The Infrastructure Podcast

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.

Resources

• Association for Project Management 
• Nichols Group
• The UK Infrastructure Pipeline
• Centre 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.

Resources

• Draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement
• Heathrow's H7 2026 plans
• Heathrow's H8 plans
• Heathrow expansion plans
• Interview with Heathrow COO Javier Echave
• Infrastructure Policy Advancement

In this episode we focus on the UK’s challenge to accelerate its energy transition and in particular the role that our world-class gas infrastructure can play. 

To discuss this issue I am joined by James Earl, chief executive of Future Energy Networks, the relatively new industry voice which is supported by network owner National Gas, and the four Gas Distribution Networks – Cadent Gas, Northern Gas Networks, SGN and Wales & West Utilities..

James’ background in the economics of energy make him well placed to explain how investment in the UK gas network can help to transform the way we decarbonise, transport and store the growing amounts of power needed to run the nation.

It is an interesting and under-discussed topic. As the UK accelerates toward its Net Zero targets, the conversation around our energy future is often dominated by talk of wind turbines, solar panels, and total electrification. 

And while electrification is certainly critical to our decarbonised future, soaring demands due to new technologies like AI data centres, and geopolitical pressures are squeezing European energy supplies. 

The message from the industry is clear: a secure, affordable, and resilient energy transition cannot rely on electricity alone. 

Fortunately we have a mature gas network infrastructure literally beneath our feet really and waiting with the potential as a critical resource to support and boost the resilience of supplies, as a key energy storage asset and as a resource to spearhead the use of a new green gases.   

Lots to chat through with James as we get our heads around the potential of a whole-systems approach to energy future – let’s crack on 

Resources 

• Future Energy Networks website 
• The Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM) 
• Cooking on gas - Onward report into gas infrastructure 
• National Energy System Operator’s report on Biomethane 
• Hybrid heating systems

In this episode we focus on the challenge of meeting the growing global demand for power.

The arrival of Andy Burham as Prime Minister and the latest ministerial reshuffles certainly does not undermine the government’s desire to invest in the infrastructure needed to bolster the UK’s energy supply.

But it is also clear that the acceleration of artificial intelligence,  and the growth in the data centres powering the technology, has triggered a new and growing clash between the needs and aspirations of digital tech and our ability to power the reality. 

My guest this week is Javier Cavada, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Power for the EMEA region, someone who is without question at the heart of creating and delivering the technology that is capable of bridging this widening power gap.

And he knows all too well the dilemma - while so-called hyperscalers are racing to construct gigawatt-scale data centre campuses within 18 to 36 months, delivery of the high-voltage transmission lines, substations, and generation assets required to energize these facilities often takes 5-to-10-year infrastructure planning cycles. 

We therefore face an escalating "infrastructure debt"; a systemic deficit where regional grid capacity, regulatory queues, and aging distribution networks are lagging way behind the relentless power demands of modern computing.

This means that the data sector can no longer rely solely on traditional public power grids for their survival. 

Instead, navigating this bottleneck requires a fundamental transition toward a resilience-first mindset, one that fuses rapid network reinforcement and grid-enhancing technologies with on-site, so-called “behind-the-meter” generation and intelligent load balancing.

From hydrogen-ready gas turbines and large-scale battery storage to digital plant optimization and industrial heat management, the technology is there to bridge the gap. But how will it be financed and how will it be delivered at pace?

Resources

• Mitsubishi Power website
• JAC-series gas turbines capable of using hydrogen blends
• TOMONI® digital solutions platform
• Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) 
• UK government drive to net zero
• DESNZ: UK government energy policy
• The World Economic Forum: data centres stats
• Javier Cavada Linked In
• Wärtsilä, Finnish decarbonisation specialist 
• Highview Power 

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.

Resources

• New Hospital Programme: Plan for Implementation
• Government hospital investment press release 
• Hospital 2.0 Alliance
• Episode 143 - Hospital 2.0
• Episode 152 - The Hospital 2.0 Alliance
• Supplier Guide.
• Skanska website 
• Kings Lynn and James Paget hospital trust
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital trust
• Egan review 1998
• Latham review 1994

In this episode I am joined by Paul Reilly, President & Managing Director for the UK & Ireland at global consulting giant WSP.

There is plenty to chat through with Paul today. We are halfway through the parliamentary term and have a new Prime Minister in the shape of former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. His administration continues to place infrastructure delivery at the heart of its national economic strategy. 

And with NISTA, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, now fully embedded in its second year, the focus has shifted sharply from strategic vision to the execution of an unprecedented £718 billion public and private investment pipeline.

Achieving this vision, alongside the mandate to deliver 1.5 million new homes and meet critical net-zero carbon targets, presents a transformative opportunity for the infrastructure sector.

Unlocking this potential requires overcoming deep-rooted, systemic hurdles: embedding digital technology into legacy supply chains, industrialising construction through modern methods, and closing an alarming deficit of 100,000 workers annually.

Businesses like WSP have a key role to play in achieving the required delivery transformation. As one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services consultancies, with 12,000 specialists across the UK and Ireland and a global network of over 83,000 professionals, Paul leads a team capable of rethinking the way we turn ambition into delivery.

Resources

• WSP website
• NISTA 
• UK Infrastructure Pipeline
• 10 year infrastructure strategy 

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. 

Resources

• The Public Private Partnership Commission
• FT article "We need and OBR for infrastructure"
• Bradshaw Advisory website
• NISTA website
• Ten year infrastructure plan
• UK 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 Solutions
• Investing in people to power our infrastructure | The Hill
• Mayors Business Council - United States Conference of Mayors
• Governor 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 Project
• Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit New York 2026
• Victoria 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. 

Resources

• Thames Water White Horse Reservoir 
• Thames Water website
• Ofwat Major Water Infrastructure Programme 
• Ofwat RAPID
• Government announcement on PR24
• Independent Commission on Water - Sir Jon Cunliffe

In this episode we examine delivery progress on the multi-billion-pound strategy and pipeline underpinning the UK’s ambition to place infrastructure at the heart of economic, social and environmental growth across the nation. 

Last week, NISTA, the government’s National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority published its latest Major Projects Annual Report. This document offers a transparent look at the on-going £924 billion government project portfolio, tracking 189 of the UK’s most complex and ambitious initiatives, from nuclear power stations through to digital transformations.

Joining me to dissect these numbers and explain the bold delivery strategy is NISTA’s chief executive, Becky Wood, who has been at the helm of this organisation since June last year, shortly after it was formed, bringing together the National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. Its role is help drive strategy and improve performance across this huge investment portfolio. 

Certainly this report highlights delivery progress but it also draws a line in the sand ahead of NISTA’s radical overhaul known as "Project Reset," which in April slashed its central oversight down to just 80 core, nationally significant projects and set out to demand sharper accountability and faster delivery.

So, the question is how will this renewed focus help turn around the sector’s lengthening major infrastructure delivery timelines; and how can NISTA use data and digital systems to salvage failing projects and maximise value from every pound of the taxpayer’s cash.

Resources

• NISTA website
• NISTA annual report 2025/26
• Project Reset
• 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy
• Infrastructure Pipeline