This briefing note compares several joint venture and strategic partnership models being used to accelerate Net Zero investment, highlighting alternatives to Bristol City Leap. Drawing on case studies from Coventry, Oldham, Manchester, and York and North Yorkshire, it shows how local authorities can use different partnership structures to attract investment, manage risk, build delivery capacity, and align projects with local priorities and asset bases:

• Recognise that there is no single model for Net Zero investment, with different partnership structures offering varying levels of control, flexibility, risk sharing, and investment attraction depending on local circumstances.
• Learn from Coventry’s Strategic Energy Partnership with E.ON, a £2 billion, 15-year programme focused on delivering practical projects including solar installations, heat pumps, retrofit programmes, EV charging, and community energy initiatives.
• Consider the advantages of flexible strategic partnerships, which can more easily expand into new asset classes and funding opportunities than highly structured concession-based models.
• Explore Oldham’s Green New Deal Partnership, which combines community-led energy planning with a £30 million anchor project pipeline, using heat networks, renewable energy, and EV infrastructure to support borough-wide decarbonisation.
• Use community engagement as an investment enabler, helping to build local support, shape projects around local needs, and reduce delivery risks through co-production and early participation.
• Adopt place-based regeneration approaches, as demonstrated by Manchester’s Wythenshawe redevelopment programme, which integrates Net Zero objectives into wider housing, transport, health, and economic development investment.
• Build internal capability alongside project delivery, ensuring councils retain the skills, governance processes, and investment expertise needed to develop future projects independently.
• Tailor partnership arrangements to local contexts, recognising that urban and rural authorities may require different approaches based on their asset bases, geographies, financial positions, and strategic priorities.
• Balance agility with procurement and governance requirements, addressing challenges such as delivery complexity, stakeholder buy-in, development capacity, and long procurement lead-in times.
• Assess key factors before selecting a model, including access to capital, organisational capacity, risk appetite, governance preferences, and the importance of wider economic and community benefits.