The Infrastructure Podcast

In this episode we talk about how to unlock the human potential found – or indeed, waiting to be found – in the businesses across the UK infrastructure supply chain.As we read and hear virtually every day, the sector faces huge challenges as it races to deliver the government's multi-billion pound investment pipeline to upgrade, expand and modernise the nation’s infrastructure and drive towards energy transition and a net zero future. Achieving these economic growth targets requires investment in more than just heavy machinery and concrete. It demands a profound change in the way the industry finds, recruits, trains, and retains its people.My guest today is Adam Crossley, Vice President and Chief People Officer at contracting giant Skanska UK. Having worked in the business for close to two decades and spent seven years before that as an Officer in the British Army, he knows more that most about the need and ways to unlock that vital human potential needed to drive successful outcomes. Not least given the changes that we face in the sector. To boost productivity and meet these massive infrastructure goals, businesses like Skanska are rapidly integrating data analytics, digital systems and artificial intelligence. This technological shift means that leaders must bridge new skills gaps, attract digitally fluent talent from outside the sector, and reshape traditional and often entrenched organisational cultures. At the same time, the workforce must adapt to new demands around carbon literacy, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and delivering measurable social value as the sector moves towards more sustainable solutions and better outcomes for communities.ResourcesSkanska websiteSophie Hayes Foundation 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Construction Skills Mission Board Green Construction Board UK Green Building Council 

In this episode we drill into the project delivery challenges facing the sector as it adapts to the new Burnham administration’s drive for devolved power and greater regional investment.And the government’s 10 year infrastructure strategy and massive £718bn pipeline means the spotlight has turned firmly from project planning to project delivery. But it is also true that successive central governments have historically struggled with major project execution, often hindered by bureaucracy, shifting political priorities, and fragmented decision-making. So is now the moment for a project delivery transformation?Well we certainly see the political landscape shifting significantly following Andy Burnham's entry into Downing Street. This brings expectations that his regional "Manchesterism" approach, built on sustained transport and innovation investment, devolved powers, and community-centric regeneration, will be scaled nationally.   Yet scaling this model is no small feat. Not least when it comes to overcoming the constant politics of project delivery, stretched public sector budgets and the talent gap in the workforce. Success will inevitably mean taking radical and decisive steps to get decision making and project delivery in shape to secure the vital private sector confidence needed to invest amidst on-going economic uncertainty. Well to unpack these complex dynamics, my guest today is Alistair Godbold, Vice President of the Association for Project Management and Director with The Nichols Group. Alistair’s long and distinguished background in major project delivery should make him well placed to shed light on the critical issues ahead be that the need to modernise procurement, empower local communities, or deploy emerging data and AI tools responsibly.ResourcesAssociation for Project Management Nichols GroupThe UK Infrastructure PipelineCentre for Complex Project Management Global Alliance for the Project Profession

This episode explores the future of Heathrow, the UK’s hub airport and a vital engine for national economic growth. The discussion was recorded live at the recent TwinTalks breakfast hosted by the Bentley Systems Infrastructure Policy Advancement team and features Helen Elsby, Chief Development Officer at Heathrow, the person responsible for turning the airport’s complex multi-billion-pound ambitions into physical and commercial realities. Helen is joined in the discussion by two key members of her supply chain: Nigel Cole, Managing Director of Infrastructure at Mace Construct and Harriet Wheeldon, director at Mott MacDonald.With passenger volumes continuing to reach record highs, Heathrow continues to progress plans for expansion to combat capacity constraints and keep passengers and cargo moving in, out and across the country smoothly.The scale of ambition is staggering: a £1.3 billion commitment in 2026 to conclude the current H7 investment cycle, more than £5 billion planned for the forthcoming H8 period (2027–2031), and the greenlighting of planning work for a potential further multibillion pound investment in expansion. As the discussion hears, Heathrow plans to build faster, smarter, and more efficiently to deliver maximum value for passengers, airlines, and the UK economy.Funding these ambitions entirely through private capital requires relentless operational and supply chain efficiency. From Modern Methods of Construction and the use of digital technology to collaboration across a nationwide supply chain, Heathrow must stretch every asset to unlock a 12% capacity boost, transform passenger experience, and drive net-zero goals.Much to get on with at Heathrow – so much to discuss.ResourcesDraft Heathrow Expansion National Policy StatementHeathrow's H7 2026 plansHeathrow's H8 plansHeathrow expansion plansInterview with Heathrow COO Javier EchaveInfrastructure Policy Advancement

James Earl, chief executive of Future Energy Networks and an energy economist, explores gas’s overlooked role in the UK’s net-zero transition. They discuss how gas and electricity can work together, biomethane and hydrogen, seasonal storage, hybrid home heating, data-centre growth, and the need for a whole-systems approach balancing resilience, affordability and decarbonisation.

Javier Cavada, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Power EMEA, explores the growing clash between AI’s energy appetite and the world’s strained power infrastructure. They discuss data center bottlenecks, resilient grids, behind-the-meter generation, hydrogen, batteries, nuclear and renewables. Financing, engineering shortages, cryogenic storage and the UK’s long-term energy plans also come under scrutiny.

In this episode are back with the latest in our series exploring the New Hospital Programme (NHP), the single largest investment in NHS infrastructure in recent decades. Hopefully you have caught the first two episodes on the programme published last February and December in which we explored the immense scale of this massive national endeavour and set out how the supply chain is gearing up to support the ambitious £37bn Hospital 2.0 industrialised delivery programm.Since our last podcast in February this year, ten delivery partners have been announced to work on the eleven projects in wave one of the programme which will be completed by 2033. In total three project delivery waves will see the huge programme stretch out to the mid 2040s. Today, we are stepping into the operational reality of how these state-of-the-art facilities will actually be delivered on the ground and how this bold Hospital 2.0 Alliance will actually work in practice.So lots to talk through and to unpack and to do that I am joined by a panel representing one part of the new Hospital 2.0 Alliance: Emma Whigham, the NHP Hospital 2.0 Alliance Director, Martin John, Strategic Director for Kings Lynn and James Paget hospital trust, and James Britt, Programme Director at construction partner, Skanska.Some context – historically, and as explained in our last two podcasts, NHS hospitals were built individually by autonomous trusts under a fragmented approach that frequently led to budget overruns and timeline delays. The new (H2A) Hospital 2.0 Alliance Framework aims to completely rewrites that playbook. By replacing traditional, often adversarial procurement with a 12-year collaborative ecosystem, NHP is backing an industrialised approach, leveraging standardisation, off-site manufacturing, and repeatable designs to speed up construction and drive value.But moving from theory to practice is highly complex. It demands an entirely new culture of transparency, shared risk, and collective resilience. So let’s dive in with the folk on the front line and explore how this radical approach actually is set to change things for frontline clinical staff, deliver consistent long term value for taxpayers and crucially, improve patient outcomes.ResourcesNew Hospital Programme: Plan for ImplementationGovernment hospital investment press release Hospital 2.0 AllianceEpisode 143 - Hospital 2.0Episode 152 - The Hospital 2.0 AllianceSupplier Guide.Skanska website Kings Lynn and James Paget hospital trustQueen Elizabeth Hospital trustEgan review 1998Latham review 1994

Paul Reilly, President & MD for the UK & Ireland at WSP, leads delivery across transport, water, energy and the built environment. He discusses shifting from strategy to large-scale delivery of a £718bn pipeline. Topics include embedding digital and AI, industrialising construction, tackling workforce shortages, regional devolution and attracting predictable private investment through programmatic funding.

In this episode discuss how the new Burnham administration can use host public debate to accelerate its plans for infrastructure investment and actually start to turn ambition into reality.My guest is Sir John Armitt, arguably one of the most prominent, knowledgeable and influential figures when it comes to setting and delivering UK infrastructure policy. As former longstanding chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, a past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, former boss of Network Rail and contractor Costain, and the leader of high-profile infrastructure projects such as the 2012 Olympics, Medway Crossing and the Channel Tunnel High Speed Rail Link, he really needs no further introduction.Sir John is now chair of the new Public Private Partnership Commission which aims to overhaul how the UK selects, funds, delivers, and operates infrastructure. In a recent Financial Times editorial, John and the Commission advocates for a new Office of Budget Responsibility for Infrastructure, designed to, as he puts it, shield major investments from political interference and move decisions away from the so-called "Treasury brain."  Lots to unpack there. Infrastructure investment is, as we continue to hear, critical to the government’s plans to devolve power, accelerate growth and drive living standards up across the whole of the UK. But despite huge amounts of ambition, delivery remains challenging. Decades of short-term policy pivots and inflated project delivery costs have hampered our ability to turn great visions into reality. This has to change. With a £725billion+ infrastructure investment strategy slated over the next decade, split evenly between the taxpayer and private markets, delivering long-term growth hinges on restoring investor confidence and operational stability.  So let’s hear how political leaders like Andy Burnham can better navigate our 5-year electoral cycles and actually unlock the vast amounts of private capital ready and willing to rebuild the nation's delivery capability. ResourcesThe Public Private Partnership CommissionFT article "We need and OBR for infrastructure"Bradshaw Advisory websiteNISTA websiteTen year infrastructure planUK infrastructure pipeline 

In this episode of The Infrastructure Podcast, we discuss mega projects, specifically their potential impact, positive and negative, on the communities they serve and the environment they leave behind. While historically the success of a mega project was measured in terms of its delivery to budget or completion to schedule, today these metrics have shifted wider and deeper as populations grow and the pressure of climate change bites. Today's measures of success and our focus on the human return on investment, the benefits created to living standards, including carbon reduction, economic growth and environmental improvement. In short, we're no longer just building assets, we're building the social and environmental scaffolding for the 21st century. To discuss this change and its impact on the infrastructure sector, my guest today is Victoria Johnson, Vice President and global infrastructure executive at infrastructure consultant HDR Engineering, Inc., who has spent the last two decades redefining the architecture of our cities.The episode was recorded during my recent trip to New York, where she chaired a panel at the Transforming Infrastructure Perform Summit organized by the Infrastructure Policy Advancement team at software giant Bentley Systems. Her panel focused on mega programs for community and climate with fellow experts including Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, the transit agency preparing for the LA 2028 Olympics, and recently wrapping up the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Victoria’s work with a wide array of municipal, state and federal leaders globally makes her an ideal expert to tackle this subject today, as does her glittering career, which over the last few decades has spanned advising the Biden-Harris administration on the historic $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to her leadership in the US Conference of Mayors and the African American Mayors Association. Victoria certainly bridges the gap between high level public policy and street level impact with recent mega project work, including transformation of JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports in New York, and innovative insights on planning of Olympic legacies at Milano Cortina 2026 and LA 2028 Olympic games, which shares more deeply in an upcoming white paper she is co-authoring in collaboration Bentely Systems and Bocconi University in Italy.  Resources Championing Equitable Infrastructure with Victoria Johnson | Data-Smart City SolutionsInvesting in people to power our infrastructure | The HillMayors Business Council - United States Conference of MayorsGovernor Hochul Announces JFK Airport Construction Sets Record MWBE Participation With $2.3 Billion in Contracts Awarded | Governor Kathy Hochul (ny.gov)Milestone Convening of ‘Equity in Infrastructure Project’ | The Equity in Infrastructure ProjectTransforming Infrastructure Performance Summit New York 2026Victoria Johnson | LinkedIn

In this episode we take a close look at Thames Water’s proposed White Horse Reservoir in Oxfordshire – one of nine new storage schemes advancing under Ofwat’s PR24 plans to confront growing climate pressures, population growth, and the urgent need for long-term water security.The investment is much needed. No new reservoirs have been built in the UK for more than 30 years leaving an potential shortfall of up to 5 billion litres a day in England by 2055,  according to Ofwat’s recent reporting. As if to highlight the challenge right now, Thames Water has this week announced a new hose pipe ban across the region. Clearly work needs to happen to reduce leakage but without new storage capacity we are heading for problems. My guest today is Nevil Muncaster, Strategic Water Resources Director at Thames Water and the man masterminding plans to tackle this challenge, including the £7.5 billion mega-project to build a 12 square kilometre reservoir near Abingdon. This facility is designed to hold 150 billion litres of water, drawn from the nearby River Thames during winter, and released to bolster supplies and secure drought resilience of up to 15 million people across London and the South East for the next century. Supporters call it a critical, non-negotiable insurance policy against a changing climate and a rapidly growing population.However, the path to a 2040 opening is far from smooth. Local communities, environmental charities, and councils have raised fierce objections over its massive ecological footprint, carbon cost, and the disruption of local livelihoods. Add to that the multi-billion-pound pressure that the investment will add to Thames Water’s already precarious financial position, which see the company currently saddled with nearly £20 billion of debt and racing against a looming autumn cash-flow crisis.So much to talk through as we explore progress toward Development Consent Order application for the project this year. ResourcesThames Water White Horse Reservoir Thames Water websiteOfwat Major Water Infrastructure Programme Ofwat RAPIDGovernment announcement on PR24Independent Commission on Water - Sir Jon Cunliffe