About Us

Experienced

Independent

Empathetic

At SHIFT, we firmly believe that applying sustainability standards to the UK’s existing building stock doesn’t mean having to choose between the bottom line, the quality of build or the planet. In our view, all three can be achieved so everyone benefits. Plus, there’s the opportunity to tackle some important societal issues at the same time, such as fuel poverty.

We combine a pragmatic understanding of our clients’ needs with a passion to protect the planet. We take delight in making our clients’ lives easier whilst also enabling them to create sustainable buildings.

We’ve been calculating and reporting on energy use and carbon emissions for over 15 years. SHIFT’s qualified and experienced staff all have Chartered Environmentalist status from the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, or are studying for this accreditation.

We’re also very proud of our independence: as a company, we’re not aligned to any other corporate operation so our clients can be confident that our advice is unbiased and in their best interests.

Meet The Team

Richard Lupo

Managing Director, MIEMA, CEnv.

Richard is a Chartered Environmentalist and Full Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). He has had a life-long interest in sustainability issues. He has carried out over 50 full sustainability assessments of social landlords using the SHIFT standard. He is very proud that it is leading to significant environmental and value for money improvements.

Richard trained and qualified over 300 Code for Sustainable Homes assessors as well as trained building professionals on Housing Quality Indicators and sustainable refurbishment. He is an ESOS Lead Assessor and his key skills are calculating carbon emissions and the technical side of research. His particular expertise is developing and instigating stream-lined processes to ensure environmental effectiveness.

Richard is qualified for wellbeing assessments using the WELL AP scheme and as part of the Code for Sustainable Homes and Home Quality Mark schemes.

At Imperial College London Richard developed a waste silt recycling process, gained an MSc in Environmental Engineering and studied the impact of new regulations on hazardous waste disposal.

In his spare time, Richard researches the connections between environmental protection and meeting human needs and wellbeing.

Richard also has a degree in Metallurgy gained from the University of Nottingham. He has lived in Wales, Nottingham, Swansea, Germany, Wakefield, Teddington and Cotswolds.

Izzy Mills

SHIFT Environmental Assessor, AIEMA, BSc

Izzy is an Associate member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). Izzy has carried out over 30 SHIFT assessments and has worked with landlords of varying sizes from all over the UK. During her time so far as an Environmental SHIFT Assessor, Izzy has gained good experience in:

Designing work packages for social landlords on energy efficiency interventions and homes to prioritise.
SECR and ESG reporting for housing providers, as well as developing our SHIFT portal to target all of these reporting needs.
Carbon baselines, net-zero roadmaps and EPC Analysis.
Supporting organisations in green groups and SECR training, gaining confidence and communication skills.

Izzy graduated from the University of Leeds with an upper 2:1 honours degree in Environmental Science in 2019, developing a keen interest in sustainable development and climate risks. Izzy has also shadowed at Stroud District Council, where she got to see the effectiveness of Stroud’s Rural Sustainable Drainage Systems (RSuDs) that were put in place to protect the homes and businesses that suffered badly from floods in 2007.

Katie Murray

SHIFT Environmental Assessor, GradIEMA, MSc, BSc

After graduating from UWE with a first-class degree in Environmental Management, Katie has developed a passion for creating a sustainable built environment, one that supports community development and the wellbeing of those living there.

Katie is a highly experienced SHIFT Assessor having worked with social landlords across the UK, carrying out numerous SHIFT Assessments and keeping up to date with the latest environmental metrics and policy surrounding the housing sector.

Katie’s recent work includes:

Supporting the development of a sector decarbonisation roadmap, with the NHF, to provide guidance on the decarbonisation of housing associations.
Developing Net Zero and Environmental Strategies for clients with more recent work involving the health and social care sector.
Applying GIS skills to carry out flood risk and biodiversity assessments.
SECR and ESG reporting
Carbon baselining and EPC analysis.

Katie is progressing through her professional accreditation with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

Annie Murray

SHIFT Environmental Assessor, MSc, BSc

Annie has an MSc in Oceanography, and also achieved a first class BSc Geography degree. She is interested in sustainability, and uses her knowledge of environmental issues to apply this to real world projects. Studying both Geography and Oceanography has equipped her with strong skills to work with a company actively fighting to protect the environment.

Annie’s passion for the environment primarily comes from learning about climate change and completing research projects and assessments on paleo-environments, which help to inform our response to present day environmental change. Annie’s key skills are:

Effectively communicating with different stakeholders to establish the exact requirements of an assessment
Planning and organising projects, with the completion of a succinct report including all relevant information
Use of GIS software to present population and geographical data

In a previous role, Annie worked with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust where she lent a helping hand to nature in order to preserve it for others to enjoy. Examples of tasks she completed include:

Helping to build new walkways in local woodland.
Undertook water vole survey with other volunteers.
Cleared invasive plant species.

Annie is actively working towards her IEMA accreditation.

Tom Simpson

SHIFT Environmental Assessor

At SHIFT Tom delivers SECR and other carbon and environmental reports and he has over ten years’ experience in the social housing sector. Previously Tom was a service development manager responsible for strategic commissioning within a Local Authority housing department. He has also had roles with responsibility for business improvement, value for money, stakeholder engagement and consultation within supported and sheltered housing, asset and tenancy management and private sector housing services.

Passionate about sustainability, he has combined his housing career with environmental studies, qualifying so far with a BTEC in ‘Environmental Protection’ and completing units in ‘Technology for a Sustainable Future’ and ‘Environment: Change, Contest and Response’.

Tom is particularly interested in biodiversity and has completed many practical and research volunteer projects for The Wildlife Trust and been involved in a number of community participation activities promoting engagement with the local environment. He is a keen SCUBA diver and has studied and worked on marine conservation projects in his spare time.

IEMA

Corporate Partnership Programme

At SHIFT we are proud to be an IEMA corporate member. This means we have joined IEMA’s mission to transform the world to sustainability. Leading organisations such as the Environment Agency, Siemens, Skanska, Network Rail, and Rolls Royce have partnered with IEMA and developed their workforces’ productivity, resilience and growth against a backdrop of numerous sustainability and climate threats, which underpins the success of their organisation.

Within the partnership, we are able to gain support, skills and resources that help us become a forward-thinking, sustainable and competitive business. We share knowledge, learn and lead on all things environment and sustainability related, driving policy change, guidance, frameworks, and professional standards.

See our listing here.

National Housing Federation

Sector Supplier

We are a National Housing Federation sector supplier. A reputable commercial partner who has expertise within the social housing space.

“A2Dominion gained valuable understanding of the organisation’s environmental performance through our latest SHIFT assessment. Areas for improvement through better practices and/or better data were made really clear and I look forward to seeing the progress in environmental performance from our next SHIFT assessment”

- A2Dominion, Sustainability Manager

“Our SHIFT accreditation recognises our work to keep homes energy efficient and reduce carbon emissions. Izzy, our assessor, was a pleasure to work with – she made the process very straightforward and was very patient on our first SHIFT assessment.”

– Lynne Campbell, Bernicia

“We commissioned SHIFT to provide environmental briefings to CCHA’s Green Group, which is formed by representatives across all directorates. Richard and Sam provided engaging, informative presentations and facilitated excellent brainstorming sessions that have generated targets and actions for our forthcoming environmental strategy.”

– Jonathan Jones, Corporate Director of Property, Cardiff Community Housing Association

“We are really pleased to have achieved SHIFT Silver in Halton’s first environmental assessment. Throughout the assessment process we have been able to identify where environmental improvements should be made and Halton are looking forward to implementing the SHIFT recommendations and seeing how the business evolves to meet its sustainability ambitions.”

– Scott Murray, Director of Homes

“As well as benefitting from being a SHIFT landlord, Mosscare St Vincent have worked with SHIFT services in developing a robust and in-depth sustainability strategy. From this, we gained helpful understanding of the organisations current position, with clear SMART targets to work towards long term aims and meet sustainability ambitions.”

– Patrick McKendry, Sustainability Lead

“Thank you so much that was a really lovely engaging session which I think helped us all feel less daunted by this topic.”

– Denise Fowler, Chief Executive, Woman’s Pioneer Housing

“We have worked with SHIFT across numerous environmental projects and have been impressed with their attention to detail, technical knowledge and commitment to improving environmental performance in the social housing sector. The SHIFT assessment has also proved to be a really useful tool for us to demonstrate the challenges ahead to the wider business in an easily understandable format”

– Liz Daniels, Asset Manager

“South Liverpool Homes commissioned SHIFT to analyse the costs and interventions required to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across our housing stock. We have been really impressed with the level of detail provided, but also the effective communication of the longer-term action required across both existing homes and new developments. Sam and the team really advanced our understanding of the agenda and we will enjoy working with them again.”

– Michael Gibney, Asset & Development Manager

“At St Leger, we have expanded on our knowledge of our environmental performance through our most recent SHIFT assessment. The SHIFT assessment helped to highlight areas for improvement and challenges ahead for the whole business, with clear and understandable recommendations for the future. SHIFT has been invaluable in developing and delivering our Environmental Strategy”

– Christopher Litherland, Asset Management Service Manager

“Thank you very much for this morning, it was thought provoking which is exactly what I was hoping for. I am so pleased to see you doing well and that the message is getting out there that SHIFT offers good, independent advice that our sector so desperately needs.”

– Sue Chalkley, Chief Executive, Golding Homes

“VAHT commissioned SHIFT to undertake an EPC analysis and they have provided such a useful report which will enable us to implement plans to achieve both fuel poverty and EPC C targets.”

– Karen Flanagan, Contract Surveyor

“Our recent SHIFT assessment gave us clear areas to target with relevant improvement which we believe will enhance sustainability action throughout the business. The SHIFT team were very supportive and aimed to make the process as easy as possible for us.”

– Poppy Scott, Worthing Homes

“We are delighted to retain our SHIFT Gold status as it shows our commitment to working in a sustainable way and reducing our carbon footprint is continuing to pay off. A big thank you to our Environmental Champions, other Broadland staff and Sam our SHIFT Assessor who helped to gather the information needed for the assessment.”

– Louise Archer, Executive Property Director