Curzon recognised for Innovation at MCA Awards

28th March 20191 Minutes

We are delighted that Curzon Consulting managing consultant Edem Eno-Amooquaye won Innovation Consultant of the Year 2019.

We were also finalists for Innovation in Digital and Technology and Performance Improvement in the Public Sector.

Edem’s work to deliver disruptive technology for Anglian Water, support Curzon colleagues and publish thought leadership for the wider sector earned him the top spot.

“Edem has redefined the role and amplified the value that management consultants can have in IT programmes. He has been critical to enabling the development of systems that significantly disrupt the water infrastructure value chain… He has transcended the role, shaped wider strategy for the company and become a trusted colleague.”

Iain Amis, Head of Developer Services, Anglian Water

MCA awards 2019 Curzon Innovation Digital
Curzon & Company, Anglian Water, Cognizant and Highways England

Edem thanked the supportive environment at Curzon that allows for innovation and his clients.

2019 marks the fifth consecutive year that Curzon Consulting, formerly Curzon & Company, have been successful at the prestigious awards. Congratulations to all of the other winners and finalists

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Driving performance in public sector infrastructure

21st March 20195 Minutes

Nigel Brannan highlights the importance of mastering the basics for a performance focused infrastructure organisation.

The performance challenge

Public sector organisations have long recognised the need to be more outcome and performance focused. While signalling the right intent, many struggle to translate desired outcomes into tangible outputs from their employees and suppliers.

A general ethos of reducing cost above all else compounds this challenge. Furthermore, the organisations often outsource the problem to a supply chain that is increasingly fragmented and under pressure to bid for contracts at very low margins. Suppliers then hope to make money from variations to the original contract that either were not or could not be specified up front, often taking advantage of their client’s poor planning, organisation or decision making.

The supply chain

Partnerships and collaborations are often touted as mechanisms for delivery assurance and improved performance but there are still significant inconsistencies in their effectiveness and practicality. The biggest challenge is usually to align organisations around incentives, which often involves increasing risk in exchange for higher profit, and ensuring that all parties are focused and organised around a common outcome. This is easier said than done.

For major, complex infrastructure projects, it extends beyond the physical construction effort to incorporate the planning and design phases. The public and political outcry at the spiralling cost of many high-profile programmes, or fear that they will overspend significantly, comes from a perceived inability to nail critical decisions, and plan and design in a reasonable timeframe. There are many political reasons why the champions of HS2, Hinckley Point C and Heathrow’s third runway continue to say those projects will deliver for the quoted costs, but the odds are that they will not.

The role of innovation

Innovation and digitisation play important roles in improving the performance of infrastructure organisations. Much of our work involves implementing innovation and digital strategies, but we do it through the lens of following the money. That means mastering the basics of productivity and performance, which starts with knowing what your core success measures are and how you are performing. In infrastructure delivery, you need right to left planning. This means working backwards from the answer on what needs to be in place and by when to hit key milestones and performance outcomes.

The move towards a performance management culture

Curzon & Company is currently partnering with a major public sector infrastructure client to move the organisation towards a performance management culture.

There are three stages in addressing the performance challenge –
Scan, Focus and Act:

  • Scan establishes the baseline, trajectory and key drivers of performance. One critical output is a single version of the truth across scope, activity, cost and risk
  • Focus is about prioritisation and channelling effort to where it has most impact. Major wins often come from an emphasis on looking forwards and addressing future risks rather than reporting historical performance.
  • Act means actually doing things differently. It involves engaging the organisation and their partners at programme and project level to adopt new ways of working. Common measures, good information and ‘heartbeat’ disciplines get results.

None of this is rocket science, but it is remarkable how many organisations struggle to put it into practice.

The benefits

Our client now has transparency of previously hidden efficiencies, providing them and their regulator with the confidence that they are meeting their commitments. They can manage the affordability of the programme proactively – a key benefit where scope requirements evolve over time.

They are offsetting build cost risks by focusing on high-cost elements with standardised product design and productivity benchmarks. Most importantly, they are deploying tools and disciplines at project site level where success (or failure) is delivered.

The successful partnership between the client team and Curzon continues, helping to strengthen the foundations as the client migrates towards a new operating model.

raconteur

This article originally featured in Raconteur, March 2019

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Curzon Consulting Background

Chairman's Masterclass: "Society is demanding a step change in Infrastructure delivery"

Event: "Society is demanding a step change in Infrastructure delivery"

13 March 2019

By Andrew Morgan13th March 2019

On 13 March 2019 we are joined by Andy Mitchell CBE, CEO at Thames Tideway Tunnel.

He will be speaking about how evolving societal needs are demanding a step change in the Infrastructure sector.

curzon consulting infrastructure bridge

Smart Infrastructure is the latest event in our Chairman’s Masterclass Dinner series, providing UK business leaders with insight for over a decade.

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