The Infrastructure Podcast

In this episode we look in detail at the how the water sector is continuing to evolve and extract more and more value – and public benefit from every customer’s bill.
My guest today is Richard Lee, Anglian Water’s @One Alliance Director of Engineering. 
And he’s a great person to talk to because when it was launched 21 years ago, the @One Alliance was considered something of a radical procurement gamble by Anglian Water as the vast water company sought to do things differently across its huge regional network of pipes, tanks, pumps and treatment works. 
Designed to dismantle the adversarial nature of traditional contracting, it bound rival engineering giants, among them Balfour Beatty, Skanska, and Mott MacDonald Bentley, into a shared commercial fate. 
Two decades and £4 billion in capital investment later, that experiment has in many ways redefined how the water sector builds, delivering record carbon cuts and structural efficiencies across the East of England.
Now, as the Alliance marks its 21th anniversary, the challenges keep coming.
Under Ofwat’s AMP8 regulatory framework for 2025–30, the Alliance is charged with executing a staggering £3 billion slice of Anglian’s total £11 billion pound five year business plan. 
That means more than 750 schemes, ranging from massive storm overflow upgrades, to pioneering nature-based wetlands. In short, the Alliance must effectively double its output and boost outcomes for local communities.
And it must do so in full view of a skeptical public, under relentless regulatory pressure over river health, and amidst severe supply chain inflation, skilled labour shortages and of course a changing climate.
So how does it intend to evolve; how can the Alliance balance speed of delivery with lower costs, whole-life sustainability, and greater resilience while all the time making the case to politicians for its continued existence? 
Resources
Anglian Water website 
The @One Alliance
Ofwat's AMP8 determination
Anglian Water's AMP8 business plan
Richard Lee Linked In

In this episode we focus on how the infrastructure sector can start to break down the ingrained engineering, architecture, planning and investment siloes preventing us from truly delivering the sustainable investment needed for communities to drive social and economic growth across the UK.
My guest is Richard Bonner, Managing Director for the AtkinsRéalis Buildings and Places business, 
Richard runs this new dedicated division, which was set up just over a year ago and in many ways signalled a fundamental shift in the way large-scale consultancy can address the modern urban landscape. 
Historically, infrastructure and building design has operated in separate silos. Today, the pressures facing our towns and cities, from housing deficits and decarbonisation mandates to strained public sector budgets, demand a far more integrated, place-based approach.
By uniting architecture, masterplanning, structural engineering, and social infrastructure under one roof, the Buildings and Places business unit hope to bridge the gap between major economic transport investments and the everyday lived experience of local communities. 
Whether unlocking housing capacity around transport hubs such as Elephant & Castle or shaping regional growth along Northern Powerhouse Rail corridors, this holistic model sets out to allow AtkinsRéalis to act as a so-called “integrator” between public policy goals, private capital, and long-term asset management.
So let’s explore how combining these functions have changed the firm’s approach to serving clients and delivering lasting social legacy. 
Resources
AtkinsRealis website
AtkinsRealis Buildings and Places
Richard Bonner Linked In
Video - the impact of infrastructure on people's lives
10 year infrastructure strategy 
1.5M homes target update

This live episode of the Infrastructure Podcast was recorded at the recent Twin Talks breakfast event hosted in London by the Infrastructure Policy Advancement team at Bentley Systems. 
My guest  is David Lunn, NISTA’s new director for market engagement and in the wide-ranging discussion we explore the progress being made by NISTA, the UK National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, as it works with the supply chain to modernise how major projects are planned designed and executed.
For too long, the UK's infrastructure sector has suffered from chronic inefficiencies, fragmented planning, and lengthening delivery timelines that inflate costs for taxpayers and hinder the service delivered to communities. In response, NISTA is leading a transformation of the way the nation’s infrastructure is designed, delivered and operated, engaging suppliers, investors, and regional leaders in the critical change required.
NISTA is driving a major transformation of the UK's infrastructure sector through its 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy and the dynamic Infrastructure Pipeline.  
Its role and mission is anchored around the UK government’s 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy and the dynamic Infrastructure Pipeline which sets out a £718bn public and private sector investment plan spanning all sectors of the nation’s economic and social infrastructure portfolio.
David joined NISTA this summer and is charged with the challenge of making UK infrastructure more investable. This will see him developing what is billed as an investor-ready pipeline, coordinating engagement across government departments, regulators and investors, and driving reforms that unlock vital private investment.
David came to NISTA from the then-Department for Business and Trade and has had a distinguished career in the UK civil service spanning nearly 30 years. He led the establishment of the UK Infrastructure Bank, serving as a UKIB board member and its first Chief Operating Officer. He began his civil service career at the Department for Transport and led the original funding and governance agreements for Crossrail and the successful conclusion to the CTRL project.
So let’s drill in and find out how NISTA intends to give industry the vital long-term market visibility of workload that will helps suppliers better anticipate future resource needs, invest in necessary skills, prevent regional bottlenecks and accelerate private investment. 
Resources
NISTA website
10 year Infrastructure Strategy
UK Infrastructure Pipeline
UK Infrastructure Bank
Infrastructure Policy Advancement at Bentley Systems

This episode was recorded live at the recent Toronto Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit and we discuss the challenges around Building Canada's Next Decade - and specifically seeing what lessons can be learnt from the Major project successes seen recently over the provincial border in Québec.
Québec is home to some of Canada's most ambitious infrastructure projects, from transformative transit expansions and airport development to investments that are reshaping the movement of people, goods, and economic opportunity. 
These projects are not only changing how communities connect and grow, they are also providing valuable lessons in how to deliver complex infrastructure successfully at scale. 
Joining me  to explore what Canada's infrastructure leaders can learn from Québec's major project experience is Clémentine Sallée, Senior Director, Major Projects CDPQ Infra, the innovative owner-operator of many infrastructure projects in Canada.
A lawyer by training, Clémentine brings two decades of experience in major-project delivery, infrastructure finance, governance, procurement and commercial strategy across Canadian and international markets. 
All of which makes her well qualified to examine the leadership, partnerships, governance models, and delivery approaches that are helping advance complex projects in today’s increasingly challenging environment. 
Resources
The Alto high-speed rail project 
The Quebec City’s TramCité project
Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project 
CDPQ Infra website
TIP Live Toronto 2026

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