Planet-conscious building consultancy Viridium grows team to support growth

Viridium – the planet-conscious North West building consultancy founded a little over 18-months ago by experienced chartered surveyor Gemma Cornwall – has taken on its first permanent staff members.

 The Lancashire-based company has appointed Ross Cornwall as director, while Rebecca Latham recently joined the team as office and business development manager to support client growth.

 Viridium works primarily with asset managers, commercial landlords, developers and contractors to help them improve the energy performance of their buildings and support their net zero goals.

 The company has already delivered decarbonisation projects for clients including Savills, CBRE Investment Management, Indurent and Warden Construction.

 Ross, who is Gemma’s husband, will help to oversee all company operations and processes to ensure the highest client service standards as the company grows.

He will also undertake commercial property assessments, looking at EPC and MEES compliance, to assist clients with their decarbonisation strategies.

 Rebecca is responsible for organising surveys and managing sub-consultants, as well as leading on all aspects of finance, administration, and business development activity.

 Gemma Cornwall, founder and director of Viridium, said: “It’s been an incredible journey so far and I couldn’t have hoped for a better start for the business in terms of the clients we’re working with and the projects we’re managing.

 “It feels great to be welcoming our first permanent employees to the company. Ross deciding to retrain and join the business has effectively doubled our in-house capacity to carry out EPC assessments, and it also makes this very much a family business. 

 “Having Rebecca to manage our finances, supplier relationships and back-office functions, also frees up a huge amount of time for us to focus on project delivery for clients. We’re putting in place strong foundations for growth that can support further recruitment when the need arises.”

 Prior to Viridium, Ross spent 10 years teaching English in the UK and overseas before deciding to change career.

 Rebecca’s background is in business and finance administration, including at Westholme School in Lancashire where she held the roles of admissions registrar and finance administration officer.

 A RICS chartered surveyor, Gemma left her role as head of sustainability at AG Built Environment Consultancy in autumn 2023 to found Viridium.

 The company takes a ‘retrofit-first’ approach, helping clients to make best use of their existing built environment assets and reducing the embodied carbon harms associated with new buildings.

 In its first year, Viridium surveyed 330 buildings, achieved an average 79 per cent reduction in emissions across client portfolios, and saved 4,753 tonnes of CO2e annually across the buildings it advised on.