Meet the Team: Aaron Drury

Aaron Drury

• Location: Liverpool / Manchester, UK
• Practice Area: Transaction Support
• Areas of expertise: Environmental Due Diligence, Real Estate, Mergers & Acquisitions, Transactional ESG
• About Me in 140 Characters: Experienced project manager delivering environmental due diligence service lines, with a passion for supporting clients through demanding timescales. I also have an ever-growing passion for ESG, and how as environmental practitioners we can help our clients map and improve their ESG metrics. 

Favorite Thing about Being a Due Diligence Practitioner:  
I love developing existing and new relationships both internally and externally. Environmental Due Diligence often requires a multi-disciplinary approach, and being able to call on all parts of my network to advise clients is essential and an aspect of my job I love.

What is the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
A confidential project for a series of hotels in Ireland, involving both contaminated land and ESG assessments. The Site visits were particularly fun – I topped a visit off by having a Guinness and swim in the hotel spa!

What are some of your favorite tools/resources for professional development in this practice area? 
I pride myself by keeping professional development very simple – always be sincere and keep regular contact with both your colleagues and clients. Aside from the usual client meetings and networking events which of course are crucial to professional development, I have learnt huge amounts of information by listing in to colleagues in other practices – a prime example would be recent communication with the ecology team on latest biodiversity market trains (such as BNG). By becoming a generalist, this really helps with client table talk and when it comes to advising clients, we can take projects beyond the DD stage and really nail ourselves as environmental advisors.

What area of due diligence are you most interested in? Why? 
Transactional ESG– its an ever growing and evolving landscape. I think transactional ESG is forming the baseline for the future of environmental consultancy – a multi-disciplinary plan of attack to ensure our clients are fully above board on all environmental angles.

Just for Fun...

What TV show character do you identify most with? 
Not so much a TV show Character, but I do love Batman. Billionaire, a fantastic batsuit and very cool – only one of these things I have managed to achieve, and will leave that up to the reader to decide..

Is there something unique that people might not know about you? 
I love Liverpool Football Club, but I guess the story that makes people look at me differently is I once filled my shed with a model train layout, as a protest to my other half turning our spare room into a beauty room. (Unfortunately, the beloved shed has been returned to its former glory following the arrival of my daughter).

What is your most treasured possession?
I have some (certified) meteorite dust given to me by my Grandad when I was a kid.

Any advice for people looking to go into EHS consulting? 
Pride yourself on being open minded and eager to learn about all aspects of the business. Find a company that truly values and empowers its staff, and look to always operate slightly above your comfort zone!