This is another episode recorded live at UKREiiF, the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum in Leeds. 

My guest is Louisa Finlay, Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer at contractor Kier Group. Our conversation builds on a panel session that she hosted to discuss the construction sector’s digital mindset and skills needed to power up infrastructure delivery.

Because the reality is that the construction sector has long been criticised as a digital laggard and remaining tethered to legacy processes. However, this narrative is rapidly shifting. 

We are moving on from the era of digital experimentation. Today, the use of data and digital technology is no longer an optional efficiency driver but a core commercial imperative.

Tier 1 contractors and their supply chains face mounting pressures to deliver complex infrastructure under tighter regulatory and financial scrutiny. In response the modern construction landscape is being reshaped – like it or not - by cloud-based data platforms, generative AI, predictive analytics, and digital twins. 

Yet, the true barrier to this revolution is rarely technical. Instead, the industry is grappling with the need for cultural change, a widening skills gap, and deeply entrenched commercial structures that actively disincentivise data sharing.

To unlock the value of technology, the sector must treat data not as an exhaust product of construction, but as a critical asset with its own lifecycle. 

So let’s find out what Louisa is doing about these challenges

Resources

• Kier Group
• UKREiiF
• National Highways digital strategy
• UK Construction Skills Mission Board
• UK Infrastructure Pipeline
• UK NISTA

This episode was recorded live at UKREiiF, the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum in Leeds. 

My guest  is Peter Hogg, Country Director for the UK and Ireland at Arcadis and we are going to spend the next few moment drilling into Peter’s perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the UK infrastructure market as we attempt to invest for the future.

And Peter is a great person to pose these questions to. Having just been elevated to run the UK and Ireland division, he has nearly three decades of experience at the coal face, delivering some of London’s most significant infrastructure programmes, including the Jubilee Line Extension, St Pancras International, and Heathrow’s Terminal 5. 

Today he is being challenged to define Arcadis’ strategy and set a clear vision for the future to embrace these challenges and opportunities – a vision that will hopefully help the UK to delivery the sustainable, resilient infrastructure that is critical to the UK’s future success, driving economic growth, jobs and better lives across the regions and communities of the UK.

Resources

• Arcadis website
• UKREiiF
• UK National Infrastructure Service Transformation Authority
• UK Infrastructure Pipeline
• 10 year Infrastructure strategy

In this episode my guest is Chris McDonald, MP for Stockton North and Minister for Industry, a brief which, of course, includes construction.

Lots to discuss, not least since we have just past the first anniversary of the creation of NISTA – the UK’s National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA). 

NISTA was set up to accelerate delivery, unlock private investment, and improve project efficiency and last June was handed responsibility for delivering the government’s ambitious 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, shifting policy vision into a £718 billion public and private sector delivery reality. 

Lots of opportunity for the construction sector; but the challenges are mounting: a persistent skills gap, volatile supply chains, stringent new building safety regulations following the Grenfell tragedy, inflation pushing up costs and the accelerating challenge of meeting net zero goals.

Chris McDonald MP is the latest in the long line of Construction Ministers charged with supporting the industry to deliver this ambition. And as Minister for Industry his responsibilities go wider of course as he helps to delivery the Industrial Strategy, overseeing a portfolio that bridges the gap between raw industrial capacity and national renewal.

So much to talk about – let’s crack on

Resources

• 10 year infrastructure strategy
• Infrastructure delivery pipeline
• UK National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA)
• Government's 1.5M housing target
• Construction Skills Mission Board
• Construction Leadership Council

In this special episode we take a look at the recently completed Tideway Tunnel project now operating beneath London’s River Thames.

Joining me today are two of the minds behind the delivery of this ground breaking project – Roger Bailey, Chief Technical Officer at Tideway and Amey director Tom Kinnear who has been leading the Systems Integrator role on the project for the last few years. 

Lots to talk about because the £4.5 billion tunnel has certainly been turning programme delivery heads as a rare project that has been delivered pretty much on time, to budget and is now operating to expectation. 

And it’s a project that’s not before time,…. because for over 150 years, London’s subterranean drainage and flood management pulse was maintained by the Victorian genius of Sir Joseph Bazalgette. His sprawling underground brickwork was a masterpiece of public health, keeping sewage off the streets and out of the Thames. 

Yet as the city’s population has swelled and rain intensity increased, his system had reached its limit, leaving the River Thames to bear the brunt as overflows from the combined sewage and rain water system regularly overflowed in the river.

The Tideway Tunnel, AKA London’s "Super Sewer", has changed all that and is now fully operational. Stretching 25 kilometers west to east and up to 66 meters beneath the city, it has already prevented some 19.7 million tonnes of sewage from reaching the river. 

Which makes it more than just a tunnel. As former chief executive and project guiding mind Andy Mitchell put it, the project rekindles Londoners love affair with the River Thames.  Cleaner water plus new areas of quality riverside public space mean that the public can now embrace the Thames as a positive part of city life. 

But beyond that, the project’s success perhaps represents a revolution in how we deliver national infrastructure, from its pioneering funding model, to the sophisticated digital nervous system that monitors every drop of flow.

The reality is that the project is talked about around the world as having set a new global benchmark for delivery, funding and social impact, with the Tideway company recently recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the world’s most influential businesses. 

So lets hear more ….

Resources

• Tideway Tunnel website
• Amey Advisory website
• Background to the Tideway project
• Bazelgette's sewer system
• Time Magazine most influential businesses
• Thames Water and the Tideway Tunnel

In this episode we focus literally on the bricks and mortar of the construction sector’s battle to boost productivity, embrace new methods of delivery and hit its housing and infrastructure ambitions and targets.

My guest today is Andrew Shepherd, Managing Director of Growth & Innovation at Ibstock Plc the UK's largest manufacturer of clay bricks and a leading provider of concrete building products. 

Andrew has spent his career trying to rethink products and create a manufacturing revolution that genuinely transforms the way housing, infrastructure and buildings are designed and delivered.

Because for decades, the UK construction industry has been locked in a struggle with stagnating productivity and a dwindling skilled labour force. 

While other global sectors have embraced a digital and manufacturing revolution, construction has largely remained site-based, manual and vulnerable to the whims of weather and the inefficiencies of a fragmented supply chain. 

Yet with a multibillion pound pipeline of infrastructure slated; a government target of 1.5 million new homes; and a non-negotiable mandate for net-zero delivery, the industry can no longer afford the luxury of business as usual.

So today we have to move away from building and toward industrialised manufacturing. And if you heard my recent podcasts with the teams at the New Hospital Programme, the concept of industrialised construction and standardised designs – Hospital 2.0 in their case – is now understood to be central to securing the industry’s future.

This kind of transition requires big thinking and a bold pivot toward Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and Design for Manufacturing and Assembly; shifting from the muddy construction site to the precision of the factory floor to unlock the speed, quality, and sustainability that the 21st century demands.

Andrew’s mission at Ibstock is clear: how can the fundamental building blocks of construction – the brick – be used to solve the UK’s productivity and housing puzzle through true industrialisation. 

It’s a big challenge but one that Andrew is embracing with passion – so let’s hear about it 

Resources 

• Ibstock PLC website 
• Ibstock Futures 
• Ibstock's new Nostell brick factory in West Yorkshire 
• UK government Modern Methods of Construction ambition
• UK government infrastructure pipeline
• Hospital 2.0 - New Hospital Programme

In this episode we delve into the infrastructure and expansion ambitions of Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport. 

Last year Heathrow handled a massive 84 million passengers, a figure which has grown steadily over the last 30 years and continues to climb with the airport looking to top the 85 million mark this year. 

Investment in infrastructure – 100% private investment - has been the key to managing this growth – think Terminal Four in 1984, Heathrow Express in 1998, Terminal Five in 2008, Terminal 2 in 2014

But it’s fair to say that, since then, investment has slowed; first as the airport battled for expansion via its controversial third runway; then as the Covid pandemic decimated its passenger numbers and business model. 

But all this is changing. Last year the airport unveiled a £10 billion private investment plan for the next five years. And on top of that it finally announced plans to press forward with the long-awaited third runway project. But its a complex web of passenger upgrades, digital transformations and a race to reach net-zero.

My guest today understands that complex challenge having been embedded in the airport for the last 18 years. Javier Echave is Heathrow’s Chief Operating Officer, a role he took on two years ago after nearly a decade as the airport’s CFO. 

As such he is now responsible for turning those multi-billion-pound ambitions into both physical and commercial realities; plans that will first expand capacity by 10 million passengers a year through investment in modern expanded terminals, transport and technology - before transforming the airport with a proposed £30-40bn plus third runway investment designed to take capacity to staggering 150M passengers a year by perhaps 2036.

Bold plans so let’s hear more.

Resources

• Heathrow 2026 investment plans
• Heathrow Airport green lights runway 3 expansion plans 
• Heathrow H8 Period: 2027–2031 investment plans 
• Sir John Egan - Rethinking Construction 
• Heathrow Express
• Terminal Five

In this episode we are talking about the once-in-a-generation reckoning currently facing the British water industry. 

Following the publication of the final report from Sir Jon Cunliffe’s Independent Water Commission last summer - and most recently the landmark January 2026 White Paper, "A New Vision for Water," the regulatory landscape across the sector is being completely redrawn. 

To discuss these changes and the implications for the supply chain, I am joined today by Chris Taylor-Dawson, Senior Director for Major Water Infrastructure at regulator Ofwat, someone who is, without question, at the heart of this transition. 

And there is certainly a huge amount for Chris to get across. To start with Ofwat itself will be reborn via a merger with the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and some functions of the Environment Agency and Natural England, to create a new single integrated regulator.

And there is a huge amount of work to do on the ground following the latest AMP8 price review. Water companies are committed over the next five years to at least 30 major infrastructure projects, including perhaps nine new reservoirs, as part of a complex £50 billion pound major projects pipeline.

And with Ofwat’s recent Economic Impact of Water Supply Infrastructure report highlighting that continued water scarcity could significantly stifle economic growth, the urgency is certainly growing.

Fortunately, Chris is a calm head when it comes to meeting this kind of challenge and brings a wealth of experience from his previous career delivering major projects for National Highways.

I last spoke to him in November at the Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit in London and it’s fair to say the challenges have become clearer since then. 

Resources

• Ofwat website 
• Sir John Cunliffe Independent Commission final report
• January 2026 White Paper "A New Vision for Water" 
• Ofwat's Economic Impact of Water Supply Infrastructure report
• PR24 price review
• Ofwat Major Water Infrastructure Programme (MWIP)
• RAPID (Regulators' Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development) programme 
• Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit London 2025

In this episode we. explore how infrastructure, arguably one of the most traditional and risk-averse industries, can truly embrace and embed digital technology and artificial intelligence as it trains and inspires the next generation into the sector. 

No question that construction and infrastructure are the backbone of the UK economy. Yet we continue to face a critical shortage of skills - as the pipeline of work grows we see older, experienced professionals retire without being effectively replaced by the next generation. 

Add to this the impact of technology which is radically transforming – or should be – the way that we design, build and maintain assets, and we have a cocktail of opportunity and challenge.

To help us navigate this situation, I’m joined by Kirsty Ingleson, Head of Digital Innovation and Artificial Intelligence at Leeds College of Building. Kirsty will be expanding on our discussion today at a series of workshops to be help next month at the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREIIF). 

In these workshops, Kirsty promises to challenge the idea that innovation is just about 'new gadgets’. and instead, argue that the real revolution is in how we think, how we learn, and how we build confidence in an age of uncertainty.

From the power of 'reverse mentoring' - where a Gen Z apprentice might just be the one teaching the Site Manager - to the ethical tightrope of AI-driven decision-making, it’s a complex and challenging future.

So let’s get stuck in to some of critical questions around how we train the next generation of surveyors, engineers, and site managers for a digital and AI enhance workplace.

Resources

• Leeds College of Building
• Kirsty Ingleson
• UKREiiF show 
• UK Construction Skills Mission Board
• Construction Leadership Council 

This is a special episode recorded live in front of delegates at the recent Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit in New York – the latest in this series of global events supported by software giant Bentley Systems and the UK Government.

My guest is Andy Byford, Special Advisor at Amtrak, former London Transport Commissioner, and the man in charge of the massive multi-billion dollar transformation of New York’s vast Penn Station, the busiest rail hub in the Western Hemisphere. 

The Station sits on Seventh Avenue in the heart of Manhattan alongside the Maddison Square Garden sports and concert venue. It serves hundreds of thousands of passengers each day, via numerous the MTA subway lines and the Long lsland Railroad. Yet for decades it has struggled under the weight of aging assets, fragmented governance, and chronic underinvestment. 

The result has been a station that works hard, but not well enough for the city, the region, or the nation it serves.

But that is now beginning to change. Under the expert eye of Andy - AKA the "Train Daddy" - the Penn Station Transformation intends to redefine what a modern, customer-focused, high-capacity rail hub can look like in the heart of one of the world’s densest urban environments. 

And after a career running London’s Transport network, and before that, transportation in Sydney, Toronto and New York, he is the man that knows what passengers – and crucially what politicians want from this kind of station transformation.

I kicked off by getting to grips with this vast and highly political project - and asking what world class actually looks like?

Resources

• Penn Station tranformation
• Amtrak New Era of Rail website
• MTA project website
• TIP New York Summit 2026
• American Society of Civil Engineers website

In this episode we talk about infrastructure resilience: the challenge of designing and building infrastructure in an age of deep uncertainty, where a changing climate, a growing population, and a shrinking public purse have rendered traditional asset management models all but obsolete.

To discuss this vital issue, my guest is Sue Percy, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation and our focus will be on the resilience of the UK’s transport networks. 

Sue is well placed to tackle the subject given that she fronted the CIHT’s annual conference last month titled “From Risk to Resilience” at which delegates debated a range of critical issues facing the national and local transport sector.

As the conference heard, the UK’s highways and transportation sector has operated for decades on the logic of risk management - calculating known variables to maintain a steady state.  But that era is pretty much over. 

And as the conference concluded, that range of systemic pressures requires a fundamental pivot in mindset and practice to move from risk to resilience. It requires us to view our infrastructure not as a collection of isolated assets, but as a living system. 

That means building networks that don't just withstand disruption - whether from flooding or funding gaps - but infrastructure that actually adapts to it; embracing digital twins and predictive maintenance; breaking down the silos between engineering and policy, and finding the "technical leadership" necessary to deliver results when the skills gap is wider than ever.

It’s a complex story of moving beyond high-level theory to the sharp end of delivery. So let’s hear more 

Resources

• CIHT annual conference 2026 - Risk to Resilience
• CIHT website
• Sue Percy Linked In
• National Highways Road Investment Strategy 3
• AIA Alarm Survey 2026
• Integrated National Transport Strategy 
• UK government £1bn structures fund 
• Climate Change Committee