The water sector is entering a major period of investment over the next few years. With a potential £104bn programme across England and Wales and Scottish Water delivering a £6bn+ investment cycle, the scale of projects to be built, upgraded and maintained is huge.
It’s exciting, but water companies will be under significant pressure to deliver on time and on budget. Working with the right partners will be key, and that’s where we come in. Our water service has the depth of experience and expertise to support this transformation in the water industry over the coming years.
Diving into the challenge
At B&P, we don’t shy away from a challenge, instead, we dive right in. We get under the surface, embedding ourselves in projects to work in partnership with our clients from early-stage strategy all the way through to project construction.
We know the biggest challenge for water projects is land. Major infrastructure projects stall when land can’t be accessed, negotiations drag on or complex title issues emerge halfway through a programme. Our whole approach is built around solving these problems to keep projects moving.
How we keep water projects flowing
We head all of this off at the outset with detailed land referencing and GIS modelling to identify and mitigate access issues and establish a detailed land strategy.
At the heart of our approach is our extensive expertise in stakeholder engagement and negotiation. We understand how to build and maintain relationships with the right people – the landowners, planning authorities, and statutory body stakeholders. Being a specialist third party, we can engage on behalf of water companies in a way that’s constructive and independent – often making conversations easier and reaching agreements more quickly than if the client were negotiating directly.
Our core service brings together:
- GIS and land referencing
- Land acquisition
- Rights negotiation and compensation claims
- Stakeholder engagement
- Project management
- Valuation
- DCO and CPO support for larger programmes
As well as a dedicated team with deep experience in working with water companies across the whole of the UK, B&P has an extensive background in utilities, energy and renewables projects.
An agile approach across the UK
With an agile team and offices across the UK, we’re well-positioned to support projects in England, Wales and Scotland. We’re also building a network of strategic partnerships so we can easily and quickly scale up to support the biggest programmes in the sector.
If you have a water sector project on the horizon, no matter the scale, we’d love to hear from you.
Contact us
Gill Froud, Land Assembly Director: Gill.Froud@blackhallpowis.com
Linda Turner, Director of Water Infrastructure: Linda.Turner@blackhallpowis.com