Nicola Spooner
Nicola's focus is on environmental and social impact assessment, training and due diligence in the natural resources, manufacturing, property and tourism sectors. She has worked extensively in the UK, Central and Southern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America, where her key project work has included:
- Undertaking an extensive range of project work for multilateral lending institutions such as IFC and EBRD from compliance assessment, due diligence to training and capacity building;
- Preparing lender reports in line with the specific environmental, social and health & safety procedures for major lending institutions;
- Delivering advisory services in EIA, environmental permitting and pre-feasibility planning;
- Conducting audits and training programmes to assist clients in the pre-certification process for ISO14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007;
- Conducting due diligence assessments for a wide range of industry sectors including property and tourism, forestry, mining and minerals development, infrastructure and transport; and
- Conducting Equator Principles compliance reviews and gap analyses and advising clients on IFC Performance Standards and other key environmental management tools.
Nicola has an MSc in Land Resource Management from Cranfield University and a BA in Geography from Nottingham University.
Mark Mackintosh
Mark is an accomplished environmental professional, with high-level experience consulting on a wide variety of environmental and social assessments. These have covered project development, hydrogeological assessments, health & safety, mergers & acquisitions, soil & groundwater contamination assessments and developing remedial strategies. Recent experience has included:
- Evaluating environmental issues and working with clients to develop strategies for managing environmental liabilities
- Development and preparation of disclosure documentation;
- Designing deliverables and developing environmental strategies which meet the international guidelines of IFC, IFIs and corporate investors;
- Working within client teams as their internal environmental expert;
- Conducting EIA and retrospective EIAs;
- Assessing the sustainability of water resources for an oil shale project;
- Running a multidisciplinary team to deliver technical assistance to improve air quality in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and
- Undertaking EHSS due diligence for investors as well as corporate clients.
Mark has an MSc in Hydrogeology from University College London and a BSc in Mining Geology from Leicester University.
Alex Mayhook-Walker
Alex has established a significant track record related to project development and permitting, regulatory and policy analysis, and mergers & acquisitions. He has spent the past five years managing and advising on the development of natural resources projects for project sponsors, and the assessment of such projects for debt and equity investors. His experience has included:
- Appointed as the Lender's Environmental & Social Consultant for the project financing of the $10BN Olokola LNG project in Nigeria;
- Environmental Due Diligence Assessment of manufacturing assets in Bosnia and Russia;
- Advisor to Petropavlovsk plc (formerly Peter Hambro Mining) on regulatory compliance and implementation of IFC EHS requirements. This has included preparation of annual Sustainability Reports;
- Equator Principles EIA Review & Reputational Risk Assessment of a gold project in Romania for potential lenders; and
- Supporting the development of a $12bn coal seam gas to LNG project in Australia.
Alex has an MBA, an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, and a BA in Geography from Exeter University.
Maria Cull
Maria is recognised as a leading international environmental law expert. Her main focus is on social and environmental risk, climate change and sustainability issues. She has advised a broad range of industries on privatisations, acquisitions, projects and joint ventures, as well as providing advice to government bodies on the development of environmental laws. Before joining Citrus, Maria had a successful legal career in the City. She is now a non-practising solicitor. Her recent experience includes advising clients on:
- The application of the Equator Principles to an oil Shale Project in Jordan, and to oil and gas projects in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea;
- Legal mechanisms to address air pollution problems in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;
- The implications of the environmental laws of Libya for the oil and gas industry;
- Environmental regulatory issues associated with the acquisition of a £350 million underground gas storage project in the UK;
- The expansion and financing of a petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia. Project value US $9.8 billion; and
- Waste regulatory issues associated with the £141 million acquisition of a UK waste company.
Maria has an LLM in Environmental Law from Pace Law School, New York and a BA in Law and American Studies from Keele University.
