Meet the husband and wife certifying the world's 'clean economy' from a former Sheffield church

The idea is simple; to check that claims about whether renewable energy is being used to make products across the world are actually accurate through expert analysis of official data.

The firm – Evident – may only have come into being last year but its chief executive and co-founder Ed Everson has decades of experience in the field of certification and verification services for renewable energy and low-carbon projects.

Everson helped set up the Green Certificate Company in 1999 alongside colleagues in the Netherlands. By the mid-2010s, with Europe and North American markets now having state-approved schemes to assess electricity generation, Everson and colleagues focused their efforts on other global markets through what was called I-REC Services – with I-REC standing for International Renewable Energy Certificate.

He explains: "We decided we would set something up, take the lessons we had from Europe and develop a model where we could do this everywhere else in the world. That was by focusing on environmental quality rather than technical specification – allowing each country to get a threshold of equality in whatever way is appropriate for that country.

"That point became I-REC Services in 2015 and put in place a foundation in the Netherlands which has an independent board that looks at what we do. We grew that service in the electricity space.

"We became Evident last year. We are moving beyond electricity now.

"We certify methane intensity in natural gas – based on the emissions before it gets to your home or a factory; carbon removals and we’re about to start certifying hydrogen production and aviation fuels.

"The electricity service now we have issued certificates in over 60 countries and there are end users in over 140.”

Evident has taken over the Church Studio building on Springvale Road in Sheffield which was previously occupied by Bond Bryan Architects. Refurbishment work is under way at the offices as part of ambitious expansion plans. Everson says Evident intend to double their current headcount of almost 50 to 100 by the end of this year – with the bulk of the staff based in Sheffield.

Everson has lived in Sheffield himself for nine years after meeting wife and proud Sheffielder Teresa by chance in a local cafe while in the city for work. The pair say they both ordered what turned out to be the last bowl of soup and after staff suggested they split it, ended up chatting and hitting it off.

Now Teresa Everson-Smith, she is director of insights and markets for Evident – building on her CV in the marketing and communications industry, including work for Sheffield’s two universities.

She says: “We wanted to be in Sheffield because Sheffield always had a place in the Industrial Revolution. What we want to do is be part of Sheffield’s green journey and the Green Revolution.”

Everson says their operating model is based on following “a global standard with local implementation”.

"It is working with partners around the world which is essential to ensure we have the ability to put that quality framework through everything we do. We work with standards bodies, we work with electricity grid operators, we work with specialist independent organisations and we work with Governments.”

Evident’s central work is on verifying the claims of power generators so that companies which use the products produced from that energy can have confidence in them – and pass that information onto their own customers while using it as part of their own sustainability calculations.

Everson cites the example of recent work done with UAE-based Emirates Global Aluminium to certify that thousands of tonnes of aluminium being sold to BMW for use in their vehicles had been produced with renewable solar power.

He says being granted a certificate is no easy task for producers seeking Evident’s verification in a process that can take several weeks to complete.

"We don’t take anybody’s word at face value. The most important word our team is have is ‘no’. If they are not happy, it doesn’t happen.

"We look at a whole range of information. For a power project, when it is commissioned you will have engineering reports, you will have a connection report from a local network, there will be photos which are GPS embedded, satellite imagery. Then the data that comes through month on month goes through a verification process locally.

"Unlike a carbon offset where somebody makes a guess at how much carbon might be saved by some activity not happening, we are fact-based and in line with a science-based targets emissions. We will only ever certify something that is a proven fact.”

With companies across the world increasingly accelerating their Net Zero plans, Evident hopes their Sheffield office will play an increasing role in those global efforts.

Everson-Smith says the company’s home is an ideal reflection of their values.

“It is a Methodist Church – I like the concept of that.​​​​​​​ They weren’t preaching from the pulpit and everyone is inclusive. That is what we want as an organisation with every voice being welcome.”

She adds: “People might have something in mind about Sheffield to do with its industrial past. But it doesn’t take long to persuade them that it is something completely different now.”