Director’s Statement 2026

Securing your path to connection

We launched this is as our brand strapline in 2025 because it neatly sums up the service we provide for our clients. That ‘path’, with its pitfalls, risks, stakeholders and landowners can make or break any development, because if power isn’t secured, it won’t go ahead.

The routes we take to secure that path have always driven the evolution of CLM. But now more than ever and alongside our customer and industry insight, they’re playing a key role in defining our strategic growth plans for this year and beyond.

Laying out our stall

We’re starting 2026 with redraft of our purpose and vision.  Why we do what we do:

• Our purpose

To deliver fast, accurate, and legally robust land rights solutions that enable utility companies and developers to deliver critical infrastructure efficiently and compliantly

• Our vision

To become the UK’s leading independent specialist in land rights and consent management for utilities, recognised for expertise, service quality, and a commitment to employee wellbeing.

I’m serious about these statements and would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the benefits you can enjoy by working with us as a completely independent landrights services provider. We’re sector specialists, we work across all DNO regions, we’re able to support on both IDNO and DNO agreements and we can tailor our services to suit individual ICP/CPO requirements. All in all, our Purpose and Vision statements have been written because they’re true to who we are. They wholly reflect the service we currently deliver and provide a clear ambition for what we’re striving to achieve.

Stand out success

Through listening to our customers and identifying how we can better tailor our services to meet specific needs, we’ve developed a suite of standalone packages. More will come on this in 2026 with early elements shown on the ‘Our Services’ page of our lovely new website, but a tremendous success story is our Landrights Investigation service.

We’ve seen a phenomenal level of uptake in this package. Developers, CPOs, networks and ICPs are wanting our experienced team to give their projects a ‘once over’ before committing to a route or project delivery timescale. Identifying risks is more important than ever and as a result, our service is saving our clients money as well as increasing their understanding of the intricacies surrounding the landrights process.

The success of this service, along with the dedication of the entire CLM team and our wonderful clients who continue to use our expertise and recommend us to others, has meant we’ve achieved our financial targets for 2025. In my Statement last year I referred to our set figures as ‘bold’, but we did it, so thank you for your support.

Focussing on our customers

You are our world. So much so, we’re looking at a new marketing campaign for 2026 which will focus entirely on you. We’ll be investing further in CLM Live – we simply haven’t looked back since we launched the platform last Spring, and across 2026 we’ll be phasing out our manual reporting altogether.

We’ll also be keeping a keen eye on the training and support we provide for our clients. We know the landrights industry is a world unto itself and we see it as our responsibility to help you navigate your way. And as part of this, I’d like to host a ‘Developer Day’. (Please let me know if this is something you’d like to work with us on.)

Moving forward

Over the next three to five years, we plan to increase our market share across the UK, strengthening strategic partnerships with utility companies and ICPs, and investing further in technologies which streamline the landrights acquisition process.

We’re also in the final stages of our Achilles certification. This will open us up to working directly with public sector bodies and DNOs – an exciting route to take and one which will undoubtedly be full of opportunity.

Our team

None of the above would be possible without the CLM team. Each and every member has worked with the utmost commitment and professionalism over the past 12 months and it’s a pleasure to work alongside them.

A few key changes over the past year have included establishing a formal Senior Management Team. This is made up of Aileen Paterson, Chris Neville and Mike Beckwith, with of course Hamish and myself as Directors. The SMT has been set up to help better manage the business, not only in its day to day running, but also to provide a forum for scope and discussion around how we move forward and retain our position as industry innovators and leaders.

Moving into 2026, we’ll be extending our Ketton office to improve cross-team collaboration – which of course includes celebrating one team member’s upcoming 10^th ‘work-versary’, a team baby and a wedding!

And to end on a high…

Here are a few highlights which are definitely worth shouting about:

• We were contracted by one of the big five water companies to support the AMP 8 electrical upgrade of sites – involving administering the review of power requirements for approx. 3000 sites over the next five years
• We were ‘Highly Commended’ in the Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering Awards
• We were finalists in the Construction News Specialists Awards
• We were also finalists in the Great British Workplace Wellbeing Awards
• Our client Instavolt has won three industry awards for its Winchester Superhub ultra rapid charging station
• And I was named Professional Services Leader of the Year in the East Midlands Business Leadership Awards.

Thank you once again for your valued custom, here’s to a powerful 2026.

Laura Wilson

Director