Thames Tideway boss to chair government infrastructure group

The boss of the Thames Tideway project, Andy Mitchell, has been appointed chair of the Infrastructure Client Group set up to drive cost savings on government-procured infrastructure projects.

Mitchell, a former director at Crossrail, will oversee continued work to drive down costs across  by improving the certainty of the pipeline and improving the way work is procured.

The Infrastructure Client Group was formerly chaired by Network Rail chief executive Simon Kirby, and is overseen by Treasury infrastructure unit, Infrastructure UK. The unit claims that its push to reduce infrastructure costs has already resulted in £3bn of savings since 2010, and it set out plans to further this drive in an IUK Cost Review report in July, which Mitchell will now take forward..

IUK also announced that Construction Products Association chief executive Dr Diana Montgomery has been appointed to chair a new push to build capacity in the infrastructure supply chain, to run under the name of the Supply Chain Capacity and Skills Group. Experian, CITB and Whole Life Consultants have been appointed to support the group.

Andy Mitchell said: “The Infrastructure Client Group continues to provide a much needed forum that brings together key infrastructure organisations with common objectives and plans to improve the way we deliver infrastructure. With the benefit of a clear work programme I look forward to working with the members of the group to ensure we are doing this in a consistent and transparent way across sectors.”

Commercial secretary to the Treasury, Lord Deighton said: “The Infrastructure Client Group’s work programme will be an essential instrument in continuing to support cost reduction and improved delivery. The group has already achieved far more, far quicker as infrastructure leaders working together and I welcome this continued collaboration.”

The CPA’s Montgomery said: “Over the next decade we expect to see record levels of investment in the UK’s infrastructure. It is in all of our interests to ensure that the costs of delivering this work are kept under control.”