Fantastic insights from Mike Reader MP the newly elected MP for Northampton South. The event took place as part of our ongoing series of Leaders Breakfast Meetings in collaboration with Advance Consultancy and UCL and was kindly hosted by Currie & Brown.
Mike’s background in the built environment gives him a unique understanding of the role the built environment can play in enabling government to achieve it’s goals. He highlighted the need for better engagement between industry and government, urging businesses to proactively share insights and collaborate on major projects. He stressed the importance of addressing productivity issues and adopting standardised delivery models. His call to action is for the industry to engage more with government, adopt collaborative approaches, and focus on delivering value through major infrastructure projects.
There was a lively discussion amongst the attendees with the key outcomes around…
Adopt Existing Solutions: many of the answers and solutions to the industry’s challenges are already known and available. We cannot keep reinventing the wheel and instead building on existing best practices and adopt solutions that have already been developed.
Value Toolkit: Embrace the Value Toolkit, which was developed collaboratively with funding from InnovateUK. This toolkit enables clients to set their value frameworks across more than just economic outputs, incorporating social and environmental benefits as well.
Educate Stakeholders: We need to communicate and create shared understanding with stakeholders, particularly political stakeholders, about the consequences of their decisions on the infrastructure ecosystem. Infrastructure is a system of systems, and interventions in one area can have positive or negative impacts elsewhere. We need to think about the broader impacts of decisions and to ensure that the industry is working towards a holistic and sustainable approach.
Inspire the Next Generation: We need to bring young people into the industry and creating an environment that attracts adventurers and disruptive thinkers. The industry needs to harness the power of these individuals to drive innovation and achieve ambitious goals.
Collaboration and Best Practice: We need to learn from successful projects and adopt consistent delivery models and commercial arrangements that promote collaboration and efficiency.
