Heat networks are pivotal to the energy transition in our cities, shaping how buildings are heated - and cooled. With new heat network zones now a Government priority, JBP helps energy providers and infrastructure developers secure the decisions that matter: building the right relationships early on, strengthening bids, de-risking planning, and earning long-term community trust.
Winning bids takes more than technical excellence, with a strong focus on the credibility and impact of the partnership. We help you understand the local landscape, sharpen your proposition and prove lasting commitment – from community conversations and compelling place-based narratives to high impact social value programmes grounded in local needs.
Through JBP Local, our specialist local government advisory capability, we help clients engage confidently with senior leaders and officers in designated pilot cities, ensuring that deliverable partnerships are formed out of policy ambitions.
Securing demand is just as important as securing consent. JBP helps heat network developers engage early with potential customers and strategic partners – from local authorities and universities to major employers, housing providers and commercial property owners. Through targeted stakeholder engagement and market-building campaigns, we help create the relationships and confidence needed to connect buildings, grow networks and unlock long-term commercial viability.
Our whitepaper sets out what the new heat network zones mean for energy providers and infrastructure developers – and how to build the relationships, local support and political backing needed to win and deliver them.
We support the full planning journey – from consultation strategy to planning committee advocacy, we manage the full stakeholder and political engagement journey. We develop clear and strong case-based messaging for officers and politicians, and evidence-led, locally grounded social value storytelling that leads to majority support for granting permission.
Effective community engagement is critical to any successful infrastructure development. We are highly expert at developing transparent, inclusive and collaborative community engagement programmes that keeps local people informed and involved – drawing on more than three decades’ experience of supporting major infrastructure clients, including the likes of National Grid and E.ON.
Heat networks are set to become a major pillar of the UK’s low-carbon energy system, yet the sector still has limited visibility across government and the wider policy community. JBP helps clients and industry bodies develop coordinated national public affairs campaigns – engaging ministers, MPs, the Treasury and regulators to build understanding of the sector’s role in energy security, resilience, decarbonisation and long-term economic growth. Through strategic messaging, parliamentary engagement and coalition building, we help ensure the industry’s voice is heard where decisions are made.
Our adviser network is led by Mark Hawthorne, former leader of Gloucestershire County Council, and includes experienced former local authority leaders and cabinet executives from across the country.
For more information on the communications and stakeholder engagement services we offer to support your heat network ambitions, please contact Chris Lawrance, Managing Director at JBP at Chris.Lawrance@jbp.co.uk.
