Privilege Finance announce new Commercial Director

Specialist finance provider of climate change reduction projects, Privilege Finance, appoint Rob Norrington as their new Commercial Director to lead the commercial division of the company.

With a background as a Chartered Engineer and a long, distinguished career in business and project leadership, Mr Norrington joins the Privilege team to support the business as it continues to grow and seeks new opportunities across the UK and into Europe.

With his previous experience in the construction, engineering and manufacturing sectors, Mr Norrington brings a logical, efficiency-driven mindset to his role and is keen to use his experience to push forward anaerobic digestion (AD) as a viable alternative to fossil fuels as part of the future energy mix.

“Entering the renewables sector wasn’t part of my ‘big plan’, but I had a realisation that society isn’t moving fast enough to mitigate climate change – we all need to do our bit, and we all need to push harder,” explains Mr Norrington.

“I am making a commitment to support climate change reduction and the net zero agenda for the rest of my career and I’m delighted to start this journey with Privilege, who are perfectly positioned to deliver it.

“I’m passionate about AD being part of the green energy solution. I am convinced that AD has a lot more to contribute to global energy resilience and, from a UK perspective, can help to decouple us from being so reliant on external supplies of electricity and gas,” he adds.

With upcoming rule changes expected on the sorting of domestic food waste in the UK, Mr Norrington believes AD plants and private sector operators can play a key role in bolstering the nation’s energy supply by creating a circular economy.

“The UK’s food waste emits 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, some of which we could capture through anaerobic digestion and make productive and sustainable use of. Currently, household food waste collections are only offered by around half of the country’s waste collection authorities, but legislation will soon mandate much greater segregation.

“Local councils and other producers of food waste will need somewhere for this waste to be processed and this is where efficient, well designed AD plants should be the first choice as the most sustainable way to harness the benefits of the waste.

“Plant operators are increasingly turning to private funders like Privilege to help them to optimise and source funding for new AD investments,” he says.

Commenting on Mr Norringtons’s appointment, Chief Executive Officer at Privilege, Chris Winward, says, “Rob has an excellent track record in getting to the heart of problems and delivering innovative, transformational strategies for change.

“I’m excited to see the changes Rob will bring to Privilege as we continue to grow.”

Rob Norrington can be contacted at busdev@privilege.finance