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.
Resources
Skanska website
Sophie 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.
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