The Infrastructure Podcast

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