Aurora has expanded its in-house legal and land rights team to six specialists over the last 12 months, with four recent appointments joining the business from across the utilities, infrastructure, renewables, and legal sectors.
The expanded team includes Senior Paralegal, Jaimil Kakkad, alongside Land Rights Co-ordinators Alfie Longbottom, Jacob Hunn, and Ella Scroby, building on the expertise already established within Aurora’s legal function by Laura Simons.
For customers, this means faster communication, closer project support, and a more proactive approach through one of the most complex parts of getting connected.
In this interview, we spoke to Aurora’s Head of Legal, Alex Lane, about the company’s recent growth, the evolving challenges facing the sector, and why Aurora believes closer involvement in the land rights process is becoming an increasingly important differentiator for Independent Distribution Network Operators (IDNOs).
Why has Aurora invested so heavily in growing its legal and land rights capability?
“Land rights are one of the most critical parts of utility infrastructure delivery,” explains Alex.
“Delays in securing rights, consents, or legal agreements can quickly impact project timelines, particularly on large-scale residential developments, renewable energy projects, EV charging infrastructure, data centres and increasingly complex commercial schemes.
“At Aurora, we recognised early on that if we wanted to maintain high delivery standards and support our long-term growth ambitions, we needed an experienced internal team that truly understands the operational realities of utility projects.”
Over the last year, Aurora has focused on building a specialist team capable of managing the land rights process from instruction through to completion, while continuing to collaborate with trusted legal partners where additional support is needed.
“We’ve made a conscious investment in people with genuine utilities and infrastructure experience,” Alex says. “That’s important because land rights are rarely just a legal exercise; they involve constant coordination between developers, delivery teams, landowners, ICPs, solicitors, and other stakeholders.”
Alex made it clear that this growth is only the beginning, with a continued commitment to investing in its specialist land rights team as the market and the business continue to grow.
“Maintaining the high standards we’ve built in the land rights sector is central to Aurora’s continued growth, and we remain committed to investing in this area.” Alex added.
How has the team grown?
Aurora’s legal and land rights team has expanded significantly over the last 12 months and now includes six specialists, including Alex, with experience spanning the IDNO, Distribution Network Operator (DNO), renewables, infrastructure, and private practice legal sectors.
The recent appointments have been made with a clear objective: to strengthen Aurora’s ability to support increasingly complex utility infrastructure projects by bringing together expertise from across the industry.
Among those joining the team are Senior Paralegal, Jaimil, and Land Rights Co-ordinators, Alfie, Ella and Jacob. Together, they bring experience from specialist utilities law firms, the independent utilities market, major infrastructure projects, and the renewable energy sector.
“The common theme across all of these appointments is practical experience,” says Alex. “We wanted people who understand the realities of project delivery in the connections space, and can work effectively with developers, landowners, contractors, legal advisers, and our client teams to keep projects moving.”
The expanded team has strengthened Aurora’s expertise across areas including asset adoption agreements, land rights negotiations, stakeholder engagement, renewable energy developments, and major infrastructure schemes.
“We support increasingly complex projects, and having a team with a broad range of sector experience allows us to provide closer support to customers and respond more quickly when challenges arise,” Alex adds.
The appointments also build on the experience already established within Aurora’s legal function, including Land Rights Co-ordinator, Laura, who has played an important role in developing the company’s land rights processes over the last year.
What makes Aurora’s approach different?
According to Alex, Aurora’s model differs from more traditional approaches where much of the land rights process is managed externally, with limited involvement and ownership retained internally.
“At Aurora, we stay closely involved throughout the process,” he explains.
“Our team manages project coordination, stakeholder engagement, plans, consents, instructions, and day-to-day support. That allows us to work closely with our operational and delivery teams, helping projects stay on track and avoiding unnecessary delays.”
Alex says Aurora’s Land Rights Co-ordinators each manage a focused number of projects, helping ensure schemes receive the attention and responsiveness they require.
He says, “That close involvement matters because no two projects are ever the same. Having experienced people internally who understand the commercial, operational, and legal aspects of delivery allows us to solve problems faster and support customers more effectively.”
Despite the targeted investment in internal resource, Alex is clear that collaboration with specialist external legal partners remains an important part of Aurora’s strategy.
“This is absolutely not about replacing external legal expertise,” he says.
“The utilities sector is highly specialist, and there is enormous value in collaborating at times with law firms that act across the IDNO and DNO markets and can bring broader industry insight and technical experience.”
Aurora continues to work with a network of specialist utilities law firms who support on areas including title reviews, legal drafting, and incorporated rights processes.
“Our model is about creating the right balance,” Alex explains. “We retain close involvement in projects internally, while continuing to work alongside trusted specialists where their expertise adds value, and can result in shorter legal completion timelines.”
“That combination gives our customers the best of both worlds – responsive in-house support alongside access to specialist legal expertise where required.”
Looking ahead
As demand for utility infrastructure continues growing across residential and commercial developments, renewables, EV charging, and data centres, Alex believes experienced land rights teams will become increasingly important across the sector.
“Projects are moving faster than ever, and customers expect clear communication, quick answers, and teams that stay close to delivery,” he says.
“For us at Aurora, building that expertise internally helps us keep projects progressing, while our external legal partners continue to bring valuable specialist support where it’s needed. This is an area Aurora will continue to invest in as the business and the demand for utility infrastructure grows.
