Consultants to investors
in the energy sector

Email Philip Request a briefing

Political and stakeholder research for energy investors From parish to Parliament.
Before you commit.

A discreet, senior read of the people, politics and policy around an energy project, on England’s east coast and across Europe, before you spend on full due diligence.

Request a briefing Try a vanguard check

Founded in 2010 by Philip Watkins MBE. Clients have included:

  • ScottishPower Renewables
  • Vattenfall
  • PwC
  • The Crown Estate

Pick a point on the coast to see who’s in the room.

  • 16 years Advising on energy since Philip Watkins MBE founded Eastern Edge in 2010
  • 3.5GW Offshore wind supported for ScottishPower Renewables
  • 8 Countries researched for clients, from Norway to Austria
  • 6 years On the board of the East of England Energy Group, 2013 to 2019

Clients have included

  • ScottishPower Renewables
  • Vattenfall
  • PwC
  • The Crown Estate

Compared with a large consultancy

Senior access from the first call.

Eastern Edge works with the senior executive team, personally and discreetly, and brings in trusted associates only when the work needs them.

“Eastern Edge possess an unrivalled combination of public and private sector contacts.”

ScottishPower Renewables
How working with Eastern Edge compares with a large consultancy
QuestionA large consultancyEastern Edge
Who you deal withA mid-management project teamPhilip Watkins, personally, throughout
When they startOnce the mandate is signedBefore you commit to full due diligence
Who knows you’re lookingEnquiries usually go out in your nameWhite-label: Eastern Edge asks, your name stays out
The first spendA full due diligence budgetA cost-effective, high-level review first
The reachA national team, wherever it is staffedParish, district, county, Westminster and the City

What Eastern Edge does

Research, advice and a voice in the room.

Senior, discreet support for developers, finance houses and tier one companies, in the UK and across Europe.

  • Before the deal

    Vanguard Research

    A fast, cost-effective review of a market before you contract full due diligence with other providers.

    • Project identification
    • A political and policy sense check
    • Stakeholder identification and mapping
    • An assessment of key personalities
    Try a vanguard check

  • Beside the board

    Strategic Advice

    Personal, discreet support for senior executives of developers, finance houses and tier one companies.

    • Stakeholder engagement strategies for entering a market
    • Political engagement at Westminster and locally
    • Economic and political assessments
    • Discreet partner and supply chain introductions
    Ask Philip about strategic advice

  • Between the sectors

    Advocacy

    Philip’s network and his power to convene, used to build energy partnerships and a common case for renewables and gas.

    • The East of England’s all-energy supply chain
    • Renewables and gas together, “the fastest path to reduced carbon emissions”
    • UK offshore expertise abroad, including a trade delegation to China
    Ask Philip about advocacy

Vanguard check

What would Philip check first?

Pick what you’re looking at and where. See what Eastern Edge would check before your full due diligence starts.

What are you looking at?
Where?
How far along are you?

Eastern Edge
Confidential

Draft scope: vanguard review

Offshore wind in the East of England

Projects
Live and pipeline offshore wind projects in the East of England, who owns them and how far each has got.
Politics and policy
Consent, grid timing and the contract auctions: AR8 results are due between 27 November 2026 and 17 February 2027. Locally, Reform UK has run Suffolk County Council since May 2026 and is the largest party in Norfolk.
Stakeholder map
The Crown Estate, Whitehall, the Planning Inspectorate, county and district councils, parishes, MPs, ports and the supply chain.
Key personalities
The people whose view moves the project, what they want and how they see an investor like you.
The outcome
The project’s politics, mapped before you open talks.
Discretion
White-label throughout: Eastern Edge makes every enquiry, and your name stays out.

An illustration of a vanguard review’s scope, built from the services Eastern Edge describes. Philip agrees the real scope and fee with you. Facts as at November 2026.

Send this scope to Philip

White-label research

Your name stays out of it.

In Eastern Edge’s own words, its white-label research “fronts the client and avoids alerting competitors”.

  • Discreet first contact, made on your behalf
  • Research at arm’s length, without raising competitor awareness
  • A virtual presence at conferences and seminars
  • Reports for your team, and nobody else

Try it: an investor looking at hydrogen near Bacton

Your fund
  • Competitors “They’re looking at Bacton.” Nothing to hear.
  • The developer “A buyer is keen. Hold the price.” “A client of Eastern Edge is interested.”
  • Council officers “A fund has been asking questions.” “Philip Watkins is researching the area.”
  • The trade press “Fund eyes Norfolk hydrogen.” No story.

An illustration, not a real enquiry.

Track record

Work on the coast, and in the City.

From developers and ports to City investors: named clients, and clients named only by sector.

Case file, 2013

East Anglia Offshore Wind

For the ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall joint venture behind the 7,200MW East Anglia Zone, Eastern Edge identified the key political, business and community leaders, wrote a prioritised engagement strategy, and supported the team seeking consent for the first 1,200MW wind farm.

  1. Parish councils
  2. District councils
  3. County councils
  4. Members of Parliament

Engagement “at every political level from parish, through local authority, to members of the UK Parliament”, plus support for the team assessing the east coast ports.

Named clients

  • ScottishPower Renewables

    Developer

    Political and economic support for ScottishPower Renewables’ aim of delivering 3.5GW of offshore wind in the Southern North Sea.

  • Vattenfall

    Developer

    Identified the key political, business and community leaders in the East of England, then wrote the strategy for building partnerships with them.

  • PwCand Birketts

    Network

    With PwC and Birketts, an informal network of energy leaders that met twice a year to hear speakers of national and international standing.

  • The Crown Estate

    Public body

    Helped deliver a schools and colleges programme across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, getting students aged 10 to 21 interested in offshore wind careers.

  • LanyonSmith

    Advisory firm

    A report on where oil and gas skills transfer to offshore renewables: project management, survey and vessel use. Later, political risk analysis ahead of due diligence on projects for private equity clients.

Named only by sector

  • Investor

    A private equity investor

    A scoping report on European offshore wind developments, to identify investment opportunities.

  • Investor

    A City venture capital fund

    Research into hydrogen projects in the North Sea basin.

  • Investor

    A City wealth and asset manager

    Low-carbon investment opportunities identified across Europe.

  • Port

    An east coast port company

    Advice on positioning, to influence strategic decision makers and attract energy supply chain work.

  • Public body

    A local authority

    An overview of the supply chain pinch points offshore wind developers had found, which led to a second commission on detailed technical requirements.

Eastern Edge’s role in this collaborative partnership has been the identification of potential participants and then discreetly building the network. Efficient and effective, Eastern Edge’s contribution has been highly professional.

Craig DouglasDirector, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2013

The Crown Estate has relied heavily on the local knowledge and contacts of Eastern Edge to advise us on effective engagement with schools and colleges in the East of England. Eastern Edge services have been first class.

The Crown EstateSchools and colleges programme, 2013

2026 on the eastern edge

A year that rewrote the room.

New contracts, new councils, new consents. Each one changes who an investor needs to understand.

14 January 2026

AR7: a record round for offshore wind

Norfolk Vanguard East and West won contracts; East Anglia ONE North missed out.

Source: ORE Catapult (opens in a new tab)

8.4GW of offshore wind won contracts, a record

Worth a sense check Who won, who missed out, and what it means for the supply chain.

Ask Philip what it means for you
Philip Watkins MBE, founding director of Eastern Edge
Philip Watkins MBE

Founding director

The adviser you actually get.

Clients come to Eastern Edge for Philip’s capability and contacts, and for a network that brings political, policy and industry sources together.

Before business, Philip served in the Army, with the United Nations and with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and was appointed MBE for humanitarian services during the war in Bosnia. He is a postgraduate of the London School of Economics and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

  1. 2005 to 2011 Chief Executive of 1st East, the regeneration company for Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth
  2. 2010 Founded Eastern Edge, first advising energy developers and companies working in the Southern North Sea
  3. 2013 to 2019 Director of the East of England Energy Group
  4. 2016 to 2021 Director of Nwes, the country’s largest enterprise agency
  5. Today A Suffolk Business Ambassador, advising investors in the UK and Europe
Philip Watkins presenting East of England Energy Coast offshore wind business opportunities to an audience abroad
On a Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex trade delegation, presenting the East of England’s offshore wind opportunities.
Philip Watkins on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

How a vanguard review runs

Quiet questions, then a clear answer.

You deal with Philip from the first call to the final report. Scope, timescale and fee are agreed after that first conversation.

Eastern Edge
Briefing note

Confidential

Re: a vanguard review of the project

  1. 1

    A confidential call

    You talk to Philip directly about the market, the project and what must stay private.

  2. 2

    The vanguard review

    Desk research and quiet conversations: projects, policy, stakeholders and key personalities, with trusted associates where the work needs them.

  3. 3

    A written report

    A concise report for your team and, if you want them, discreet first contacts and introductions.

Questions

Vanguard research, explained.

Something else to ask? Email Philip directly.

What is vanguard research?

A cost-effective, high-level review of a market opportunity before you contract full due diligence with other providers. It covers project identification, a sense check of the political and policy environment, the identification and mapping of key stakeholders, and an assessment of key personalities.

How is it different from due diligence?

It comes first and costs less. Due diligence tests one deal in depth; a vanguard review tells you whether, where and with whom to look, so the diligence that follows starts with the right questions.

Who will I work with?

Philip Watkins, personally. Eastern Edge builds a personal relationship with the senior executive team, and draws on a network of trusted associates when the work needs them.

Can my interest stay confidential?

Yes. Eastern Edge’s white-label research fronts the client and avoids alerting competitors, and Eastern Edge can make first contact on your behalf.

Which markets do you cover?

The UK, with deep roots in the East of England and the Southern North Sea, and Europe: research for clients has covered Norway, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Austria, among others.

Do you work for developers as well as investors?

Yes. Clients have included developers such as ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall, finance houses, a City venture capital fund, The Crown Estate and an east coast port company.

What does it cost?

Fees are agreed for each brief after a first conversation. A vanguard review is designed to be the cost-effective step before full due diligence.

Request a briefing

Before you commit, ask Philip.

Briefings go straight to Philip Watkins, in confidence.

  1. The brief
  2. Your details
What are you looking at?

How far along are you?

How should Philip reach you?

Your details are used only to reply to your enquiry.

Request a briefing