ISSUE 21 | November/December 2016 BIRMINGHAM New...

ISSUE 21 | November/December 2016

NORTH AMERICAMurray Rowden’sinsight into a land of opportunitypage 8

KNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENTForum saysculture is vitalpage 24

BIRMINGHAMNew Street – thelasting legacy of a major projectpage 16

Produced for the industry by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering

HEATHROWEXPANSION GETS GO-AHEAD

“The rightdecision, not a moment toosoon” pages 3-6

2 Infrastructure Intelligence | November/December 2016

Unsurprisingly this issue, we have given a lot of coverage to the government’sdecision, finally, to give the green light to Heathrow expansion (p3-6). It’s rightlybeen described as a landmark decision, not just in terms of airport capacity, butfor what it says about the government’s attitude towards major infrastructureprojects. Many in our industry will hope that it will be a portent of furtherannouncements in future, as politicians finally get to grips with building themuch-needed infrastructure that the country needs to help boost economicprosperity and rebalance the economy.

The perils of not investing in infrastructure in a timely fashion are shown bythe delays to projects that are costing the country billions (p7) and we also take atimely look ahead to November’s Autumn Statement and what the chancellormight have in store for our industry (p10).

We take a trip across the pond to speak to Turner & Townsend’s new managingdirector for North America to find out about his new role and the developingopportunities stateside (p8), while our centre-page story looks at BirminghamNew Street and the lasting legacy of this major infrastructure project (p16).

The Improving Behaviours Improving Performance programme is a newinitiative in the roads sector that is identifying and embedding the goodbehaviours that make collaboration work and we have the low-down on that (p18),a feature on the Environmental Industries Commission annual conference that issure to be a must-attend event post-Brexit (p20), and a special focus on knowledgemanagement following a recent industry forum on the issue (p24).

I also wanted to mention that Infrastructure Intelligence is celebrating its thirdanniversary on 14 December 2016 with a drinks reception in London. I and the teamlook forward to meeting many of our readers and contributors at the event to say abig thank you for your continued support. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Finally, as this is the last issue of 2016, may I be the first to wish everyone amerry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

MESSAGE FROMTHE EDITOR

Produced for the industry by the Associationfor Consultancy and Engineering Infrastructure Intelligence12 Caxton St, London SW1H 0QLT: 020 7222 6557www.infrastructure-intelligence.com

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Contents

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Follow us on twitter @infra_intelJoin the Infrastructure Intelligence groupon LinkedIn

News 3 Industry reaction to the decision to approve Heathrow expansion

News feature 7 The infrastructure delays costing the UK economy over £48,000 per minute

North America 8 We speak to Turner & Townsend’s new man in New York

Politics 10 What can the industry expect from the chancellor’s Autumn Statement?

Opinion 12 How to increase public support for infrastructure; What doyou get when you cross an engineer with an astrophysicist?

Best practice 14 How better collaboration can save the infrastructure sector £50bn

Technology 15 A day in the life of the Flying Wing

Infrastructure 16 Birmingham New Street and the legacy of major projects

Roads 18 A look at the Improving Behaviours Improving Performanceprogramme

Environment 20 A preview of this year’s EIC annual conference

Bridges 23 How a Lego bridge is raising the profile of engineering

Forum report 24 Knowledge management and what firms need to do to embedit in their DNA

ACE news 26 Five key challenges for 2017; ACE Benchmarking Report; What the apprenticeship levy means for UK firms

EIC news 29 What will environmental legislation look like post-Brexit?

Innovation 30 Working with academia to achieve transformational change

Careers 31 On track with Amey in New York

Andy Walker,editor, Infrastructure Intelligence

November/December 2016 | Infrastructure Intelligence 3

Heathrow expansion

“The right decision, nota moment too soon”

So, finally and at long last, thegovernment has given its backing fora third runway at Heathrow, the first

full length runway in the south-east sincethe second world war. It’s a significantannouncement for the construction sectorand one that is rightly being seen by manyas a vote of confidence in the industry andhopefully a harbinger of furtherinfrastructure developments to come.

There’s still a long way to go of coursebefore work starts at Heathrow, with adraft national policy statement to be issuedfor public consultation in the New Yearfollowed by a vote in parliament, but thegovernment has at last made a decision ona landmark project that transport secretaryChris Grayling said would “improveconnectivity in the UK and crucially boostour connections with the rest of the world,supporting exports, trade and jobopportunities”.

Industry reactionThe construction and infrastructureindustry has welcomed the decision toexpand Heathrow. Dr Nelson Ogunshakinchief executive of ACE, said: “Theprofessional engineering and constructionsector can now begin to work with clients

to develop the supply chain, allocate theresources, and develop the workforce vitalto delivering this strategically importantinvestment project.”

However, Ogunshakin also criticised thedelay in reaching the decision and calledfor lessons to be learned. “That we havetaken this long to arrive at the samedecision taken by previous politicians overthe past decade and a half is disappointing,however, and indicates a continued issuearound uncertainty in the political processaround large-scale infrastructureinvestment projects,” he said.

“The delay we have seen over this issuehas cost the UK economy billions ofpounds in inward investment, and at atime when we need to be highlighting thatBritain is open for business to the world,this is clearly unacceptable and should beavoided in future. We hope thegovernment learns the lessons from this

and puts measures in place to ensure thatmuch needed infrastructure decisions arenot held up by political fluctuations,”Ogunshakin said.

Jason Brooks, UK head of aviation atWSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff lookedforward to the Heathrow decisionushering in other improvements to theUK’s aviation capacity. “Whilst our firmfully endorses the proposed expansion atHeathrow, we very much hope thatexpansion at Gatwick and potentially atother airports in England and the wider UKwon’t be forgotten about,” he said.

Mott MacDonald’s aviation directorPaul Fairbairn said: “The new third runwayplans for Heathrow will provide much-needed additional capacity to supportgrowing passenger demand in anenvironmentally responsible, timely andcost-effective manner. The expansion of

The government’s decision to approve the building of a third runway at Heathrowis a massive boost to the construction sector that is being seen by the industry as asign of further infrastructure development to come, writesAndy Walker.

“Whilst our firm fully endorses expansion atHeathrow, we very much hope that expansion atGatwick and potentially at other airports in Englandand the wider UK won’t be forgotten about.”

Jason Brooks, UK head of aviation at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

continued on page 4>>>


Heathrow will improve the connectivity ofUK regions and businesses to internationalmarkets and support economic growthacross the whole of the country. MottMacDonald has a long-establishedrelationship with Heathrow Airport and welook forward to supporting them with theirexpansion plans.”

Turner & Townsend were projectmanagers of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 andthe new Terminal 2. Patricia Moore, thefirm’s managing director of UKinfrastructure, said: “It’s a sound businessdecision and the right thing for UK plc. Weare delighted to have been part of theHeathrow team for 20 years and we arelooking forward to helping them delivertheir expansion programme.

Moore praised the government formaking another significant infrastructureannouncement so soon after the decision togive Hinkley Point the go ahead. “Ourindustry has suffered from a paralysis ofdecision making when it comes to majorprojects and this does not lend itself well todriving efficiencies which is thegovernment’s long-term objective,” she said.

Certainty and predictability“One of the easiest things that governmentcan do is to give business certainty andpredictability. What is really positive is thatsince the new government has been in placethey have taken the decision on Hinkley,they have now taken the decision on thethird runway and HS2 is looking favourableas well, so we are starting to see a bit of theturning of the tide and the government ismaking some tough decisions and movingthings forward. Some of these big decisionsare now being made and it’s really positivefor our industry,” said Moore.

Moore said that the Heathrow expansiondecision would also help the industry in theUK on the international stage. “We will beable to leverage and benefit on a globalstage from the experience we get onHeathrow so this will be a massive

potential future export in terms ofcapability for UK plc because all of theaviation clients across the world all look atHeathrow. The fact that we are developinga new runway here I think is a model thatis not just relevant in a UK context, it isabsolutely a global differentiator for theUK,” Moore said.

As a company with a long-termrelationship with Heathrow, Moore saidthat Turner & Townsend were lookingforward to what happens next. “We arereally excited about helping set theproject up for success. The front end ofmajor programmes is a real distinct skillset and we think we are really well placedto help Heathrow do that. We have done italready on Crossrail, we are doing itcurrently on Hinkley Point C and we arelooking forward to helping Heathrow getfit for purpose and delivering against thebusiness case,” said Moore.

Now focus on deliveryReflecting the views of many in theindustry, Richard Robinson, chiefexecutive, civil infrastructure, Europe,Middle East, India and Africa at AECOMsaid: “This is the right decision, not amoment too soon. As the UK prepares forpost-Brexit scenarios, decisive action toincrease aviation capacity where it is mostneeded is all the more critical. This is awelcome fillip for the UK’s infrastructuresector and the businesses that rely on it.The collective sigh of relief following

today’s long-awaited decision is almostaudible. The focus now must be onaccelerating delivery. Quickly securing theright legal mandate via the necessaryenvironmental and planning approvals isvital.”

Atkins’ UK & Europe CEO Nick Robertsalso saw the decision to expand Heathrowas a statement of intent post-Brexit. “It is apositive statement of intent that thecountry is open for business and a furtherindication of the government'scommitment to developing the

infrastructure we need to be a world-leading economy,” he said. “The focus forgovernment must now be to build on thework of the Airports Commission anddevelop the national policy statement thatboth underpins expansion at Heathrowand supports aviation more widely acrossthe UK,” said Roberts.

The decision meant that the industrycould now press ahead with the planningneeded to deliver the extra capacityquickly, efficiently, considerately and withminimum disruption, said Roberts.

Amanda Clack, head of infrastructure atEY, was another who called for furtherairport expansion following the Heathrowdecision. “In the longer term the UK willneed even more capacity. The parallel

Heathrow expansion

“The right decision, nota moment too soon”

“We are starting to see a bit of theturning of the tide and the

government is making sometough decisions and movingthings forward.” Patricia Moore, Turner & Townsend

“This is a welcomefillip for the UK’sinfrastructuresector and the

businesses that rely on it.” Richard Robinson, AECOM

“It is an indicationof thegovernment'scommitment to

developing the infrastructurewe need to be a world-leadingeconomy.” Nick Roberts, Atkins

>> continued from page 3


expansion of Gatwick and other keyregional airports should not be ruled out ifthe UK is to maintain its attractiveness inthe eyes of international travellers,” Clacksaid.

Commenting on the impact of thedecision on the local communities affected,Chris Selway, head of the nationalinfrastructure and compulsory purchaseteam at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “Witha scheme of this magnitude the localimpact is going to be immense andextremely sensitive – up there with HS2! Inproviding the necessary infrastructure andfacilities to cope with the developmentthere is much to be done in terms of furtherconsultation and provision of mitigatingworks and compensation packagescommensurate with the years of disruptionlocal communities will endure for thegreater good. Forward funding of landacquisition and provisions for hardshipcases are major priorities,” Selway said.

The skills challengeReflecting on the skills challenge arisingfrom such a major project, GrahameCarter, operations director at engineeringrecruitment specialist Matchtech said:“The expansion of Heathrow will inject agreat sense of confidence into theinfrastructure sector. There is a substantialpre-existing talent pool in the UK,particularly within the buildings andhighways sectors, and this coupled withtransferable skills from otherinfrastructure markets as well as theupskilling of existing workforces means weare well prepared to deliver this flagshipaviation project.

“While we are well prepared within theUK, the scale of the Heathrow expansionwill inevitably call for skilled professionalsfrom overseas. Depending on the nature ofthe UK’s departure from the EuropeanUnion, we may face challenges importingqualified engineers, which wouldsignificantly narrow the talent poolavailable for this scheme,” Carter warned.

Opposition to HeathrowDespite the overwhelming positiveresponse from the infrastructure sector,there is of course opposition to Heathrowexpansion, including from inside TheresaMay’s own cabinet in the shape of foreignsecretary Boris Johnson and also theeducation secretary Justine Greening, bothof whom have been given licence by theprime minister to continue their campaignagainst the project.

The Conservative MP for Richmond Park,Zac Goldsmith, the, constituency is underthe Heathrow flight path has resigned hisseat triggering a by-election and is runningfor re-election as an independent MP in

protest. He called the decision to expandHeathrow “catastrophic”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is alsoopposed and has confirmed that he islooking at how to support a legal challengeto the third runway. “This is the wrongdecision for London and the whole ofBritain,” he said. Khan, who is a supporterof a new runway at Gatwick, also said thatthe government now had to set out how itwill limit the extra air and noise pollutionfrom Heathrow.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell,whose Hayes and Harlington constituencyis close to Heathrow, called the decision“devastating” and said that for 30 yearsHeathrow had failed to win the argumentfor expansion and that was still the casetoday. “I’ll continue to support myconstituents in campaigning against thisrunway so that it never sees the light ofday,” he said.

Infrastructure Intelligence is collaboratingwith WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff on anew initiative aimed at identifying

infrastructure priorities to allow cities tobe competitive in the new globallandscape, following the EU referendum.

Through an industry leaders’ survey, a series of roundtable events and thepublication of a white paper in the NewYear, the Cities and Infrastructure initiativewill focus on raising the profile andimportance of economic and socialinfrastructure in the future of the UK.

Peter Sharratt, head of strategicconsulting at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff,said: “A lot of the current discussion oninfrastructure gets couched inuncertainty over the Brexit decision butirrespective of the decision to leave theEU there is a need to developinfrastructure; we are on this journeyanyway and we want to help influencepositive outcomes. Working with theindustry, we want to raise the profile ofinfrastructure development withpoliticians and decision makers so theright decisions are made.”

The results of the leaders’ surveyconducted as part of the initiative arecurrently being collated and a series ofroundtables from now until the end ofthe year will discuss the headlinefindings and start to map out a wayforward. One key area already identifiedis the public’s attitude to infrastructuredevelopment and the link betweeninfrastructure and creating economicprosperity.

Head of development at WSP | ParsonsBrinckerhoff, Ian Liddell, said: “It’s clearthat we need to do more so that thepublic understands the connectionbetween infrastructure spending andeconomic growth. That’s the directbenefits in terms of employment of jobsin infrastructure and also the indirectbenefits like improved competitiveness,greater connectivity and the long-termboost that this gives to the economy.”

Future issues of InfrastructureIntelligencewill report on the outcomes of the industry survey, the roundtablesand the launch of the white paper earlyin 2017.

Government determinedDespite the opposition, the governmenthas clearly made up its mind to proceedwith expanding Heathrow. The draftnational policy statement setting out whythe government believes the Heathrowscheme is the right one for the UK will bepublished in the New Year when the publicwill also be consulted on the proposals.Once MPs have voted on it, Heathrow willthen bring forward a planning application.

Having made the decision to approveHeathrow expansion, the government isdetermined to see it through. “If we donothing the cost to our nation will besignificant,” transport secretary ChrisGrayling told MPs on the day of theannouncement. The construction industrywill be hoping that it will be the first ofmany announcements in the future as theUK gets to grips with revitalising andmodernising its infrastructure.

New initiative tohighlight infrastructure

Cities and infrastructure initiative

A new initiative, based on industry research and opinion,will help raise the profile and importance of economicand social infrastructure in the future of the UK.


Heathrow expansion

The government’s decision to back a thirdrunway at Heathrow should lead to furtherdevelopment of the UK’s aviation capacityand infrastructure generally, says Jason Brooks.

It’s a monumental decision that thegovernment has decided to progresswith Heathrow as a full length runway.

This has laid to rest much of the debates ofprevious years and brings clarity to theproject and how it might shape up. Itreally is a landmark moment for UKaviation and it is right that the industry iscelebrating.

As with the go ahead for Hinkley Point,the biggest boost Heathrow expansionprovides to the construction industry is toour confidence. Our business plans andrecruitment drives can now continue withconviction and this brings further certaintyto the industry which is very welcomeindeed. However, Heathrow expansionshould be seen as just the first step toincreasing airport capacity in the southeast. The strategic importance and growthpotential of London Gatwick remainscritical and should not be forgotten. Wealso need a new runway there too in duecourse to enable the UK to maintain itsposition as a leading global aviation playerand economic powerhouse.

The building of a third runway atHeathrow will provide enormouslogistical, engineering and environmentalchallenges. We know sustainability willrightly play a crucial role for the durationand legacy of its construction. Theindustry’s response should be to seize theopportunity, continue working hard toattract the best and the brightest minds,

and use this platform to become the worldleader for major infrastructure design.

Of course, there will now be a large-scale public consultation process,involving all the stakeholders affected. It’s important that due process is gonethrough to make sure that the evaluationaround the project and the scheme asimplemented is correct. I hope that thistime around the government, HeathrowAirport and any other stakeholders willensure that we get through that process ascorrectly, efficiently and as quickly aspossible, so that it leads to theimplementation of a much needed project.

Whilst our firm fully endorses thissignificant step on Heathrow, I hope it willalso lead to further expansion at Gatwickand aviation capacity being examinedelsewhere. This may be needed to providethe full capacity for movement of goods

and people that the UK will require. From a wider industry point of view,

I see Heathrow, Hinkley Point and othermajor infrastructure projects as a real voteof confidence in the construction industryand the role it has to play in the futureeconomic growth of the UK.

Undoubtedly, Heathrow expansion isgoing to present some significantchallenges for the engineering andconstruction industry but they arechallenges that the UK industry is morethan capable of rising to. The UK hasn’tbuilt a new runway in the south east for avery long time, since the second world warin fact, but the good news is that UKbusinesses like our own have beeninvolved in major airport schemes aroundthe world in the recent period so we havean industry that is superbly placed to buildHeathrow’s new runway.

We now look forward to seeing theNational Policy Statement on Heathrowand to understand exactly the process thatthe government will use to implement theproject and take it through the planningsystem. I really hope that this developmentwon’t just be a third runway, but that wewill take the opportunity to implement atHeathrow world class, cutting edgefacilities that represent an airport of thefuture both from an environmental andtechnology perspective.

Jason Brooks is UK head of aviation at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Heathrow expansion is a voteof confidence in construction

“I see this as a real vote ofconfidence in theconstruction industry and therole it has to play in the futureeconomic growth of the UK.”


News feature

Amere one-month average delay inthe transport infrastructure pipelinewill see the UK economy miss out on

around £2bn of investment-related GDPover the next five years, equivalent to£48,425 for every minute of delay, saysArcadis.

The Arcadis Spiralling Cost of Indecisionreport compares the 2015 and 2016National Infrastructure Pipeline datasetsand calculates estimated costs – such asmissed GDP from investment andadditional design and build cost –associated with delays and cancellations. Itestimates that over the next five years, thecumulative impact of stalling on thoseprojects identified in the 2015-16 pipelinescould see the UK economy miss out on upto £35bn of investment-related GDP.

The report also estimates that, as a resultof a one month delay, the costs involved indelivering all transport projects in thepipeline would rise by £241m over fiveyears, equivalent to around £8m for everysingle day of delay. With rail having beenidentified as the greatest cause of stalled orcancelled transport infrastructure spend, apostponement of just one month couldresult in as much as an extra £4.2m beingadded to the total delivery cost of all railprojects for every single day of slippage.

The report puts some perspectivearound the challenges the industry isfacing, making it imperative that itrestructures quickly. It also provides afurther prompt to the government toclarify its plans and properly back theNational Infrastructure Commission in itslong-term planning role. Equally, the reportsheds some light on why infrastructureprojects can appear to overspend.

The National Audit Office has suggestedthat over a third of major governmentprojects due to be delivered in the next fiveyears are in doubt and the calculationsfrom Arcadis underscore the scale of lostbenefits.

Chris Pike, Arcadis infrastructure clientdevelopment director, said: “Some of ourmost ambitious projects, from energy tostate-of-the-art transportation, have hugepotential to bolster the national economy.With delays being such a recurring issuewhen it comes to British infrastructure, weare potentially missing out on around£48,000 each and every minute. These arebig numbers and we simply can’t afford todelay unnecessarily.

Delays costing UK economyover £48,000 per minute

“Clearly, there are a number of reasonsfor projects not going ahead on schedulebut, all too often, stalling could potentiallybe avoided or, if the impacts were clearlyunderstood, decisions may be takendifferently. It is clear that governmentneeds to send a clear message to the worldthat Britain is open for business byprogressing vital infrastructure projects atthe earliest opportunity, withoutcompromising safety or security. Equally,infrastructure owners andindustry need to worktogether to deliver onthese commitments,allowing post-BrexitBritain to reap the fullbenefit, along with theinevitable bounce effectthat will result.”

Pike said that since theEU referendum thegovernment has been slowto recognise the importanceof committing toinfrastructure. “When it

comes to finally pressing the button andgetting major schemes moving theconviction appears to be lacking,” he said.While Pike sympathised with the newgovernment taking its time to get its feetunder the table, the time for action wasnow he said.

“One might argue that it is only fair toallow the new government time. However,with nervous financial markets andindustry already suffering as a result of

construction activity being at aseven year low, delayingexisting projects or failing tocommit to new ones isdamaging. In light of Brexit,making strong, positive andtimely decisions both as anindustry and as a governmentwould better reinforceinvestor confidence in UKinfrastructure,” he said.

Download the Spiralling Cost of Indecision report athttps://goo.gl/pWzjsu

Cancelled and delayed infrastructure projects arecosting the UK economy tens of thousands of poundsevery minute, claims a new report from Arcadis.

3 months / £12.9bn

2 months / £8.6bn

1 month / £4.3bn

4 months / £17.2bn

5 months / £21.5bn

6 months / £25.8bn

12 months / £51.6bn

Stalling oninfrastructuredecisions


over the next few years from the 5% wecurrently have,” he said.

Rowden sees a number of opportunitiesin the region arising from the need toupgrade infrastructure. “What’sinteresting about North America is thatinfrastructure assets are not in greatcondition,” said Rowden. “That isrecognised and there have been a numberof initiatives to improve the situation inthe US, such as a federal loan to Amtrak toupgrade the rail system. We are currentlyworking on programme management onHouston Airport’s redevelopment and atDallas Fort Worth. Our role is to be anextension to the client providing executiveprogramme management and projectcontrols. At Dallas we have beenestablishing project control methodologiesfor how they deliver their portfolio andprogramme of work,” he explained.

Rowden told me that in the US inparticular, infrastructure is increasinglybeing looked at on a more long-term basis.“Things have tended to operate on annualbudgets because it’s largely a state-basedsystem but they see that longer-termplanning is the way to go,” he said.“Looking at alternative sources of fundingand building up asset managementcapability and getting more from existing

North America

Turner & Townsend has appointed infrastructure expertMurray Rowden to lead their North American business.He spoke to Andy Walker from his office in New York.

With infrastructure opportunitiesgrowing significantly across thepond, global head of

infrastructure at Turner & Townsend,Murray Rowden, seems an ideal choice totake over as the firm’s new managingdirector for North America covering the USand Canada.

Under his leadership, global revenue ininfrastructure at Turner & Townsend is setto treble – from £59m to £150m – by theend of this year so he’s well placed to takeon such an important role stateside. Sincejoining the consultancy in 1990 as agraduate, Rowden has risen through theranks to spearhead strategy and drivebusiness growth in its infrastructure andreal estate sectors. He’s certainly lookingforward to his new challenge in a marketwhere his firm is not traditionally strong.

“In North America, our income largelycomes from real estate and naturalresources, with only 5% of our incomecoming from infrastructure,” heexplained. “However, we are seeing somereal opportunities to accelerate growth, sothe logic was to put somebody from theexecutive board with infrastructureexperience into North America. That’show I got here, with the aim ofaccelerating our infrastructure income

assets will be important. They do referencethe UK and Australia as a model to followand what’s also interesting is that ISO forasset management is getting applied to allauthorities so they have to be qualified andmeasured and certified against ISO 55000,which is also creating a marketopportunity,” he explained.

Rowden said that there were differencesin attitude towards infrastructuredevelopment in North America. “Canada iscommitted to rail with long-terminfrastructure plans and big developmentsparticularly around the Vancouver andToronto areas, with the state very muchinto funding it,” he said. “What we areseeing in rail in the US is the federal loan toupgrade the Amtrak lines with a bigdevelopment around the eastern seaboardcorridor. In Texas there’s Lone Star Rail, inCalifornia there’s high speed rail, so rail isbecoming more prevalent when in the pastinfrastructure development was morearound cars and planes. Now more andmore it’s rail, both intercity and alsocommuter lines, and there’s opportunitythere,” said Rowden.

“What’s interesting aboutNorth America is thatinfrastructure assets arenot in great condition. Thatis recognised over here andthere have been a numberof initiatives to improvethe situation.”

Aland ofopportunity forinfrastructure


Those opportunities include challengesaround who owns the land near rail linesand helping to map a route through. “TheUS is joining with Canada, who are one ofthe global leaders, in looking at PPP andhow to create innovative funding models.”he said.

Rowden also highlighted the connectionbetween infrastructure and real estatedevelopment and the opportunities thatare coming to Turner & Townsend. “In NewYork there are a number of stationdevelopments that are integral with massreal estate developments,” he said. “We areprogramme managers on behalf of TimeWarner on a good proportion of theHudson Yards development, which willhave the fifth tallest building in New York.Sitting beside that is the Moynihan Stationredevelopment, so understanding thedevelopment opportunities on that is a realtest bed for future urban environmentwork we hope,” said Rowden.

“If you link infrastructure developmentwith urban planning the economicstimulus it brings and the attraction toinvest in cities and towns can make a major

impact. You can see the difference thaturban development intersecting withinfrastructure makes. I’ve only got to lookout of my office window here in New Yorkto see that,” he told me.

On a global basis, Rowden thought therewas a trend towards infrastructuredevelopment being looked at morestrategically by governments. “More andmore internationally, we are seeing theapproach of setting an infrastructure plan.There is a lot of interest in the UK modelaround the world and a number ofcountries including South Africa, Australiaand Canada have adopted strategic

planning and investment in infrastructureas a powerful economic lever. This is lessthe case in the US because things differstate by state,” he said.

So should the industry be doing more tomake the case for infrastructure, especiallyin the UK? “The US political system ismarkedly different from the UK,” Rowdensaid. “The US system involves lobbying andputting a commercial case forward, that’svery much in their culture. The concept ofa lean state is still prevalent here whetherthe Democrats or the Republicans are inpower. The US also values its industry andwith construction being 8% of GDP here,it’s one of the largest sectors,” he said.

“In the UK we haven’t been particularlygood at advocating for more investment ininfrastructure but with the recentannouncements in the UK it’s encouragingthat we are now beginning to get morevalued as an industry,” said Rowden.

Turning back to his new role, Rowdensaid he was relishing the challenge. “I’mlooking forward to bringing my knowledgeto bear in a marketplace where we are nota big player to gain us influence and bringnew ideas,” he told me. “It’s perhaps a littlegrandiose to say it, but I want to find a wayof helping the US and Canada really look atglobal learning and to think about howthey can drive efficiencies in assetmanagement, investment and better set upand execute large projects.

“If we can combine the great things thathave happened over here with the learningfrom 20 years of infrastructuredevelopment in the UK, building onexperiences from clients like Heathrow,Anglian Water and Highways England abouthow you better do programmes, better getvalue and efficiency and about how youbetter use technology and deliverinfrastructure, then I’m really lookingforward to that. You have to do it client byclient so that as an organisation yourreputation is enhanced by the client you areworking for,” Rowden said.

“There some great opportunities here toaccelerate the growth of our business whileapplying new alternative models thatwould better serve the US and Canada,”said Rowden. “Through our experience onhigh-profile projects over here, such asTime Warner’s New York headquarters,San Francisco International Airport, theToronto Metrolinx Regional Express Railprogramme and Freeport LNG’s natural gasliquefaction project in Texas, I’m sure thatwe will continue to extend our position inthe region,” he said.

With Rowden’s experience,determination and drive at the helm, it willbe interesting to watch Turner &Townsend’s progress and success in NorthAmerica in the months and years ahead.

Murray Rowden inhis office at Turner& Townsend inNew York.

“You can see the differencethat urban developmentintersecting withinfrastructure makes. I’veonly got to look out of myoffice window here in NewYork to see that.”


An Autumn Statementwith a difference

It’s that time of the year when thecountry begins to look to the chancellorto set out governmental priorities and

spending commitments in the AutumnStatement. So far so good, but this year’sstatement looks like it may be a bitdifferent from the style that we have beenused to in previous years.

Although Philip Hammond hasconfirmed he will be delivering theAutumn Statement as planned on 23November, the chancellor is said to havetold colleagues that he wants to move awayfrom gimmicks and micromanagementand return the Autumn Statement to befocused on fiscal forecasting.

This approach was foreshadowed at theTreasury select committee meeting on 20October in which the chancellor told the

committee that he plans to downgrade theAutumn Statement, or rather take it backto its roots.

The Autumn Statement was originallypart of a plan by which government wouldgive two economic updates a year,enshrined in legislation by Labour duringthe mid-1970s, with Denis Healey givingthe first such statement in 1976.

Healey’s original statement included anannouncement of his spending plans.When Ken Clarke became chancellor thebest part of 20 years later, he put thespending and tax announcements backtogether again in the Budget, moved it tothe autumn, and introduced a briefsummer statement focusedon forecasts.

Clarkebelieved that itwas sensible fortax and spendingplans to march instep together, butGordon Brown, whosucceeded him,wanted a second

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond prepares forNovember’s Autumn Statement, we should expect a less gimmicks andmore substance approach than his predecessor, says Julian Francis.

annual bite of the announcement cherry –and so went back to a spring budget and re-introduced the Autumn Statement in theform of a Pre-Budget Report.

Alistair Darling had originally plannedto scale back the Autumn Statement whenhe became chancellor but he found heneeded both the Budget and the AutumnStatement to cope with the fallout of thefinancial crisis. George Osborne decided tocontinue with Gordon Brown’s approachand to treat the statement as a way ofmaximising his political impact, using it ineffect as a second Budget opportunity each

year in which to gain somevantage, or attempt to.

Hammond evidentlyprefers a more Clarke-like substance overspin-focused style, andwants in future yearsto move closer to theoriginal vision of thestatement. This hasthe advantage inthat it will avoidthe political

Politics

“Hammond wants to return the Autumn Statement to be focused on fiscal

forecasting.”


fallout from policy announcements thatthen fail to live up to their billing.Remember the pasty tax anyone?

What this means is that the industrymust prepare itself for a very differentstatement this year that will focus more onthe dry economic data of how thegovernment is meeting the objectives ofthe budget than a Christmas giveaway forthe lucky few.

The last two decades have seen aproliferation of policy announcements inbudgets that have led to extremely longand complicated finance bills. This isbecause we were getting in effect twobudgets a year and this made finical policyvery opaque and hard to follow.

This chancellor is making the processmuch simpler and to some respect istaking the politics out of the budgetprocess to the degree that this is possible.This fits in line with Hammond’s beliefthat the Treasury has become too big andinvolved in too much policy making inWhitehall and so is a visible demonstrationof the new priorities of the Maygovernment.

Out will go the gimmicks and themicromanagement of the past and in willcome solid, stable decision making thatwill be focused on practical results overpolitical opportunism. At least that is theplan according to Downing Street. Make nomistake this is a gamble as the AutumnStatement is the government’s one big pre-Christmas opportunity to take theeconomic initiative and this was why it wasso loved by Brown and Osborne.

Given the current economic situationfacing the country, Hammond may needsuch a chance again in the coming years.With the forthcoming Brexit negotiations,the uncertainty about what will come outof them and the need to react quickly, aplatform to seize the initiative and reassuremarkets and industries may well be seen asvital to the survival of the government.What looks at first glance like thestripping-away of a gimmick may be seenin retrospect as the casting-away of anopportunity.

Although this approach may welldisappoint some in our industry, we shouldwelcome it as it fits with our request formore certainty and less politics in thedevelopment of infrastructure policy. Thisnew fiscal approach combined with theNIC assessments and the industrialstrategy have the potential to create astable policy platform that will enable ourindustry to invest with the confidence itneeds.

Julian Francis is director of policy and externalaffairs at the Association for Consultancy andEngineering.

It is a political truth universallyacknowledged that ministers come andministers go. This is a reality that new

prime minister Theresa May has beenconfronted with, perhaps earlier than shehoped, or even anticipated.

At the end of last month, Lord Jim O’Neillof Gatley resigned as commercial secretaryto the Treasury. He is yet to be replaced byMrs May, who did have warning that hisresignation was imminent when, at thestart of the summer, Lord O’Neill signalledhe was considering it. The construction andengineering industry finds itselfdisappointed at this situation.

One of the key aspects of the role ofcommercial secretary is with regards toinfrastructure and under Lord O’Neill and hispredecessors; the development of theNational Infrastructure Delivery Plan (orNational Infrastructure Plan in old money)was their responsibility. Now the most recentincumbent might not have had as muchinterest in infrastructure for its own sake, butit remained a key part of his portfolio, and ofhis Northern Powerhouse and foreign directinvestment priorities (FDI).

The pronouncements that Mrs May hasmade since she received the keys to Number10 have all indicated that infrastructure, the Northern Powerhouse, and FDI remainhigh on the list of the government’sconcerns. It is therefore baffling that she hasnot acted to replace Lord O’Neill swiftly, toassure those involved in infrastructure thatthis is the case.

A plethora of meetings have taken placebetween industry and the various peoplethat have fulfilled the role of commercialsecretary, with the latter providing a vitalliaison function between government andindustry. Issues in the delivery of criticalinfrastructure have been identified, notedand action taken to overcome them thanksto the holders of this senior position.

ACE members alone employ 90,000people and contribute £15bn directly and£90bn indirectly to the economy. On top ofthis, there are contractors, architects andfinanciers, all involved in the delivery and

operation of our infrastructure, all of whomare now asking who will they be dealingwithin government if they have concernsand will any issues be taken as seriously asthey were before.

In just a few short weeks, chancellorPhilip Hammond will be delivering theAutumn Statement, his first big addressfrom the despatch box as chancellor. This isan event that had become synonymouswith infrastructure under theCoalition/Cameron governments and earlyindications are that it will be similarly a keydiary date for our sector.

Unfortunately, the prime minister’sfailure to appoint a replacementcommercial secretary in a reasonableamount of time threatens to cast a longshadow over what promises to be a keymoment in the definition of thisgovernment’s attitude towardsinfrastructure. Industry will not just wantto see more announcements, but a real signthat government prioritises the delivery ofthe various programmes being developed.

I would urge the prime minister toappoint a suitable candidate to this vitalrole as soon as possible, to provide theengineering sector with the confidence thatshe will take their concerns seriously anddoes seek to work closely with firms. Thatway it might be more Sense and Sensibility,rather than Pride and Prejudice.

Dr. Nelson Ogunshakin OBE is the chief executive ofthe Association of Consultancy and Engineering.

Appointing a newcommercial secretarymust be a priority for PM

With infrastructure supposedly high on TheresaMay’s agenda, why has a top Treasury positionnot been appointed more than a month afterthe last one resigned? asks Dr Nelson Ogunshakin.

Why has Lord Jim O’Neill not been replacedas commercial secretary to the Treasury?


Opinion

Engaging people in infrastructureplanning and its delivery is a bigopportunity for the industry which canlead to a surge in public support forprojects of all sizes across the country.

As Theresa May’s government signals achange in direction from monetary to afiscal policy, using low interest borrowingto fund infrastructure is likely to be a realpossibility going forward.

If the political will is there to fundinfrastructure and developers seem togenerally agree with the consentingregime, then surely the problem is solved?Well not quite. There is one majorchallenge left to overcome which is at thesame time an exciting opportunity.

Does the public know whatinfrastructure means for them?

Copper Consultancy’s own research(Independent Survey of Attitudes toInfrastructure in Great Britain 2015) foundthat almost nine out of 10 people inBritain want to see investment in newinfrastructure, but many also want moreof a say in how it’s planned and delivered,with only 6% aware of any form of acoordinated national plan.

This demonstrates a huge publicappetite for infrastructure developmentand a desire to be involved in shaping it,but due to the perceived lack of a strategy,projects appear to come out of the blue.The almost inevitable result is that if peoplefeel infrastructure is happening outsidetheir control - that it’s happening “tothem”, not “with and for them” - they willreact negatively. This leads all too often to

objection, rejection and mistrust, not tomention damaged promoter reputations,increased project costs and delays.

The alternative is to turn this into anopportunity. The industry, government,the National Infrastructure Commissionand politicians can prepare the public forinfrastructure by sharing the first chaptersin the infrastructure story. We can capturethe public mood and imagination bycommunicating a clear, co-ordinatednational need case for infrastructure,which increases public understanding,help to visualise the benefits and creates aspringboard from which each project canbe brought forward.

Instead of schemes dominating theheadlines in controversy, we can create anenvironment of greater acceptance andpositivity around the engineeringchallenges we face to maintain anddevelop our country’s infrastructure.

A growing surge of public supportwould encourage a more efficientconsenting process and provide morecertainty around investment and delivery.It would also give the sector anopportunity to create a positive legacy forthe infrastructure of the future, one whichrecognises the social value it creates.

Linda Taylor, managingdirector, CopperConsultancy

Getting the publiconside to supportUK infrastructure

Hinkley Point. HS2. Heathrow, Gatwick.Little Plumpton. Infrastructure has beenin the news of late and the government’sin-tray includes some big decisions aboutbig-budget projects. Thinking inWhitehall is apparently edging towardsborrowing to build and a more pragmatic,civic-minded approach to infrastructure;more about jam today (or at least notdecades hence), balancing the needs ofconsumers and citizens.

The changes in emphasis and rhetorichave followed a Brexit vote which broughtinto sharp focus the need for governmentto stimulate national and local economiesin efficient, equitable ways. Laying track,building runways, upgrading our roadsand energy sources, can all help, but if webuild it, will they come?; how should wedo it?; and will it be worth the effort andmoney?

With these questions in mind, IpsosMORI undertook a survey in Britain and25 other countries asking the public ineach how they rated infrastructure,additionally gauging their priorities for

improvement and attitudes towardsdelivery.

Infrastructure leaders, including thegovernment, will be cheered that:

1. The premise is clear. 76% are of theview that investment in infrastructure isvital to future economic growth. Thissentiment is shared by differentgeographies and demographic groups.

2. There is recognition that action isneeded. 60% agree that we are not doingenough as a country to meet ourinfrastructure needs.

3. There is backing for borrowing tofund investment. 44% support this –substantially higher than the global and

Ben Marshall, researchdirector, Ipsos MORI

Public says: “Get onwith infrastructureplan, but do it right”

“Due to the perceivedlack of a strategy,projects appear tocome out of the blue.”

“76% are of the view that investment ininfrastructure is vital tofuture economic growth. ”


G8 averages (34% and 31% respectively) –while 16% are opposed and 40% are unsureeither way.

4. Twice as many are comfortable withthe idea of foreign investment as are not.42% say they are fine with it if projects canbe delivered more quickly as a result; 20%aren’t. This makes Britons fairlypragmatic and a little more comfortablewith foreign investment than G8countries, but government caution iswarranted by the 38% who aren’t sure.

There are several challenges (andopportunities). In particular:

1. The image of infrastructure. 48%,agree that Britain ‘has a poor record atgetting national infrastructure projectsright’ (12% disagree), despite only 29%dissatisfaction with the country’sinfrastructure.

2. Many just don’t know. At every turn,our survey picked up a large chunk ofpeople struggling to give an answer oneway or another. Infrastructure is not aword on everyone’s lips and opinions areoften very conditional on the detail.

3. All infrastructure is local. 67% justifydelays to infrastructure projects if itmeans that local communities’ views canbe heard properly, a higher proportionthan the 59% in G8 countries. The publicare very sensitive to winners and losers.This can be seen in some of the reaction tothe approval of plans for fracking in LittlePlumpton. More generally, we find peopleanxious about change but also fearful ofstagnation.

4. New housing supply and flooding.Both of these are among top prioritiesfor Brits, probably because of extensivemedia coverage and their wide reach,but neither fit neatly within the

National Infrastructure Commission’sremit.

These factors make up a complex andchanging socio-cultural backdrop thatinfrastructure leaders must navigate to‘land’ projects so that they are welcomedand cherished. November’s AutumnStatement will be a key moment in takingthe story about Britain’s infrastructureforward, but building a narrative aboutbetter infrastructure for a better Britainwill take a concerted effort.

This isn’t just about communications,PR and reputation management,important though these are. It also aboutthe way infrastructure is done; the way itis planned, delivered, managed andevaluated.

The message from the public is ‘Get onwith it (but do it right)’. The infrastructurestory must be well told, but in the yearsahead that story must turn into fact, notfiction.

Download the survey at www.ipsos-mori.com/infrastructuresurvey

It’s not a joke or a riddle. It’s thequestion that all businesses working inthe infrastructure sector should beasking themselves.

According to the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation andDevelopment, public spending on UKinfrastructure has been less thancountries like France, Canada,Switzerland and the US since the 1980sand when we combine this with today’sincreased demand on our transportnetworks, it’s clear that the right assetmanagement strategy has never beenmore important. A blend of skills is nowneeded to meet the enormouschallenges our infrastructure is facing.

Everyone’s talking about dataData is the hot topic of the industry rightnow. Almost everyone who works for orwith an asset owner will be talkingabout using data to make smartdecisions, but what does this reallymean? This will differ from business tobusiness but for us, at Amey, it’s aboutreally understanding the assets wemanage, using cutting-edge technologyto harvest data that matters and thenhaving some of the brightest talentinterpret what the data is telling us andtranslating it into action.

For instance, working with LondonUnderground, we’ve used real-time datato predict equipment failure insufficient time to deploy a maintenanceteam and pre-empt down time. Thistechnology, developed jointly by an

engineer and an astrophysicist, is beingdeployed in Europe’s biggest data centreand busiest airport where up-time iscrucial.

Is data more than a phase?There’s always a risk when somethingnew comes to market, that not everyonewill get on board – that some mightdismiss it as a fad and carry on doingwhat they did before hoping that it willall blow over. We see data differentlyand we’re making some bold moves toreally embed this change into the waywe do business. One of the things we’redoing is to build the biggestinfrastructure team dedicated to data,technology and analytics in the UK,thereby cementing our commitment tomaking data more than a trend.

The new multidisciplinary team ofinfrastructure analysts is made up of agrowing team of almost 100 remarkableindividuals with a huge range of skillsand experience including backgroundsin engineering, history, neuroscience,architecture and economics to name afew.

With over a dozen PhDs and 16languages between them, they aredefinitely an intelligent bunch but it’stheir combined knowledge andexperience that will enable us to findout things we never expected about theassets we look after and really make adifference to the work that we do – andthat’s what you get when you cross anengineer with an astrophysicist!

Charles Oldham, strategicconsulting and technologydirector, Amey

What do you getwhen you cross anengineer with anastrophysicist?

“Building a narrative aboutbetter infrastructure for abetter Britain will take a concerted effort.”


An infrastructure boom is coming tothe UK. Over the next five years,there will be some £250bn spent on

programmes across energy generation andtransmission, nuclear decommissioningand water. This vast amount of investmentoffers our industry a wealth of opportunity,but it will present us with numerouscomplex challenges to overcome.

We need to start addressing somefundamental questions that sit at the heartof these challenges. Particularly pressingquestions are: Do we go for replacementbefore renewal? Are the manufacturersand suppliers in place to deliver theequipment and materials needed for atleast the next 10 years? Are there enoughskilled people to manage and deliver allthese programmes of work?

Answering these points will go a longway to giving UK infrastructure thenecessary ammunition to deliver thesemultifaceted programmes. However,managing delivery is only part of the

puzzle. The infrastructure sector mustdeploy smarter strategic programmethinking by bringing technical experts intothe fold from day one.

The role of strategic technical expertscannot be underestimated. They work tocreate efficiencies and value byconcentrating on outcomes within the firstdevelopment stages of a programme. Byclosely linking programme management totechnical excellence, the benefits of theinvestment will be maximised. Programmeswill be carried out in the optimal way,thereby significantly reducing risk.

This approach is vital now more thanever. Regulators are increasingly concernedon outcomes rather than outputs. Thewater sector is very much a leader inadopting this methodology. Deployingprogramme management in closepartnership with technical expertise hasenabled the sector to deliver greatlyimproved outcomes without the need forhigher investment.

Collaboration

The UK has a huge amount of capital infrastructure on its horizonand while this brings enormous opportunities, there are alsoconsiderable challenges ahead for the industry, argues Paul Taylor.

Regulation is a driving force in this case,but it has meant that all parties involved ininfrastructure projects – asset owners,programme managers, engineers andcontractors – have to work together todeliver the desired outcomes.

Bringing technical excellence andprogramme management under one roofbrings further benefits that can serve ourindustry in other ways. It offers the chanceto share knowledge cross-sector andidentify trends and different ways ofworking.

There are a huge number of similaritiesin the way that programmes are executedin different sectors. However, little hasbeen done to take advantage of this. Forexample, the nuclear and railinfrastructure share a number ofcharacteristics: both rely on having heavyengineering specialisms in the UK and relyon a limited supply chain.

Or take the nuclear and water industries.Both have large-scale process plants, treatmassive volumes of contaminated waterand solids and have a strong regulatoryrequirement to protect the environment. It is clear that, given these similarities,there is an opportunity for greaterknowledge-sharing between the sectors.

Closer collaboration and open transferof ideas is a good way of generating theinnovation needed to solve the challengesof delivery listed above. It also offers thechance to make significant savings.Adopting this way of thinking couldpotentially see the infrastructure sectorsuccessfully deliver £250bn worth ofprojects for £200bn.

However, for this to happen, we mustlook beyond managing delivery. We needto think deeply at the very early stagesabout how programmes should bedeveloped to achieve desired outcomeswith the minimal combined capital andoperational costs, using sharing cross-sector knowledge to root out innovation.

Paul Taylor is head of programme developmentat MWH, now part of Stantec, which has 22,000employees working in over 400 locations acrosssix continents.

Better collaboration could saveinfrastructure sector £50bn


There’s no such thing as a typical dayfor me. No two days are the same andthere’s no telling what tomorrow

will bring – and that variety is exactly why Ilove my job so much.

As a Flying Wing, I’m on the cutting-edge of drone technology worldwide so thelimits of what I can do haven’t really beentested yet. But I do know I can do all sorts ofthings that other drones fall short of andI’m going to make a big difference to howsome of the infrastructure and services wetake for granted are looked after.

My job takes me all across the UK,inspecting and assessing keyinfrastructure. My day could involve justabout anything from covering 100 miles ofrail track, looking for potential issues thatcould slow down passenger or freighttrains, to inspecting the overhead linesthat keeps power flowing to homes andbusinesses.

Safety is my number one priorityThe most important thing I do is helping tokeep people safe. Today, if we want toknow what’s happening on the UK’snetworks, someone has to go and

Technology

A day in the life ofthe Flying Wing

things we never expected about the assets,which really makes a difference to thework that we do.

But my work can touch all aspects ofAmey’s business such as roads, utilities andgas industries. I’ve also got the potential tohelp grow the business into new marketslike agriculture, maritime, logistics, windfarms and much more.

My talents don’t stop there! I’m alsotasked with passing the benefits of quicker,easier inspections onto our clients andcustomers. For example, quicker railinspections mean shorter closures on thenetwork and therefore less disruption tojourneys.

Uniquely, I also use a range of sensors tocapture multiple data that we theninterpret to make smart recommendationsto asset owners. Inspections can also berepeated, whenever needed which is greatnews for asset owners who are constantlychallenged with delivering cost efficienciesfor clients while increasing inspections tomeet the growing demands on the UK’snetworks.

Bringing together internationalexpertiseEverything that I do has been generated bythe partnership between global assetmanagement consultancy, Amey, andworld leading drone technology experts,VTOL Technologies. Together, AmeyVTOLrepresent the future of aerial inspections,with an ambition to transform the world ofasset management.

To find out more about the work that I and the restof the team do visit www.amey.co.uk/ameyvtol

physically look and this can sometimes behazardous. I work as an extension to thewider team to remove this safety risk –allowing my inspector colleagues to reviewdata from the network in the comfort andsafety of the office. This also allows the restof the team to focus on adding value to theanalysis and providing smarter solutionsto our clients to help them make betterdecisions about their infrastructure andassets.

Making asset managementinspections quicker and easierI’ll be starting a new project from 2018 tomake risky manual inspections of the railnetwork a thing of the past. Historically,these inspections are also expensive andtime-consuming but I’m geared up todeploy from anywhere, at the touch of abutton to deliver repeatable, consistentand accurate inspections that could savemillions of pounds for our clients. But it’snot just about inspections, it’s also aboutthe data that I collect and I work alongsidea bunch of remarkable individuals atAmey with a huge range of skills andexperience that will enable us to find out

We spend a day with one of the newest additionsto the infrastructure inspection sector.

New dawn for New

It is almost exactly a year since the iconic£776m redesign of Birmingham NewStreet Station was officially opened by

the Queen. The re-purposed concourse,flooded with daylight from its vast andbrand new signature atrium, became aninstant hit with the hundreds of thousandsof passengers who use New Street every day.The immediate reaction from the publicwas all the more significant because only 18months previously, New Street had beennamed “Britain’s worst passenger station”by industry watchdogs Transport Focus,after a survey revealed it had the lowestsatisfaction levels among UK passengers.

Since it was last rebuilt in the 1960s,New Street, the busiest railway station inBritain outside of London, had outgrownits outdated building, creating a dismalfirst impression of Birmingham as thesecond city’s main gateway. The old stationhad been designed to cater for 650 trainsand 60,000 passengers per day.

Just before Mace began the re-construction in 2011, New Street receivedmore than 1,350 trains a day and had a

regular flow of 130,000 daily passengers,however, this could reach a peak of 250,000during events such as the CheltenhamFestival and Christmas markets makingclosures and overcrowding on safetygrounds more prevalent.

The UK’s second city deserved better.Whilst New Street desperately needed a

face lift, if it was to provide any lastingregeneration for Birmingham it alsoneeded open heart surgery to improve trainand passenger flow, as well as a completeinternal reorganisation in order to attractshoppers to a flagship city development.

While legacy is an oft-repeated mantrathese days, if infrastructure is to provideany widespread and lasting benefit forsociety it is crucial that it is engineeredwith the end goals in mind. For New Streetthese were:lCommunity buy-in – gaining the backingof local residents and businesses withNew Street to be the spur for a muchwider regeneration of a core area ofBirmingham city centre;

l Efficiency and innovation – pioneeringnew demolition and constructiontechniques in order to deliver a complexredevelopment on time and in budget;

l Employment – providing a legacy for theworkforce and the SMEs working on theproject including setting and exceedingtargets for the recruitment of localapprentices.

Community buy-inWith such high levels of criticism alreadydirected at this inner city development,

Almost 12 months after the opening of Birmingham’sredesigned New Street Station, Simon Dale takes a lookat the lasting legacy of this major infrastructure project.


there came equally high levels ofexpectation. There was also an inevitablyabout the station’s redevelopment. Withthe need to keep disruption at an absoluteminimum during the day, much of theheavy demolition work had to be carriedout at night. To make a success of a majorinfrastructure development it is vitallyimportant to have the buy-in and trust ofthe local community. As such a significantamount of community and stakeholderengagement took place prior to bothdemolition and construction, with theconsultation of nearby residentialproperties, two large hotels, and almost 70businesses.

Building trust with the local businessand residential community was key to thesuccess of this.

Holding regular face-to-face meetings inthe on-site offices meant residents andbusinesses could find out exactly whatwould be happening over the course of thenext three to six months and beyond. At theArcade opposite the station were retailproperties, shops and a hotel. We wouldmeet with many of these stakeholdersregularly and provide daily updates ifrequired. If the nearby hotels were fullybooked for major events, sometimes one ortwo night stoppages had to be planned intothe build schedule to ensure thesebusinesses continued to thrive during afour-year build programme.

On other occasions the hotels wouldaccommodate our work by moving gueststo the back so that we could continuewithout complaints. Lorry movements inthe city centre, particularly at night, werekept to an absolute minimum by openingup a local sidings which meant a Maceproject train could bring building materialin and out by rail.

StreetOf course residents and businesses also

had to be told bad news – for instance thathealth and safety tests, smoke alarms andfire alarms being tested would be done atnight. By communicating exactly when andhow long a particular piece of work wouldlast, people were more accepting of it, aslong as they knew when the work wastaking place so they could organise theirlives around it.

Efficiency and innovation Prior to beginning the works, Mace set upnoise monitoring stations on localbuildings which were designed to notifykey members of the construction team iflevels went beyond those that the city’senvironmental department had set. On anyoccasions where monitors were triggered,Mace could then respond within 10-15minutes. Mace also hired a sound engineerto design acoustic walls which sat behindthe assigned demolition area, furtherreducing the noise output.

The team devised an innovative way ofusing enclosed tunnels to work around thedaily flow of passengers. This was done bycreating a modular tunnel on wheels whichcould take the impact of falling debris andmaterials. It incorporated AV screens andhad a plug and play system to direct thestation’s main tannoy announcements. Thismeant that 180m of tunnels and walkwayscould be easily jacked up and moved alongat any time whilst passengers had animpression they were still walking througha station rather than a building site.

Even with the most robust plans inplace, there are always surprises. Thediscovery of a huge amount of asbestos atNew Street during the second phase ofdevelopment put our programme intodelay. In total 60,000 hours were spent

removing the asbestos at a cost of £40m. We had already removed the original

internal structures and existing retail levelfloors to create the new atrium before thisbecame apparent. As a temporary solutionwe widened the beams out and put themon a hover track system but as this wasquite slow so we looked to significantlyreduce the time it took.

Working with the local company JCB,we developed a bespoke machine for theteam. The adapted 360 excavator wasdesigned to effectively munch around thebeams with oversized jaws, using a remotecontrol. It did this at a phenomenal pace.Even factoring in the setbacks, wemanaged to reduce the overall demolitionprocess from 13 months, to five monthsand three weeks. As a result, Mace won aworld demolition award for the workcarried out in New Street’s Atrium. Theunique piece of demolition machinery isnow used by Colmans and JCB acrossprojects where they have similarconstraints.

Employment and overall legacyWorking with Birmingham City Council’sEmployment Access Team and NetworkRail, we had set a target of placing 100apprentices onto the New Street projectthrough the supply chain. The 42 contractpartners on the scheme together withBirmingham College, signed a pledge to

take on local apprentices. We hadappointed exactly 124 apprentices by theend of the scheme. Most of the apprenticeshave now gone on to work in the industry,whilst all 12 apprentices who wereappointed by Mace are still working withthe business on new projects.

A year on from the launch, Mace and themany construction partners involved inNew Street’s redevelopment are stillreceiving praise from business leaders andpassengers. Members of the public can stillbe seen taking pictures of their reflectionsat the station’s main entrance while moreimportantly, people now come to thestation to meet and use the new facilities.The creation of the new Grand Centralretail centre has rejuvenated shopping inthe city. Now more than 6,000 retail jobsare supported by the Grand Central andneighbouring Bullring.

As a result, the city has moved from12th to third in the national retail rankingsand seen an 11% increase in its visitoreconomy. Now 88% of passengers who usedthe station between March and May 2016were satisfied with their stationexperience, a rise of 23 percentage pointsfrom 65% two years ago.

Simon Dale is business unit director (Central &South West) at Mace

September/October 2016 | Infrastructure Intelligence 17


Anyone expecting to work on a roadimprovement project for HighwaysEngland (HE) in the near future can

look forward to having some frankconversations about behaviour. Fear not,the HE is gathering views on what makescollaboration work, or fail, with thepromise of anonymity. Project teams aregetting opportunity to talk openly aboutthe subject without fear of reprisal, but inreturn, everyone is being asked to takeresponsibility for their own behaviour.

The concern for the HE and its supplychain is tacitly understood: England’s roadssector needs to up its game if it’s tosuccessfully deliver all £15.2bn ofinvestment planned for 2015 to 2020.

As the HE came into existence in Aprillast year, it set up an engagement councilwith over 70 of its suppliers. The firstmeeting came up with five priorities forsuccess with delivery of the government’sRoads Investment Programme (RIS).Embedding collaborative behavioursthroughout the supply chain was one(along with defining good value andperformance; best practice in planning;incentivising and supporting innovation;and building capability and capacity).

Since then, a new initiative hasemerged: the Improving BehavioursImproving Performance (IBIP) programme.“It’s clear to us that better outcomes resultwhere projects are truly collaborative,” saysthe HE’s lead on IBIP, Tracey Collingwood.

“We’ve invested in lean and useddifferent types of contracts and processes,but productivity has not materiallyimproved across our industry for ageneration. However, we also have evidenceof a direct correlation betweencollaboration and project performance,which is why we’re focusing oncollaborative behaviours.”

The HE is driving IBIP; the intention is tointroduce it to every one of the 113 projectsof the RIS; in partnership with its supplychain. Individuals from companies on theHE’s Collaborative Delivery Framework(CDF) have volunteered to driveimprovement in each of the five priorities.Facilitators are being trained up to deliverIBIP workshops to project teams that theirown companies are not involved in. So far,over 1,000 people at around 30 differentsites have seen what it’s all about.

Andrew Jones is a technical director andIBIP leader for WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff.“Having seen what needs to be deliveredover the next four to five years, it’s clearthat as an industry, we cannot carry on asbefore,” he says.

“Collaboration is commonly describedsimply as companies or organisationsworking together with a commonobjective, but it needs more than that if it’s

going to work. We all know it can get toughwhen projects don’t go well or problemsoccur. What’s needed, to prevent delays ordisputes, is the ability to have honest andproductive conversations when things getdifficult,” Jones says.

Collaborative behaviours

Uppingthe gameA new initiative is spreading out acrossthe roads sector in England, identifyingand embedding the good behavioursthat make collaboration work: theImproving Behaviours ImprovingPerformance programme. Jon Masters reports.

This is the nub of it. Everyone involvedin IBIP seems to have their own take on it.But what keeps coming up, is theimportance of people being givenopportunity to talk, in a safe environment,about what the good and the bad ofcollaboration look like; and then havingthe personal skills, or ‘maturity’, torecognise what they can do to improvetheir own behaviour.

“It’s not a soft and fluffy subject. It’sabout having the ability or skills to have theopen and sometimes difficult conversations– getting people talking about behaviours,”says Matt Stacey, a board member of BAMNuttall Morgan Sindall Joint Venture,which holds a place on the Major ProjectsLot of the CDF.

There is also some systematic process toall this. Individuals and companies pushingthe IBIP message are being assisted by a

“It can get toughwhen projectsdon’t go well.What’s needed isthe ability to havehonest and

productive conversationswhen things get difficult.” Andrew Jones, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff


team from JCP Consulting led bybehavioural specialist Amanda Crouch.“The industry has picked out eight keycollaborative behaviours that are neededto make projects successful. We’ve helpedthem put all this into behaviourallanguage,” Crouch says.

Under each of the eight headings orcategories – including engagement,accountability, trust and respect –multiple different descriptionshave been determined, of whatthat behaviour looks like when it is‘damaging’, ‘contributing’ or‘leading’ towards success.

The resulting matrix has beencalled the Behavioural MaturityFramework (BMF). At project level,anonymous surveys are gatheringviews of all team members’‘experience’ of the different keybehaviours.

In the long run, there’sintention to use the data to mapout how the damaging or leadingbehaviours occur commonly atcertain positions or points within projectteams. For the time being, however, thesurvey results are being used to informhow IBIP workshops are set up: in theprocess, giving project teams anunderstanding of where they’re at with‘behavioural maturity’.

“There is real value in having astraightforward explanation to helppeople understand why behaviours, suchas the positive or negative tone theyadopt, are important,” Matt Stacey says.“In the past we have often hoped toomuch that people would figure all this outfor themselves.”

Amanda Crouch says: “The IBIPworkshops are designed to show whichdifferent behaviours are having a positiveor negative impact, and to allow people tothen have important honestconversations about these actions, orinaction, based on anonymously gatheredviews.”

For example, she says, quicker decisionmaking comes from people relying more

on face to face discussions and less onemails. The resulting more rapidresolution of issues stops people makingassumptions.

“Face to face meetings and directcommunication prevent time being wastedby stopping people from going off in theirown direction with critical tasks. All ofthese things are important for helpingthings to be done more effectively, with a

big impact on cost and delivery,”Crouch says.

Darren Griffin is a lead bidmanager for Osborne – acontractor of CDF Lot 2 forschemes up to £25m. He’s alsonow a trained IBIP facilitator. “Thebehaviours of the BMF fordiscussion are not tightlyprescribed. It’s about individualteams deciding what’s importantrather than us dictating anyanswers,” he says.

“The surveys test what thefocus of each workshopneeds to be. From that

point, with a nominated leader onsite, we work out the necessarytheme.”

Quizzed on levels of scepticismhe’s encountered: “not a lot”,Griffin replies. “The behaviourshave generally been well thoughtout. And project managers, theyget it.

“There is a tendency for peopleto revert back to talking aboutprocess, because behaviour is moredifficult to talk about. Workshopdiscussions often focus on how to talkabout it. Trust and permission areimportant. People need to feel safe talkingabout it.”

Crouch gives a good example that she’sencountered when talking to one of theHE’s project teams. “They recognised thatthey needed to better understand the timepressures each was experiencing and howthese were affecting them personally,”she says.“A team member has subsequently told

me they have been having wider and morefrequent conversations about people’savailability and key dates on otherschemes, so getting a better appreciation ofwhen the work peaks will arise. The resultis better resourcing and the project teamhitting its weekly completion targets.”

It’s also not just the HE and its CDFsuppliers that are getting to grips withcollaborative behaviours. According toTracey Collingwood, how to enable theright ones that lead to improvedperformance, is now being talked about bya number of major infrastructureproviders.

“We’re all now talking about this agendatogether, about behaviours and theirimportance for delivery of programmes ofprojects. This is the hot topic for quite a fewmajor clients within the infrastructuresector, which are all facing the samechallenges around delivery, efficiency andresources. And so there’s a lot of appetite forIBIP, for a concerted approach focused oncollaborative behaviour,” Collingwood says.

The individual members of the IBIPgroup have also stated their intentions tospread the message by running their ownin-house workshops.

“Connect Plus which is running the M25DBFO contract, it too has its own similarvariation of IBIP,” says Darren Griffin.“We’re a Tier One supplier to Connect Plusand now we have got to bring oursubcontractors into the same work oncollaborative behaviours. The facilitatingideas are different but they’re aiming at thesame principles.”

Mouchel’s managing director forhighways and transport, JeremyWray, is also part of the IBIP group,as well as a member of the HE’scollaboration board.

He says: “This subject of how toimprove performance throughgenuine collaboration is taking ona lot of importance. We now havethe BMF as a bespoke model forraising awareness, which we’reintending to run internally andacross other sectors.

“It develops a language inrelation to collaborative behaviour – this isthe real value of it. Once people get thatvocabulary, they can have the open andhonest conversations with constructivecomments about behaviour. But it’s just thestart of a process that has to be repeated.It’s not just a tick-box exercise,” Wray adds.

“We’re working project by project withteams already put together, which makessense, but those teams will tend to getbroken up. It’s going to take some time,possibly a generation, to imbed completelyacross industry and deeply through thesupply chain.”

“Workshopdiscussions oftenfocus on how totalk aboutbehaviour. Trustand permission

are important. People needto feel safe talking about it.” Darren Griffin, Osborne

“There is real valuein having anexplanation tohelp understandwhy behaviours,such as the

positive or negative tone theyadopt, are important.” Matt Stacey, BMJV

Jeremy Wray:“It’s not just a tick-boxexercise.”

AmandaCrouch: “We’ve helpedthem put allthis intobehaviourallanguage.”


There is no getting away from the factthat Brexit poses a significant risk forthe UK environmental sector. This is

because most environmental markets,unlike, say, markets in retail, are heavilyinfluenced by regulation. And with over500 pieces of EU environmental legislationhaving been passed over the last 40 years,there are few aspects of the environmentalsector which are not in some wayinfluenced by Brussels policymaking.

Of course, public and political attitudesto the environment have shifted greatlysince the UK joined the then EEC in 1975and it is hard to imagine that there wouldbe a wholesale scrapping of standards forclean bathing water at beaches forexample. But there is real uncertaintyabout how Brexit will impact on UKenvironmental policy.

Tackling uncertainty about BrexitA lot of this uncertainty relates to the Brexitprocess itself. Clearly no-one knows howthe Article 50 negotiations will unfold, norhow long they will take, nor what the UK’sfinal relationship with the EU would belike. If the UK ended up as a member of theEuropean Economic Area which bringsSingle Market Access (the so-called ‘softBrexit’ option), then we would be required

to implement all EU environmental lawapart from the Bathing Waters, Habitatsand Birds Directive, but in the event of ahard Brexit there would be much morediscretion.

The government has made a small butmuch-needed step to clarify one issue – the‘Great Repeal Bill’ announced by the primeminister at the Conservative partyconference will ensure that EU legislationdoes not lapse on the day we formally exitthe EU but will instead be transferred to UKstatute en masse.

In these uncertain times, the EIC isseeking to do three things:l Emphasise in our contacts withministers and senior officials the vitalneed to maintain high environmentalstandards and broad regulatory stability

l Help EIC members navigate theuncharted waters ahead. As part of thiswe have set up a series of members’seminars to help members understandthe nuances of how Brexit might work.The next one in late November willfeature the deputy head of theNorwegian Environment Agency anddiscuss what the UK can learn from theNorwegian experience of implementingEU environmental law as a non-EUmember.

This year’s annual conference of the Environmental Industries Commission willfocus on the factors that drive growth in environmentally focused businesses andthe significant implications that Brexit will have for the environmental sector.

l Analysing EU environmental regulationin each sub-sector and assessing whichelements are crucial to ourenvironmental wellbeing and must beretained long term, and which elementsnow have less value or could be usefullyreformed.We will use this work in discussions

with Defra and the new Brexit departmentas the Article 50 process develops.

The EIC annual conference will alsofeature an expert panel discussing the risksand opportunities that lie ahead for theenvironmental sector in a post-Brexitworld.

Exporting Environmental ExpertiseWith the historical need to tackle pollutionthat resulted from the industrial revolutionand the continual development ofenvironmental best practices withinregulations, the United Kingdom has anotable reputation world for environmentalexpertise. With specialised UK skills in lowcarbon and renewables, many countriesaround the world are looking at utilising UKskills and technology.

In 2015, EIC became an accredited tradepartner for UKTI. UKTI has now beenabsorbed into the new Department forInternational Trade, but the accreditation

Going for greengrowth post-Brexit

EIC Annual Conference


continues, meaning EIC gets preferentialaccess to DIT export market intelligence inUK embassies around the world, and isoften invited to meet visiting tradedelegations.

As Brexit approaches and thegovernment is encouraging UK businessesto export, it is vital that the environmentalsector is included in these efforts.

The EIC conference will be anopportunity to discuss how EIC memberscan prosper in these markets and hear frombusiness that have already done so.

Smart CitiesEIC’s Head of Smart Cities, Sam Ibbott, willchair a breakout session at the conferencelooking at the role of smart technologiesand big data in helping our cities and urbanareas to function more efficiently –reducing pollution and creating moresustainable environments, both financiallyand environmentally.

Over the last two years, EIC has carved aniche in understanding and promoting theuse of smart technologies to help cities meetcore environmental challenges – air quality,carbon and energy management, waste andrecycling, and water management. Thiswork has led to the launch of new website,sustainablesmartcities.org.

EIC’s research to date has highlightedthe significant potential for this

environmentally-focussed smart industry –some $92bn globally by 2020 – but alsomany challenges in reaching this potential.Chief among them is the relativeimmaturity of the market for thesesolutions – with no established businessmodels, several disruptive technologies,and a set of city government buyers whoare cautious about investing large sums ofmoney in exciting, but often untestedtechnologies.

The core of sustainablesmartcities.org isan international case study database,which will highlight international bestpractice and help to connect thoseresponsible for dealing withenvironmental challenges with those whocan provide technology-based solutions.

Guided by an industry taskforce ofcompanies, cities, academics and policymakers, the website will act as a centralhub to bring together and promote acurrently disparate industry. With the aimto create tangible commercialopportunities for innovative companieswhilst enabling an increased quality of lifefor those living in cities, and the breakoutsession at EIC’s conference provides theperfect platform to progress thisconversation.

Make sure to sign up for your place atEIC’s Annual Conference 2016 to discussthe above topics, and many, many more.

The Lancaster Environment Centre atLancaster University supports one ofthe largest groups of environmentalresearchers in Europe and has beenranked in the top ten for interactionswith small and medium enterprises. A community of world classenvironmental researchers, highachieving students, governmentscientists and commercial enterpriseswork together to address today’sbiggest environmental challengesacross areas including: Atmosphere,Climate and Pollution; Soil, Plant andLand Systems; Water Science;Environmental and Biogeo Chemistry;Plant and Crop Science; Ecology andConservation; Earth Science; Culture,Politics and Nature; Geospatial DataScience; and eco-innovation throughthe award winning Centre for GlobalEco-Innovation.

Exemplar FacilitiesIn the past decade over £35m has beeninvested in buildings, including officespace and hot desk facilities. Thecentre hosts the Environment Agency,over 20 businesses, and one of theNatural Environment ResearchCouncil’s research laboratories, theCentre for Ecology and Hydrology(CEH) and was cited in the 2013 WittyReview of Universities and Growth. Thelaunch of a new Graduate School forthe Environment, in partnership withCEH and Rothamsted Research, inOctober 2016 brings together a cohortof over 200 PhD students and builds onexisting professional training coursesrun with industry partners.Douglas Booker, managing director ofNational Air Quality Testing ServicesLimited (NAQTS) commented “Thecore principles of NAQTS require a firmfoundation in academia. LancasterUniversity is an ideal choice forleveraging academic excellence... wehave found the staff to be enthusiastic,professional, with leaders that arehelping NAQTS to shape and developits portfolio.”

Contact UsContact business partnershipsmanagers Dr Paul McKenna on 01524 510301 or by email [email protected] or Dr Chris Holroyd on 01524 510228 oremail: [email protected] or register your research need on ourportal at www.lancaster.ac.uk/engage

About our Gold Sponsor -Lancaster EnvironmentCentre

EIC Annual Conference 2016Going for Green Growth Post-Brexit:Innovation, Exports and Financing in the Environmental SectorWednesday 30 November 2016, Londonwww.eic-conference.co.uk

Gold Sponsor: Venue Partner:

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Bridge engineering

Designing the world’s longestsuspension bridge made entirelyout of LEGO may not be on as grand

a scale as the bridges I usually create, butthe structure, which is currently on displayat the Institution of Civil Engineers inLondon, still provides a fantasticopportunity to showcase the extraordinaryfeats of engineers to the public.

The bridge, which spans more than 30mand is made up of over 200,000 individualplastic bricks, is at the centre of a newexhibition that celebrates the civilengineers who have created some of theworld’s greatest bridges. From ThomasTelford’s classic Menai Strait suspensionbridge to modern masterpieces includingthe first Severn crossing, bridges areexamples of some of the most demandingengineering challenges. More recent andcurrent endeavours, such as the SecondPenang Bridge and the Padma Bridge, arevivid examples of how civil engineeringcan overcome the merciless forces ofnature and direct its resources forsustainable use.

I always knew I wanted to be a bridgeengineer. The grandeur of landmarkbridges fascinates me and I enjoy the senseof achievement that comes from creatingsuch massive structures. Every bridgebrings unique challenges, so each project I work on is different. Truly iconic bridgeswill have an imaginative design, but thestructure must also seamlessly integratewith the surrounding landscape.

Of course bridge engineering has evolvedsignificantly since I started my career.Technology advancements allow the sectorto build structures in topographies andenvironments once deemed impossible.The Sutong Bridge in China, for example,fulfilled a century-old dream when itopened in 2008 by connecting the cities ofSuzhou and Nantong, previously separatedby the vast six-mile-wide Yangtze River.

Four years later a new crossing over theYangtze opened more than 100km inlandfrom the Sutong Bridge. As the world’s firstlong-span, three-pylon suspension bridge,the Taizhou Bridge achieved five new worldrecords. At a height of 200m, the structureincludes the tallest ever central pylon, aswell as the deepest underwater bridgecaisson foundation to support it. The bridgealso has the longest suspension cable andwas the first concurrent erection of twolong suspended deck girders in an integralsuspension bridge system.

As design consultant for the project,AECOM’s team applied their expertisegained from the record-breaking Sutong

A new record-breaking bridge made out of Lego is helping to showcase theamazing and inspiring feats of engineers to the wider public, says Dr Robin Sham.

engineers can anticipate and managechanging environmental risk factors.Technology that facilitates wind tunneltesting, earthquake simulation and seismichazard assessments, for example, enablesinvestigations that were not previouslypossible even a quarter of a century earlier.

Importantly, bridges improve people’slives in a very tangible way. They connectpeople and places, both physically andemotionally. The 6.15km-long PadmaBridge, which is currently underconstruction, is an excellent example ofpoverty relief and disaster prevention.While knowledge of the engineeringsciences is vital, bridge engineers must alsohave an understanding of humanitiessubjects and the important role they playin changing people’s lives for the better.

Informing the wider public about theextraordinary work of bridge engineerswill help inspire the next generation toconsider a career in engineering. That iswhy initiatives like the ICE’s newexhibition are so important. Using familiarLEGO bricks to create an impressivesuspension bridge helps demystifyengineering and the work that we do. The opportunities in bridge engineeringare boundless and as a profession, we mustdo more to highlight this to those outsideour industry.

Dr Robin Sham is global long span and specialtybridges director at AECOM.

Pushing the boundariesof bridge design

Bridge project to the Taizhou Bridgescheme, helping to steer more futuretrends. Building on past experience is keyto pushing boundaries in bridge design andensuring the sector remains innovative. As the world’s first attempt to design andconstruct such an ambitious bridge,substantial research and developmentefforts were required to aid the design ofthe Taizhou Bridge.

Developments in engineering sciencetechniques over the past few decades mean

Dr Sham atTaizhouBridge.

The LegoBridgeProject.

Knowledge management forum

In an increasingly competitiveconstruction marketplace, professionalservices firms are looking at how to

better use their talent and intellectualcapital to spread knowledge and make itmore accessible across their organisations.Those present at a recent breakfast forumon knowledge management at London’sClaridge’s heard from leading experts in thefield about how to create and foster learningorganisations that better share informationand work more efficiently as a result.

“The ability to learn and innovate fasterthan your competitors may be your onlysustainable competitive advantage,” saidDarryl Williamson, director of knowledgemanagement and information delivery atBST Global. “Leveraging knowledge assets ina firm is achieved by fostering a culture thatmeaningfully connects people,” he said.

Culture was a recurring theme at theevent. “It’s not just about doing somethingdifferent it’s about becoming somethingdifferent,” said Williamson. “We really wantto zero in on the cultural dynamics –it’s about who we are,” he said.

According to Williamson,knowledge management was “anability to capture, recall and use myexperiences”. To do this well, it wasimportant to resourceknowledge managementproperly within an

organisation in order to foster the rightculture, he said. “You have people lookingafter the money side of what you do,marketing and also HR, but it’s the samething for knowledge. You need to elevate it as a professional focus. Knowledgemanagement has to be somebody’s job,”he said.

The financial imperative for this wasclear, with recent surveys showing that39% of employee time is lost by duplicatingwork and 58% of people wasting an hour aday looking for information. “Unbillabletime,” Williamson called it. “Organisationsthat do knowledge management will see adouble return on assets and sales and asthey learn on project work they are able toleverage this learning on future projects,increasing efficiency and reducing the riskof defects too,” he said.

Williamson also talked about the need togrow the awareness of knowledgemanagement in a firm and the “lightbulbmoment” where “you see the world

differently”. “You need to back that up bydeveloping practices within local offices andsharing knowledge between departments,”he said. “Then analyse and look forimprovements and start to measure.Knowledge management is a process and youhave to nurture it. It’s like a science,” he said.

Williamson said that the values of anorganisation were also important. “Askyourself, do we value people’scontributions?” he said. “Transparency,openness and accessibility need to be in thecompany DNA. Discuss ideas vigorously andopenly. Don’t discourage people. Create anatmosphere where people are encouragedto ask for help, value it and build that intoyour culture,” Williamson said.

Williamson highlighted the four stagesof creating good knowledge management –assessing leading, organising and gathering.Assessing whether an organisation hasopen and honest communication andengages openly and honestly with staff wascrucial. As was recognising andincentivising collaboration.

Having leaders inside a firm that ‘get it’and who can champion knowledgemanagement and link up business and techwas a must, said Williamson and gatheringinformation was also vital so that firmshave skilled communities of practice wherestaff know they can find people who cangive answers.

“We really want to zero inon the cultural dynamics– it’s about who we are.”Darryl Williamson, BST Global

RogerHawkins.

Knowledge is powerbut culture helps youElevating knowledge management so that it becomes part of the DNA of acompany’s culture was the key take-away at a recent forum event organised byInfrastructure Intelligence and supported by BST Global. Andy Walker reports.



Organisation of information andparticularly answers was vital. “Don’t beintimidated by content,” said Williamson.“Make sure that information isappropriately tagged and categorised soyou can find it effectively, but locateanswers not content. You don’t wantpractitioners looking for answers you wantthem finding answers,” he said.

Dominique Poole-Avery, associate andknowledge manager at Arup, shared hermany years of looking at lessons learned onprojects and how better to shareinformation across firms. “We look atknowledge management internally but wealso work externally with behaviouralchange consultants. The Arup culture ofemployee ownership has been importantin sharing information in an organisationwhere last year we worked on 17,000projects with 8,000 clients in 138 countries– that’s a lot of learning,” she said.

“Finally, people are now realising that ITis two words and the first word is moreimportant than the second word,” saidleading management and IT consultant IainGodwin, who specialises in working witharchitect-led design consultancies andconstruction industry businesses. People andorganisations get themselves into silos buthow do we use the business itself to breakthose silos down and get value out of theknowledge that is in the business?” he asked.

Poole-Avery said that Arup had anetwork of 80 communities of practice,with two thirds of these regarded as keyskills networks within the organisation,the leaders of which are highly regardedwithin Arup globally. “They are global andregional leaders who have the mandate tomake sure that they share skills andknowledge and expertise and also topromote this externally as a leadingpresence in the industry,” she said.

However, with the constructionindustry increasingly more commoditisedwith lower margins, some attendeeshighlighted that it was difficult to defendspending on what people may think is a‘highfalutin’ area of knowledgemanagement when margins are tight.

Dominique Poole-Avery said it was avital expenditure. “For us, knowledge iswhat we sell so it is absolutely integral towhat we do. Our skills leaders are alldirectors or principals and globally wespend the equivalent of one day a monthon knowledge management. It’s a fairlysignificant amount and absolutelyfundamental to what we do.”

“Everyone is being asked to do more forless money and that means workingsmarter,” said Iain Godwin. “Workingsmarter means using the knowledge thatyou have more effectively,” he said.

For firms at the early stages of their

knowledge management journey, it wascrucial to get buy-in from leaders andconvincing people at an early stage thatthis is good for business. So, how do firmsdemonstrate that knowledge managementhas helped maintain margins or reducecosts and does it pay for itself?

“You need to look at your processes,”said Iain Godwin. “When you look at howbusinesses work you start to discoverenormous inefficiencies and silos. Youwant to connect these silos togetherbecause you are only as good as theweakest data you have. Knowledgemanagement is part of doing things betterand more efficiently,” he said.

Darryl Williamson said it was importantto have stories to support investment. “Youwant anecdotes to support what you wantto do so use project post-mortems toprovide you with those stories. It’s veryimportant that you don’t just start with avision for investment,” he said.

Iain Godwin was clear that from day one“you need to establish the principle ofsharing”. Firms needed to embed thisculture from the very beginning he said.“It’s about connecting people as much asfinding knowledge. The concept of“marginal gains” that we see so often insport is also crucial in business. Build thatpositive culture and nurture it. It has to goall the way up the organisation and all theway out for a business to truly takeadvantage of knowledge sharing,” he said.

Darryl Williamson agreed. “It is aboutbringing people together. Even an initiallow-tech route of creating forums todiscuss projects is helpful. Creating thatforum will create that momentum forsharing. Even a simple lunch conversation,then asking what people want to talk aboutnext can let things grow into somethingmuch bigger,” he said.

Attendees at the breakfast forum hadmuch food for thought on an issue that isgrowing in importance for professionalservices businesses and they left with manyideas about how to embed knowledgemanagement in the culture of theirorganisations in the future.

“For us, knowledge is what we sell so it isabsolutely integral to what we do.” –Dominique Poole-Avery

BST Global provides integrated businessmanagement software solutions for theworld’s leading architects, engineers,and environmental consultants. Morethan 100,000 professionals across sixcontinents and 65 countries rely on BSTsolutions each day to manage theirprojects, resources, finances, and clientrelationships. For more information, visit bstglobal.com.

About thesponsor

“Knowledge management is part of doingthings better and more efficiently.”– Iain Godwin


With continued market shifts in2016 and a vast array ofpolitical changes, it is

undeniable that 2016 is a potentialturning point for our industry. While thedirection in which our industry will gopast this point is difficult to ascertain –particularly given the volatility of variousmarket drivers – we as leaders must standready, prepared both for those challengesthat we know, as well as thoseunpredictable hurdles that willundoubtedly arise.

While they currently beg morequestions than answers, I see five keymarket drivers with impacts that willevolve throughout 2017 – the Chineseeconomy, oil and energy prices, big dataand digital economy, marketconsolidations and Brexit and the USelections.

The Chinese economyAfter years of supercharged growth, Chinais in an unpredictable economic state asindustrial profits slow, debt rises, demandslackens, and overcapacity continues inmany sectors. Though the Bank forInternational Settlements warned inSeptember about a Chinese banking crisisin the next three years, this fragility mayonly be temporary, and may be settledthrough inward or outward investments.

With around 30% of developmentcoming from China and China wishing totake on risks associated with globalinfrastructure, industry leaders are faceda thought provoking question. Is thecollective Asian market a potentialalternative for both investment andproject ideas and can we as an industryenable this to work for us?

Oil and energy pricesIn China and around the world, oil andassociated energy prices are flattening.This slowed revenue is having a knock-oneffect on liquidity and investment ininfrastructure projects, particularly in theMiddle East and areas of Africa, wherecountries like Qatar have large sums ofmoney locked into existing assets or thoseunder development. For development andinfrastructure to continue, where will themoney come from, and at what point mustwe look to renewables to fill the gap?

Big data and digitalWhen looking at innovation approaches toinfrastructure challenges, big data anddigital economy will be a key driver for thefuture. This will, and must, change the wayour industry operates, as client demandsabout the state and lifespan of their assetsevolves. While BIM was yesterday’s catalystfor our industry to adapt, going forwardwe must choose whether we will lead inchanging work practices, business modelsand outputs to account for big data, orwhether we will follow other industries asthey adapt to the technologicalenvironment.

Market consolidationsAs we evolve, the new market conditionsmay lead to the need for furtherconsolidation or potentiallydeconsolidation of businesses. After yearsof mergers and acquisitions it is stillunclear if there is an ideal level ofconsolidation in our market. Goingforward this will depend on how thepolitical and economic environmentchanges client needs. Will clients continueto gravitate towards all-in-one serviceproviders resulting from verticalconsolidations? Will we see morehorizontal collaborations? Or will we seecompanies looking to deconsolidate? Or

Five key challenges for 2017The year 2016 will be seen as a turning point for the industry, butthere are plenty of key drivers that will impact on the constructionand infrastructure sector in 2017 too, says Nelson Ogunshakin.

will new business models come about?Only time will tell.

Brexit and the US electionsOne of the few things we know for certainis that the UK has voted to leave theEuropean Union and that article 50 willlikely be invoked in the spring of 2017. This will continue to present our industrywith both challenges and opportunities.Similarly, the US elections outcome couldimpact on trans-Atlantic opportunities.Within all this, only one thing is certain.We must now lay the groundwork forproper engagement to ensure ourcontinued competitiveness in an ever-changing global marketplace.

Laying the groundwork for engagement,continued global competitiveness andsuccess, despite the challenges ahead, willcontinue to be ACE’s purpose in servingour members.

As Infrastructure Intelligence celebrates itsthird anniversary on 14 December, I want to thank you for your continuedsupport. Together we can continue toensure our industry’s success, into 2017and beyond.

Dr Nelson Ogunshakin OBE is the chief executiveof the Association for Consultancy andEngineering.

ACE news

After years of massive growth, an unpredictable Chinese economy is set to have a significanteffect on business in 2017.


With the main benchmarkingproject for larger UK andEuropean companies now in its

11th year and the report on industry SMEsis in its sixth year, the data compiled byACE’s data partner the Centre forInterfirm Comparison can confidentlyshow us an overview of the industry.

Seen in the main benchmarkingreport, in 2016 the weighted growth ratefor larger UK firms with over 250employees, was 12% excluding the impactof acquisitions. For European firms theweighted average growth was 4.5%, with90% of all larger firms across Europe andthe UK reporting higher revenues.

The average debt collection period forUK companies was equivalent to 75.5days’ sales in 2015/16, which was anincrease of almost one day from theprevious year’s average of 74.7 days. TheEuropean firms’ 2014 average was muchhigher than the UK average at 98.5 days’sales, but there was a useful improvementto 92.1 days in 2015.

Looking at the numbers of employedfor all firms (i.e. a weighted average),there was an increase in permanent staffnumbers of 6.4% for all UK firms. Totalcontract staff numbers were 3.7% higher,giving a total increase in headcount of6.1%. Just over 80% of UK firms increasedtheir total headcount during the year. Forthe European firms, total headcountincreased by 7.4% between the beginningand end of the year. Excluding staffjoining through acquisition, headcountincreased by 4.9%. Almost 85% ofEuropean firms increased theirheadcount during the year.

Firms were asked to provide forecasts ofrevenue and profit for the current year. Ofthe firms which completed that section,61% forecasted a rise in profit margin. Themedian forecast was for an increase inprofit margin of 0.3% points, which wouldindicate an average margin in 2016/17 of8.2% for this year’s group of participants.Of those that provided a forecast, revenueis expected to grow by over 12%.

UK companies were, on average,forecasting revenue to grow by 13% and a1%-point improvement in profit margin.The European companies that provided

forecasts were predicting 12% growth inincome but only a 0.1%-point increase inmargin.

SME BenchmarkingIn the 2016 SME Benchmarking project90% of firms reported increased revenue.The median increase in revenue net ofsubcontract costs was +11.5%.

Late payment remained a problem forsome SME firms with 27% of respondentsexperiencing “problems getting paymentwithin the contract terms” which was anincrease from 24% in the previous year(although not as bad as the 29% reportedtwo years ago).

The chart above shows the averagebreakdown of revenue into the principalcost headings and profit for SMEBenchmarking firms, and thecorresponding figures for the larger UKfirms that took part in this year’s mainACE Benchmarking project.

Comparison of the results suggests thatthe typical SME firm had lower staff costratios than larger UK firms for both feeearners and support staff. Average

ACE news

Encouraging signs in 2016ACE Benchmarking ReportThis year’s ACE Benchmarking Report of industry performance and trends waslaunched this month and reveals some interesting findings, writes Brian Nolk.

overheads for the SMEs were 2.8% pointshigher than the larger UK firms but mostof the lower staff costs fed straightthrough into higher profit margins thantheir larger counterparts.

Staffing up, order books improvingEach SME firm was asked to provide theirheadcount at the beginning and end ofeach financial year. Of the firms whoreported data 63% took on extra staff in2015/16, 21% were unchanged and noneof the companies reduced theirheadcount. The simple average increasewas 11.9%, the weighted average rise was15.8%.

The average order book improvednicely for most of the industry with themedian for SMEs increasing to theequivalent of 6.8 months’ work comparedto 5.7 months last year, for the samegroup of firms. The average order bookfor larger UK firms also reported anincrease from 11.9 to 14.1 months’ work.

Brian Nolk is the economist at the Associationfor Consultancy and Engineering.

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Cost and profit as a percentage of revenue

SMEsunder250employeesOver250em

ployees

63.3

20.6

4.9

Feeearners’costs

3.3

12.8

7.4

17.86.5

250

58.0

Travelandotherdirectcosts

Profit

Expenses andoverheads Support staff costs


On 6 April 2017, the government’scompulsory levy to fundapprenticeships across the UK will

take effect. The levy is to build a central‘pot’ of money to help fund both existingapprenticeship schemes and thegovernment’s pledge of three million newapprenticeships by 2020.

The levy applies to all employers, in allindustries, in the UK. All employers willowe a mandatory sum equivalent to 0.5% oftheir total wage bill. The levy will bereported to HMRC, and paid, throughPAYE, along with income tax and NationalInsurance. All employers will, however,receive an offset allowance of £15,000,meaning that only employers with anannual wage bill in excess of £3m will haveto pay the levy. Smaller businesses will stillbe affected as the way they claim fundingfor their own apprentices will change.

The amount of an employer’s wage billwill be based on total employee earningssubject to Class 1 secondary NICs. This willmean that variable payments such ascommission, bonuses and overtime, sickpay, maternity, paternity and adoption pay,as well as pension contributions, will beincluded in the calculation, but benefits inkind are excluded.

Also from April 2017, for training toqualify as an apprenticeship, plans must besubmitted to and approved by the newInstitute for Apprenticeships (“IfA”) whichwill make sure they meet the standards.

As apprenticeships are a devolvedmatter, how the levy will be used to fund

apprenticeship training in each of England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland willvary. To date, the Scottish Government andWelsh and Northern Irish Assemblies areyet to decide how the levy will be used intheir part of the UK. In England, a Digital

Apprenticeship Service (DAS) account willbe set up. Those who are liable to pay thelevy for apprenticeships in England will beable to access funding through their ownpersonal account. This funding will notfund an apprentice’s wages, which wouldhave to be met by the contractor separatelyfrom the levy.

Contractors below the £3m thresholdwho do not pay the levy will not have accessto levy funds, but will have access to theDAS, through which they will make acontribution to the cost of apprenticeshipsand access government funding. Thegovernment will apply a 10% top up on allfunds through the English system, meaningthat for every £1 an employer pays into thescheme, they will receive £1.10 back tofund English apprenticeships. Funds willhowever expire 18 months after they havebeen paid into a contractor’s digitalaccount, if they have not been spent, whichmeans apprenticeships need to be carefullyplanned if funding is not to be lost.

Chris Syder is a partner at the law firmPennington Manches and a member of the ACE HR taskforce.

ACE news

Apprenticeship Levy –what it means for UK firms

Mark your calendars

Annual Conference2017 – ConnectingMarkets: UK and the World

Takes place on Wednesday 7 June 2017 in London

As employers attempt to understand and implement thegovernment's Apprenticeship Levy, Chris Syder looks atwhat exactly this means across the UK.

Firms can submit entriesfrom mid-November 2016 atwww.ace-engineering-awards.co.uk

& EngineeringAWARDS2017

Consultancy


In the immediate aftermath of the EUreferendum result, the debate over theimpact on environmental legislation

tended towards the black or white view –would a post-Brexit red tape bonfire makeBritain the dirty man of Europe all overagain, or would we be able to retain the fullcomplement of EU standards and laws? But, as the months have edged past, a morecomplex picture has started to emerge.

We recently held a seminar for EICmembers with academic experts on EU lawto discuss how the Brexit process mightunfold and how in detail theenvironmental business sector might beaffected. In the discussion, one of theacademics used the phrase “zombielegislation” to discuss the possible fate ofsome EU environmental regulation post-Brexit. The phrase is a vivid one; the pointwas that the effectiveness ofenvironmental regulation does not justdepend on its existence on the statutebook, but on a number of other factors.

First, monitoring and enforcement. Airquality is a good example – without thethreat of EU infraction proceedings andthe Supreme Court judgment it is unlikelythat the government would be makingmeaningful efforts to comply. Equallythere is already insufficient monitoring ofsewer overflows to be sure of their impacton Water Framework Directive standards

Second, some legislation requires theUK (along with other member states) tosubmit plans and report progress to theCommission. The revised WasteFramework Directive, for example, hasvarious clauses requiring the preparationand submission of national wastemanagement plans. Such plans helpensure there is a reasonable joined up

EIC news

Beware of zombielegislation post-Brexit

The UK’s decision to leave the EU has opened up a complex picture forfuture environmental regulation with big challenges ahead for companiesworking in the sector, says Matthew Farrow.

sense of policy structure and directionthat all stakeholders can work with.While the transposed law that gives effectto the Directive will remain in place afterwe leave the EU, clearly future ministerswill not be submitting their homework tothe EU, which raises the risk that thehomework is not done at all, and planssuch as these are never completed.

Third, EU environmental law is notstatic, and its ongoing effectivenessdepends in part on drawing on Europe-wide scientific and environmentalexpertise to periodically revise standardsand targets. The Industrial Emissions

Directive for example relies on documentswhich define best available technology inmany different pollution control activities(the BREF documents) and the UK wouldno longer be involved in updating these.Even where there was the political will toundertake such revisions, it isquestionable whether the UK still has theinstitutional capacity to do the work. TheRoyal Commission on EnvironmentalPollution was axed in 2011, along with theSustainable Development Commission.Defra has also been heavily cut back.

So, there is a real risk that even if acombination of the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ andministerial recognition that the public donot want environmental standardsscrapped means that EU environmentallaw stays in place, we will find that itseffectiveness in protecting theenvironment around us is limited. Andthat’s not good news for anyone.

Matthew Farrow is director of the EnvironmentalIndustries Commission, the leading trade bodyfor environmental firms.

Will the effects of climate change get worse in a post-Brexit UK?

“One of the academics used the phrase‘zombie legislation’ to discuss the possible fateof some EU environmental regulation post-Brexit. The point was that the effectiveness ofenvironmental regulation does not justdepend on its existence on the statute book,but on a number of other factors.”


It is vital for industry to invest in newtechnology. The economy of thiscountry depends on having modern,

fit-for-purpose infrastructure andcollaboration between academia andindustry is key to this investment. Suchcollaboration brings benefits to allstakeholders, including researchers, assetowners and managers and the end users.

The Staffordshire Alliance, whichcomprises Atkins, Laing O’Rourke,Network Rail and VolkerRail, provides anaward-winning example of the positiveeffects of collaboration. By workingtogether, this multidisciplinary teamsuccessfully delivered the Stafford AreaImprovements Programme, a £250m railupgrade and development project on theWest Coast Main Line, under budget andmore than one year ahead of schedule.

Collaboration with academia securedinnovation as an integral part of thisproject. Jointly funded by the Engineeringand Physical Sciences Research Counciland Innovate UK, the Centre for SmartInfrastructure and Construction (CSIC) atthe University of Cambridge is a hub forthe infrastructure and constructionindustry. It brings together leadingacademics and industrialists, developing afaster route for innovation adoption,providing an ecosystem for buildingconfidence in new innovations andenabling their timely implementation andexploitation. CSIC collaborates with morethan 40 industry partners across a widerange of projects.

Working with partners Network Rail,Laing O’Rourke and Atkins, CSIC engagedwith the Staffordshire Alliance at the earlystages of this project to deploy novel fibreoptic sensor networks for use in short- andlong-term performance monitoring,delivering the most comprehensivelyinstrumented new rail bridges in the UK.More than 500 discrete sensors and inexcess of 600 metres of distributed sensingcable were installed on two of the elevennew bridges being constructed as part ofthe scheme. The pervasive network of fibreoptic strain cables, akin to a nervoussystem in a living organism, can sensestrain changes in a structure caused byexternal forces. The bridges, completed inApril 2016, are more than just passive

Working with academia

Smart alliances make forsmarter infrastructure

New rail bridges in the UK can be more than just passive masses of concrete and steel, butcan be ‘self-sensing’, informing managers and engineers of their changing condition.

Major infrastructure projects, including Crossrail and HS2, are adoptinginnovation as a driving force, but wider industry take-up is required forchange to be truly transformative, says Liam Butler.

masses of concrete and steel, they act as‘self-sensing’ structures capable ofinforming asset managers and engineers oftheir changing condition.

The benefits of this productive alliancebetween academia and industry arenumerous. The project has led to thedevelopment of procedures to integratesensing technologies during on-site and off-site construction in concrete bridge beams,on steel beams, and within concrete bridgedecks. This achievement was largelypossible due to Laing O’Rourke’s drive toinclude innovation as an integral part ofthe project from the beginning. Thisforward thinking has reaped rewards;integrating the ‘self-sensing’ innovationenables Laing O’Rourke to accessinformation on the performance of theirassets throughout the constructionprocess, providing the quantifiable meanson which to confirm the quality ofworkmanship.

Data generated by sensor technologiesenables the continued monitoring of anasset throughout its productive lifecycle.For designers Atkins, the ‘self-sensing’bridges can provide critical informationabout the actual stresses and strains thatthe bridges experience under real loadingconditions – information that mostengineering designers simply do not haveaccess to. Understanding of theperformance of infrastructure through

structural health monitoring, both duringits construction and throughout its designlife, enables fresh thinking in futurerailway bridge design to minimise use ofmaterials, energy and labour while stillensuring resilience.

The monitoring system has thepotential to be controlled remotely,allowing data to be collected, analysed andassessed in real time from an assetmanager’s office. Based on the analyseddata, the system can provide thequantitative evidence for removing theuncertainties when determiningadditional structural capacity in the future.Using real performance data gathered overtime to inform maintenance schemes willrepresent a step-change in how these typesof assets will be managed in future.

The installed fibre optic sensornetworks will continue to provideresearchers with a real-world laboratoryfor studying the behaviour of railwaybridges for many years to come. So, insteadof operating as separate entities, industryand academia can become strong allies indriving innovation and reaping thebenefits, while at the same time changingthe way we currently design, build andmanage our infrastructure.

Dr Liam Butler is a research associate at theCentre for Smart Infrastructure and Constructionat the University of Cambridge.


What is your job? As US territory manager since 2014, I’vebeen responsible for developing Amey’sasset management consultancy business intarget states. Amey gained a place on theNew York Metropolitan TransportAuthority (MTA) framework for assetmanagement consultancy in early 2016 and has now been awarded a projectmanagement role with Long Island RailRoad through that framework. As we growthe team, focusing on highway, rail andaviation sectors predominantly, I’ll befocusing on the New York region, workingalongside MTA and agency colleagues tosupport all aspects of the assetmanagement programme. We have aproven track record of delivering this typeof project support to our internationalclients and I’m looking forward to be ableto bring our experience and skills to thiscustomer.

Why did you decide to go intoengineering? Engineering and infrastructure services arehighly tangible, focused on meeting real-world needs that we can all relate to. Iapplied to Amey because of its blend ofpublic and private sector values, whichcombine social and economic drivers withbusiness process and efficiency.

What did you study? How did that leadto your career at Amey? It’s a slightly unorthodox career path. Igraduated from the University of York with

a degree in English Literature in 2008.Immediately after, I decided to satisfy along-held ambition of learning French bymoving to Geneva and working as an aupair for twelve months. During this time, I began researching graduate jobopportunities and through a process ofelimination applied to Amey’smanagement programme. I thought that itwould be a great place to build and grow ameaningful career.

Who was your first employer? I have worked for Amey since the start ofmy professional career, in a variety of roles.My first project focused on assessing theimpact of new surface water managementpolicy on our highways client, BedfordshireCounty Council. I went on to work inbusiness improvement, businessdevelopment and strategy roles, beforejoining the integration management officeto reorganise Amey following theacquisition of Enterprise in 2012. What is special about where you work? Having worked for Amey since 2009, I amconstantly impressed by the dedication andoutcome-focused attitude of the people Iwork with, as well as the diversity of mycolleagues’ skills and expertise. We helpeach other solve complex problems and toexceed customer expectations, which ishighly motivating. What is exciting? It is exciting to see that US public sectoragencies have a high level of interest in

Careers in association with Amey

Career path: Suzie Heap

Amey’s services, based on our strong trackrecord of adding value to customers in otherparts of the world – as well as our growingUS portfolio. We are building a businessfrom scratch in the US, but with the supportof Amey in the UK as well as the widerFerrovial group. We are continuouslylearning about the needs of our customersas well as the day-to-day realities – andopportunities – of operating here.

What about the work that keeps youinterested? Knowing that we can develop solutions thatwill exceed our customers’ expectationsand bring a real benefit to the end userkeeps me interested, as does being part of agrowing, dynamic, forward-thinkingorganisation. The external environmentthat Amey operates in is constantlychanging, so we always have to think abouthow we respond and stay ahead of thecompetition.

What is the best thing so far in yourcareer? It’s hard to choose the best thing. Sincejoining Amey, I’ve had the fortune to beinvolved in a really diverse range ofprojects, from process improvementstudies and contract mobilisations to theintegration of a newly acquired company.I’ve worked all across the UK, and nowinternationally, interfacing with differentfunctions and learning about the companyfrom a number of different perspectives.The best is yet to come!

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