Reimagining Capital Projects

The UK government’s ambition is to build 300,000 new homes a year, and one million by the end of this parliament. But there are continued concerns among the public about housing affordability across the country, particularly when we begin to see the impact of COVID-19 on employment and income. So if we need to get on and build more affordable housing, why should we also be talking more about the types of homes we should be building?

In this episode, host Evie John, from PwC’s housing team, is joined by Lord Gavin Barwell, a strategic adviser to PwC, who was a former minister of state for housing and James Bailey, a Director in PwC’s Real Assets team who leads our work across the residential market. They discuss how different policy priorities need to be balanced, from quality and safety to net zero and placemaking; and how the Government, builders and developers can come together to deliver the next generation of housing.

The COVID-19 pandemic; government responses; the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) agenda and push towards net zero; and the acceleration of blurring of previously distinct asset classes are all driving significant change. Though real estate is generally still seen as one of the few investments to generate acceptable returns at a time of low or negative interest rates, the uncertainty has shifted priorities and raised questions about the availability of finance, repurposing assets, impact investing and the sector's increasing complexity.

In this episode, Eoin O'Murchu is joined by Gareth Lewis (Director, PwC Real Estate Corporate Finance team and ETRE Leader) and Rachel Wallace (PwC Real Assets Restructuring team), to discuss how COVID-19 has impacted the industry and the key trends identified in the recently launched Emerging Trends in Real Estate® Europe report, a joint survey of nearly 1000 experts in 25 European countries by PwC and the Urban Land Institute - now in its 18th edition.

Major capital projects are experiencing much uncertainty - from delivery timelines to understanding supply chain networks. All due to the challenges created by COVID-19. The scale of the pandemic itself couldn’t have been anticipated. However, examining the lessons learned from COVID-19 and other Black Swan (or unforeseen) events on major works will certainly help us plan better for the future and help us mitigate risk.

Host Eoin O'Murchu is joined by Sean Lynch, Deputy Supply Chain Director for Hinkley Point C, as well as Neil Broadhead, PwC’s Capital Projects and Infrastructure Leader, and Alpesh Shah, a Partner in PwC’s Risk Analytics Practice. Together, they discuss how not to focus on specific Black Swan events, but instead on the critical consequences for which each business and project can plan.

The richness of data available on capital projects allows the managers of those projects to benchmark their time, process, quality and spend across the industry. These insights can empower them to anticipate issues, quickly make changes and make better decisions. The question is: how can the data be collected effectively and consistently across the industry while retaining the privacy of its participants?

Host Eoin O'Murchu is joined by Aleister Hellier (Head of Benchmarking for the Infrastructure Authority) and Dan Hirst (from PwC’s Capital Project Services team) to share their capital projects benchmarking expertise and perspectives.

Increasingly complex capital projects become more exposed to sophisticated and interrelated risks. The likelihood of project failure can loom large. New technological advances facilitate easier ways to gather and track data to help. You can constantly monitor what will be done, the costs, time and risks involved so all parties are assured of project success.

Host Eoin O'Murchu is joined by PwC colleagues, programme controls expert Camilo Buitrago, and programme assurance specialist Gianmaria Vettese, to discuss how you might assure the quality and consistency of project and programme data through the lifecycle of your programmes.

New technology and innovation promises to drive significant benefit across the asset lifecycle, but successful implementation means navigating challenges from operating silos & data disconnects to scaling across thousands of assets, all while recognising the importance of the 'human element'.

Host Eoin O'Murchu is joined by Renato Zandro from SAP, and Barry Middleton, a PwC director with a focus on technology and asset management, to discuss the challenges and opportunities in selecting and implementing technology across the asset lifecycle.

The real estate market is fundamentally changing and the way people are going to be using spaces and what they are using them for is changing as well.

Host Eoin Ó Murchú is joined by Antony Slumbers, a real estate software and PropTech strategist, and Gareth Lewis, a digital consultant within PwC’s capital projects team, to discuss the real estate sector, specifically some of the emerging trends in the market and how the sector as a whole is adopting and preparing to capitalise on them.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) seems to have an image problem. As a process for creating and managing digital information on a construction project across the project lifecycle, it enables those who interact with the asset to optimise their actions, resulting in a greater whole life value for the asset. So, why is it so misunderstood? Our host Eoin Ó Murchú is joined by Jon Kerbey, BIM Director at HS2 and Andrew Walker, a digital consultant within PwC’s capital projects team, to discuss the benefits of BIM, including efficiency savings.

Cycle hire and public bike share schemes are thriving in many towns and cities across the globe. The bikes and their infrastructure are a valuable source of data, that can help identify faster and safer routes, reduce costs for maintenance and provide seamless customer journeys.

In our latest podcast, host Eoin Ó Murchú is joined by Philip Ellis, Co-founder and CEO of Beryl and Kirsty Gladwyn, a Transport Consultant at PwC and previously operational director for the London cycle hire scheme, to talk about how technology and data analytics is positively disrupting urban transport.

Data insights are having an ever more important role in real estate and infrastructure. Utilising and understanding a wide variety of data sources - such as mobile, credit card and travel data - can directly impact the planning and management of your assets.

In our latest podcast, host Eoin Ó Murchú is joined by Gary Martin, Head of Strategy and Operations, Central London Portfolio for The Crown Estate and Megan Higgins, Director of Customer & Retail Analytics at PwC. Together they discuss the value that data insights can bring to real estate and how analysing data on Bond Street, London helped the New West End Company plan for the future. To find out more click here http://www.pwc.co.uk/reimagine