02:26.469 people in a school and firefighting trying to 00:02:26.469 --> 00:02:29.930 teach people. Local authorities are running social 00:02:29.930 --> 00:02:31.889 care programs. There's so much to do that is 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:35.969 not infrastructure and not finance and not anything 00:02:35.969 --> 00:02:38.129 outside the core that it must be really hard. 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:39.810 It must be really difficult to kind of put all 00:02:39.810 --> 00:02:42.810 this stuff together. And I was just observing 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:45.050 that they need a lot of help. And then as the 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:47.669 kind of net zero industry and clean energy industry 00:02:47.669 --> 00:02:50.030 emerged, it was just another thing that they 00:02:50.030 --> 00:02:52.509 were forced to be doing or, you know, stuff that 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:56.099 we needed to do. but had no real experience of 00:02:56.099 --> 00:02:59.039 doing. Combined with not being able to get anything 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.000 done at a big company, I thought, well, it's 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.419 time for a change and I need to put myself in 00:03:04.419 --> 00:03:06.960 an environment where I can get in front of the 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.439 right people at the right organisations to get 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.960 things done. Local authorities and NHS trusts 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:16.189 as well as education. estates are under huge 00:03:16.189 --> 00:03:18.169 amounts of pressure, aren't they? We're always 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:20.349 talking about targets. We've got 20 local authorities, 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:24.009 got 2030 targets, NHS 2045. We've got an overall 00:03:24.009 --> 00:03:28.469 2050 target. What do you think makes projects 00:03:28.469 --> 00:03:32.030 financially viable? In simple terms, having the 00:03:32.030 --> 00:03:36.849 money to do it. But we're talking about organizations 00:03:36.849 --> 00:03:39.830 that don't have big coffers of lots of money 00:03:39.830 --> 00:03:43.759 to invest in novel stuff, and this is still seen 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.340 as novel, which is just madness really, but it 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:49.020 is. The temptation is to start with the things 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:52.000 that generate a return. So solar panels and perhaps 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.520 EV charging points or creating your own heat 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:57.080 network or something like that. Something where 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.000 you can generate power or generate heat and save 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.800 money along the way and perhaps supply to somebody 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.599 else as well. They're always the first starting 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.000 points. But that leaves behind and kind of cherry 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.900 picks all the good stuff. And then you're left 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:14.340 with net zero neighborhood and retrofit and dealing 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:17.680 with huge swathes of domestic residential, which 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.959 are really hard to deal with. And there were 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:23.459 a lot of net zero challenges lie because that's 00:04:23.459 --> 00:04:27.699 generating loads of carbon and is reliant so 00:04:27.699 --> 00:04:30.240 much on fossil fuels to heat and power homes. 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:34.089 I suppose what makes it viable is Well, in my 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:36.189 view, and that's just one view, is blending everything 00:04:36.189 --> 00:04:39.269 together where possible. Understanding what good 00:04:39.269 --> 00:04:43.750 returning projects are, such as solar PV or wind 00:04:43.750 --> 00:04:46.529 or something like that, and blending that with 00:04:46.529 --> 00:04:48.589 less attractive, commercially attractive projects 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:50.889 to make a package of projects, a bundle of projects 00:04:50.889 --> 00:04:54.089 in which investment can be levered. But of course, 00:04:54.410 --> 00:04:57.029 that isn't going to work on its own either because 00:04:57.310 --> 00:04:59.810 a lot of the private markets and the big insurance 00:04:59.810 --> 00:05:01.810 companies, investment companies, they want more 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:04.870 stable investments and tend not to put certainly 00:05:04.870 --> 00:05:07.250 debt into these projects. It's always risk equity 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:09.970 and therefore high cost of finance and then that 00:05:09.970 --> 00:05:12.250 kind of scuppers the whole thing. So it needs 00:05:12.250 --> 00:05:16.350 a public sector anchor leverage of finance to 00:05:16.350 --> 00:05:19.529 tempt in the private money. It needs public money 00:05:19.529 --> 00:05:23.050 to de -risk those projects first. to bring in 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:25.529 the private money coming afterwards. So public 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:27.569 money has to act as a first loss, if you like. 00:05:27.870 --> 00:05:29.930 There are many ways you can do that. The biggest 00:05:29.930 --> 00:05:33.370 ticket is how do you convince the public purseholders 00:05:33.370 --> 00:05:36.149 to put that bit of money into that bit of that 00:05:36.149 --> 00:05:38.449 bundle of projects to lever in the private money. 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:42.310 So it's two things. It's convincing the private 00:05:42.310 --> 00:05:44.529 sector that we've got a de -risked stabilized 00:05:44.529 --> 00:05:47.649 cash flow, a pension fund can put their money 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:52.220 into long term. But first, convincing the public, 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.680 first holder, that this is the project to put 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.220 your money into because it will attract the private 00:05:57.220 --> 00:06:01.220 money, but also deliver this golden ticket of 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:04.459 social value IRR. So it will decarbonize, it 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.600 will deliver, it will make economic uplift, it 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:09.019 will deliver jobs, it will make cleaner air. 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:11.720 And adding up all those benefits and saying, 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:13.860 well, look, we've got a whole gamut of benefits 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:17.279 here for this project. in exchange for these 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.399 benefits, purse holder and policy holder, we 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:22.980 would like the money to make that happen. It's 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:24.759 really hard because even if all of your economic 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.680 benefits stacked up massively dwarf the amount 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.639 of money they're asking for them to leave in 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:32.360 the private capital, it's still a real struggle 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:34.720 to convince them to do it because they're getting 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.209 these offers and requests from everywhere. There's 00:06:37.209 --> 00:06:39.829 a finesse, a skill, an art and a science all 00:06:39.829 --> 00:06:42.370 together there. And indeed we have seen incredible 00:06:42.370 --> 00:06:45.529 progress though over the last few years and we 00:06:45.529 --> 00:06:47.649 are making, I mean we see it at Salix all of 00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:50.689 the time, just through one of the schemes we 00:06:50.689 --> 00:06:52.509 deliver which is the public sector decarbonisation 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:57.370 scheme and we see how the funding that we're 00:06:57.370 --> 00:06:59.949 helping deliver on behalf of government acts 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:02.029 as a trigger which is what you're talking about, 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:05.029 it acts as a trigger. to then encourage further 00:07:05.029 --> 00:07:08.709 investment. We see incredible projects and whether 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:10.529 it's heat network projects, whether it's air 00:07:10.529 --> 00:07:14.569 source heat pump projects, and how that is having 00:07:14.569 --> 00:07:16.750 an impact on that community because you've just 00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:20.610 talked about economic uplift and jobs, of course, 00:07:21.149 --> 00:07:23.189 and then of course cleaner air, which has got 00:07:23.189 --> 00:07:26.100 to be better. It's a win -win, isn't it? It's 00:07:26.100 --> 00:07:28.680 got to be better for all of us in terms of that 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.100 environment factor. And then the comfort, of 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:33.279 course, which is really important to make these 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:37.699 buildings more modern and nicer to be in, whether 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:40.439 it's your library or leisure centre. Absolutely. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:43.480 And that is always, but shouldn't be overlooked, 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:48.699 is the clean air and warm, dry homes. It's just 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:51.759 the connection between having those two things 00:07:52.009 --> 00:07:56.470 and then in 25 years time not having loads of 00:07:56.470 --> 00:07:59.810 people going to hospital is really, really direct 00:07:59.810 --> 00:08:02.670 but hard to calculate. The preventative care 00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:05.370 model that the NHS is attempting to move to, 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:08.189 which is effectively a fence at the top of the 00:08:08.189 --> 00:08:09.910 cliff instead of an ambulance in the bottom of 00:08:09.910 --> 00:08:14.610 it, is supposed to be moving quickly into that 00:08:14.610 --> 00:08:17.829 model, but it isn't. But what we're talking about 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:21.790 is exactly that. Whether we can give people clean, 00:08:22.149 --> 00:08:25.490 warm, affordable homes, then HS is going to have 00:08:25.490 --> 00:08:29.410 much fewer people to treat later on. But squeezing 00:08:29.410 --> 00:08:31.790 money out of them to pay for all of that now 00:08:31.790 --> 00:08:37.470 is almost impossible. And from your experience, 00:08:38.570 --> 00:08:41.909 what do you think then gives investors confidence? 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:45.080 in the public sector net zero infrastructure 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.580 that we have, what is it really that's going 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:51.120 to give that kind of confidence to lift everything? 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.019 Well, I've been doing this a long time and it's 00:08:54.019 --> 00:08:56.860 hard not to be cynical about all this, but the 00:08:56.860 --> 00:09:01.100 answer is stable, reliable, long -term cash flows, 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:03.179 which more of the big institutional investors 00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:07.299 traditionally have invested in property and in 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:10.389 income strips on public buildings. anything that's 00:09:10.389 --> 00:09:12.370 got bricks and water where somebody needs to 00:09:12.370 --> 00:09:14.029 be in it because we're not making any more land. 00:09:14.070 --> 00:09:16.549 They love that because they get an income strip 00:09:16.549 --> 00:09:21.649 return because their job is to pay their pensioners 00:09:21.649 --> 00:09:26.409 or their insurance payouts when they pay and 00:09:26.409 --> 00:09:30.009 to make that money grow. The stringent investment 00:09:30.009 --> 00:09:32.629 committee and regulations they have on what they 00:09:32.629 --> 00:09:35.830 invest in means that they will only go for the 00:09:35.830 --> 00:09:40.970 most risk. free if you like projects which net 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:42.889 zero projects don't really sit in that bucket. 00:09:43.450 --> 00:09:45.590 It is of course no coincidence that the pension 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:48.149 funds and the insurance companies have literally 00:09:48.149 --> 00:09:51.549 all of our money sitting in a bank grown and 00:09:51.549 --> 00:09:53.929 grown and grown because of that attitude. If 00:09:53.929 --> 00:09:55.409 they were just looking to pay the pensioners 00:09:55.409 --> 00:09:57.309 then they'd probably have a little bit more than 00:09:57.309 --> 00:09:59.309 they've got pensioners to pay out but they haven't 00:09:59.309 --> 00:10:01.750 they've got a thousand times more than that. 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:05.750 Attracting their money it needs to be clean stable 00:10:06.110 --> 00:10:10.789 and long -term growth. And do you feel, because 00:10:10.789 --> 00:10:13.289 you've obviously got a financial head, and I'll 00:10:13.289 --> 00:10:16.169 hold my hands up, I'm not, I don't necessarily 00:10:16.169 --> 00:10:19.669 have a financial head, do you feel that you're 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:22.950 always facing that kind of a struggle, really, 00:10:23.429 --> 00:10:26.110 with making yourself and your day -to -day job, 00:10:26.350 --> 00:10:29.870 with making the figures work, giving people the 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:32.950 confidence to invest, but also talking about 00:10:32.950 --> 00:10:36.080 that social value, which you obviously feel very 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:39.480 passionately about? It is a struggle but there 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.000 are lots of little wins along the way. There 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.639 are responsible investors and there are really 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.720 clever people in government that see the vision 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:53.940 and value the concept of a social value IRR where 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:56.480 you can demonstrate using the proper green book 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.940 treasury guidance and say here is a economic 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:02.639 benefits calculation using your guidance that 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:06.590 gives you a package of benefits. there are some 00:11:06.590 --> 00:11:09.350 strong leaders in government that do recognize 00:11:09.350 --> 00:11:12.750 that and say, okay, this is worth some capital 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:16.250 pump priming. Equally, there are some responsible 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:19.909 investors out there that want to be social impact 00:11:19.909 --> 00:11:22.970 investors, which is more than just social impact 00:11:22.970 --> 00:11:25.250 in front of the word investors, which many of 00:11:25.250 --> 00:11:26.870 them are, but some of them aren't, and they do 00:11:26.870 --> 00:11:30.570 want to. And it will accept a lower return because 00:11:30.570 --> 00:11:33.350 they are delivering some benefit. But outside 00:11:33.350 --> 00:11:36.669 of that, it is a struggle because commerce and 00:11:36.669 --> 00:11:40.230 social value very rarely meet in the same room. 00:11:40.789 --> 00:11:44.070 We have to be realistic about the fact that it's 00:11:44.070 --> 00:11:47.370 a capitalist endeavor. And if you're asking somebody 00:11:47.370 --> 00:11:50.490 for money, then they want some return. But looking 00:11:50.490 --> 00:11:53.669 ahead five years, what changes do you think would 00:11:53.669 --> 00:11:56.809 make it easier for the public sector and all 00:11:56.809 --> 00:11:59.909 of us to accelerate the impact of climate change? 00:11:59.929 --> 00:12:02.250 But we're looking at kind of averting the worst, 00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:04.370 aren't we? What do you think? Do you think it 00:12:04.370 --> 00:12:07.889 looks like? It needs change at all levels. So 00:12:07.889 --> 00:12:10.070 in changing communities where people come together 00:12:10.070 --> 00:12:12.690 and optimize all the things that they're doing 00:12:12.690 --> 00:12:16.149 from house to house, community to community to 00:12:16.149 --> 00:12:18.789 minimize their waste, minimize their carbon and 00:12:18.789 --> 00:12:21.429 minimize their footprint in that regard. And 00:12:21.429 --> 00:12:23.750 there are community, great community groups that 00:12:23.750 --> 00:12:26.049 do that. But then they're limited. They stop 00:12:26.049 --> 00:12:27.769 at a certain threshold because they don't have 00:12:27.769 --> 00:12:30.690 the money or the reach or the growth potential 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:32.610 to do anything further. So that's one level. 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:36.289 And then you've got all the businesses But businesses 00:12:36.289 --> 00:12:38.029 want to make money because they're in business. 00:12:38.309 --> 00:12:40.690 So they need to be forced. And then you've got 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:43.669 investors and governments and investors want 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:45.190 to make money and governments want to govern. 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:49.009 So they need to be forced too. So I don't know 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:52.009 what the answer is, but is it concessionary loan 00:12:52.009 --> 00:12:55.710 rates for all Net Zero projects as part of a 00:12:55.710 --> 00:12:59.690 giant spearheaded program to get solar panels 00:12:59.690 --> 00:13:02.230 on every single building in every single place 00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:05.149 to make a dent in it? I mean, I think it's the 00:13:05.149 --> 00:13:07.350 size of Spain. We have to build a solar panel 00:13:07.350 --> 00:13:09.129 the size of Spain in the Sahara Desert, and that 00:13:09.129 --> 00:13:10.830 would be enough power for everybody forever. 00:13:11.250 --> 00:13:13.730 And that would cost the same. I haven't heard 00:13:13.730 --> 00:13:17.929 that. It's about that. I mean, I'm paraphrasing. 00:13:18.570 --> 00:13:20.750 And the cost of installing that in the Sahara 00:13:20.750 --> 00:13:23.070 Desert would be the US defense budget for the 00:13:23.070 --> 00:13:26.370 next eight years. But someone's got to force 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:31.090 that to happen. But at a practical level, concessionary 00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:34.240 loan rates to developing countries industries 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.919 in this country trying to deliver panels and 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:41.039 heat networks and everything else mandated on 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:46.259 those investors. I'm not talking silly. You have 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:49.279 to lend at 1 % or whatever it might be, but just 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:51.159 something that is deeply concessional to what 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:54.519 they would normally lend at so that it doesn't 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:58.399 break the model. So we don't need to double everybody's 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.379 heat and electricity price to go in at zero. 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.179 So it can be something manageable for the end 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:05.639 user. You're having these conversations all the 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:06.820 time. You're having these conversations with 00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:09.259 government. You're talking all the time about 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:13.519 how you can finance this work and bring people 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.039 together. But do you think the average person, 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.759 like me, do you think people on the ground actually 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:26.240 appreciate that getting that financing framework 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:32.820 right is key to how we tackle our climate? No, 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:34.519 I think they just think the government should 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:38.039 pay for it all. And there is money for them to 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:41.259 do that. And I dare say there is a lot of money 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:43.340 that's probably placed in the wrong places like 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:47.019 defence or attack or whatever the ministry does 00:14:47.019 --> 00:14:49.740 these days. But there's money to be spread into 00:14:49.740 --> 00:14:52.379 different places as part of policy control and 00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:55.809 short -term governments but it never gets there 00:14:55.809 --> 00:14:57.570 and but yeah i think the average person thinks 00:14:57.570 --> 00:15:01.169 the government should pay for it all because 00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:03.629 it has a responsibility and a duty of care to 00:15:03.629 --> 00:15:07.250 the people over whom it governs so i think that's 00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:08.970 what the average person thinks i don't think 00:15:08.970 --> 00:15:12.309 they realize that there just isn't any capital 00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:14.850 sitting in a pot somewhere waiting to be spent 00:15:14.850 --> 00:15:16.649 and it's and they're choosing not to do it i 00:15:16.649 --> 00:15:18.950 think they just think it's there they don't realize 00:15:18.950 --> 00:15:21.710 that um you know all of our cash is tied up in 00:15:21.690 --> 00:15:25.929 financial funds. Financing aside, what next for 00:15:25.929 --> 00:15:29.470 you and your own career and of course for the 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:32.009 Global City Futures? What next for Global City 00:15:32.009 --> 00:15:35.830 Futures? The strategy over the next year or so, 00:15:35.830 --> 00:15:38.269 but what about you? Where do you see your future? 00:15:38.950 --> 00:15:43.289 Here, but forwards. I want to keep expanding 00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:46.429 our business, but not for the sake of expansion. 00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:50.090 We want to expand to do more of the right projects. 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:52.679 and be able to continue to do more of the right 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:56.320 projects. So we want the space and freedom to 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.500 back sustainability and affordable housing programs 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:02.200 that make the difference. I'm not going to see 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:03.700 a pipe and a spade in the ground or whatever 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:07.980 it is on a more frequent basis and at a higher 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:10.419 scale. And I want to be part of that. And I've 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:12.659 got an amazing team of people behind me that 00:16:12.659 --> 00:16:16.460 are way brighter than I am and way more capable. 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:19.820 And they're all with every day learning to be 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.179 to be better than they were yesterday and you 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:24.960 know before long they're all going to be doing 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:27.740 the job i do which is exactly what i want so 00:16:27.740 --> 00:16:30.299 and then i'd like to make new hires and have 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.700 that grow underneath them and you know expand 00:16:32.700 --> 00:16:37.320 in that way but um it's a process it is and that's 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:39.159 a wonderful thing isn't it to have fantastic 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:41.440 people around you but to be in this area where 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.419 there is so much change so fast whether it's 00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:47.120 technology whether it's financing whether it's 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.429 skills But we are, for one thing, there's a huge 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:53.429 amount of passion and by working together, all 00:16:53.429 --> 00:16:55.669 of us actually, we're kind of making a difference. 00:16:55.909 --> 00:16:58.470 We are making a difference. Thank you very much 00:16:58.470 --> 00:17:01.029 to Roli Martin for joining me today and for 00:17:01.029 --> 00:17:03.340 providing such insight. There can be no doubt 00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:04.859 that climate change is the biggest challenge 00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:07.380 of our time. Today, we must reduce greenhouse 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:09.819 gas emissions to slow global warming. Today, 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:12.200 we must act for tomorrow, adjusting our lifestyles 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:14.480 to current and future impacts of climate change. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.660 Today, we must use our collective wisdom to deliver 00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:20.259 on our climate commitments. Today, we work for 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:23.500 tomorrow's world. Don't forget to tune in to 00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:26.400 our podcast channels and do email us at podcast 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.200 .salixfinance .co .uk with your ideas. Thank 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:32.710 you very much again to Rolili. Thank you. Thank 00:17:32.710 --> 00:17:35.390 you. You've been listening to the Decarbonisation 00:17:35.390 --> 00:17:39.430 Dialogue, a podcast from Salix. For more information 00:17:39.430 --> 00:17:42.730 about our work and to find more content, please 00:17:42.730 --> 00:17:47.490 visit salixfinance .co .uk forward slash podcasts.