Co Cars, the hire-by-the-hour car club for people, communities and businesses across Exeter and the South West, has welcomed Stephens Scown LLP energy team partner Justin Butt to its board.

Co Cars’ shared car network, including electric vehicles, is helping to tackle congestion and pollution in Exeter and across the South West. In Exeter, Co Cars also operates Co Bikes, the UK’s first on-street electric bike hire scheme. Together, the cars and bikes form an economical, equitable and sustainable network of shared transport options to help reduce the dependence on private car ownership.

Justin Butt is a partner in Stephens Scown’s energy team, where he advises on the acquisition, sale, funding and refinancing of renewable energy projects on behalf of developers, landowners, funders and community benefit societies. He will join the Co Cars board as a Non-Executive Director and looks forward to helping to make the South West more sustainable:

"Co Cars’ goal of providing shared sustainable low emission transport solutions to people in Exeter and the wider South West gels very well with Stephens Scown’s energy team’s involvement in the electric vehicle sector and the Giving Back environmental policies.

"I am looking forward to working with the rest of the board at our meetings and having input on Co Cars’ operations. The energy team already works with clients on electric vehicle and renewable energy matters, and I will be bringing my expertise in these areas to the table."

Justin has signed up to Co Cars as a user, taking another step towards driving down emissions in the South West.

Des Hannon, Director and Chair of the Board at Co Cars, said of the appointment:

"We are delighted to welcome Justin on board as a Director and look forward to his insights into the energy sector during our day-to-day operations and as we move ahead with our expansion."

Stephens Scown has over 300 staff, including more than 50 partners, across its offices in Exeter, Truro and St Austell. It is the highest ranking law firm from the South West in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For. Stephens Scown is also the first large law firm to become employee owned. For more information, visit www.stephens-scown.co.uk.

About Co Cars & Co Bikes

Co Cars is the hire-by-the-hour car club for people, communities and businesses across Exeter and the South West. We run the biggest car club fleet of low emission petrol, hybrid and electric vehicles in the area. In Exeter we also operate Co Bikes which was the UK’s first on-street, city-wide, electric bike network. Our electric cars and bikes are all powered by renewable energy from Good Energy. Through our innovative car and bike schemes, we want to provide affordable and sustainable shared mobility for all. We are proud to be a not-for-profit cooperative social enterprise.

Web www.co-cars.co.uk, www.co-bikes.co.uk

Twitter @Cocars, @CobikesElectric