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...

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 ru...

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 Authorit...

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 trans...

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 towa...

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 govern...

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 ambi...

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 G...

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 c...

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 su...

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 nati...

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 Nat...

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...

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 sho...

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 tra...

In this episode my guest is Milda Manomaityte, who stepped into the role of Chief Executive at the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) and its subsidiary, the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) in March 2026. According to publicity at the time, her appointment signalled “a gear change for ACE group” and a strategic pivot for its role leading the sector.  Clearly that caught my...

In this episode  we are talking about electric vehicle charging and the challenge of creating the truly integrated and customer friendly charging network needed to support the growth of EVs My guest  is Asif Ghafoor, chief executive of BE.EV , one of the UK’s leading charging networks and someone who I’d say is pretty out there when it comes to honest appraisals of the state of the EV market and t...

In this episode we return to the critical issues surrounding the financing of infrastructure – and specifically how private investment can be levered in to support the global ambition for green energy transition. It is clear that the global push toward net-zero is fundamentally a challenge of capital mobilisation. While global institutional investors sit on an estimated $100 trillion in assets, le...

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 re...

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 pe...

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 improv...

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...

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 buildin...

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 managi...

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...