Last week the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended an overhaul of road and rail procurement to cut costs and drive economic growth through infrastructure investment. Responding to the study Alex Vaughan (pictured), chief executive of Costain, said: 

“The CMA’s report rightly highlights the need for a more collaborative, long-term, and outcomes-focused approach to driving UK economic growth through the delivery of critical infrastructure.

“To achieve this, the industry must move beyond short-term, transactional delivery models and focus instead on whole-life performance. This shift, alongside continued and necessary skills development, will be essential for the UK to successfully deliver complex infrastructure programmes.

“The UK’s 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy and Infrastructure Pipeline have been major steps forward, providing greater visibility of future investment that will foster stronger supply chain partnerships and encourage earlier collaboration between asset owners and the industry. Achieving this will boost UK productivity and deliver critical programmes that benefit communities across the country, as well as the taxpayer.

“The UK has world-class engineering capability, but this is an industry that thrives on predictability and clear decision-making from government. We’re working closely with government, NISTA and our long-term trusted partners to deliver complex, fit-for-purpose infrastructure across our water, energy, defence and transportation systems.

“Consistency and continuity from government will unlock the UK’s full infrastructure potential and help create a more prosperous, resilient and decarbonised future.”

(Picture: Costain)