For George Pawley, board meetings can involve sit-down sessions around a roaring fire before a brisk walk across the rolling hills. Exploring the land acquired by Oxygen Conservation – where Pawley’s worked for just over a year – is part of the job. The business’s sole in-house lawyer, he leads on negotiations for land bought by Oxygen as a means of scaling conservation. Over the past 12 months, this has included Invergeldie in Perthshire, and Blackburn and Hartsgarth in the Scottish borders – all sizeable rural habitats with the potential for transformation, renewable projects or ecotourism.
This is a “dream job” for Pawley, with purpose and impact at the heart of every single deal. Nearing its fourth year as a standalone business, Oxygen Conservation is scaling up and primed to secure backing from institutional investors this year. An important debt transaction secured by Pawley over 2023 was with Triodos Bank, a landmark £20m package to aid the two Scottish acquisitions. Signing bigger deals and venturing into the world of carbon credits will move Oxygen up a gear, while Pawley will be leading the way in the nascent world of natural capital.