Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
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Delivering Innovation Through Alliances and Partnerships in AMP6 will be one of the topics covered at Sustainability Live, being held at the Birmingham NEC from April 1-3. Taking part will be Thames Water's brand new alliance, eight2O. What sets the alliance apart from the rest? eight2O to headline at Sustainability Live 10 | WET News | February 2014 | SuStainabiLity Live / iWeX ThAMES WATEr's multibillion- pound capital investment programme in AMP6 will be delivered by its new alliance, comprising MWH (programme manager), IBM (technology and innovation provider) and two design and build consortia, CVA and SMB. And even though the start of AMP6 is not until April 2015, the alliance partners are already hard at work under Thames Water's Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) deal. Thames Water's investment programme for the five years from 2015 will be finalised following the 2014 water industry review of prices by regulator Ofwat but the creation of eight2O has signalled a complete transformation in the way the utility delivers its capital investment. The alliance Lawrence Gosden, Thames Water's asset director, explains that the decision to use the alliancing model was driven by the response received following a massive consultation exercise last year with the industry supply chain. He says the exercise gave "a real understanding of what the pressures are", and led to Thames changing completely the way it works and to form a single, large alliance. Gosden says: "We have a significant amount of work to do upgrading our deteriorating infrastructure over the next 25 years and beyond, while keeping customers' bills affordable. If we are to achieve this, a different approach is required. "That is why we have formed an alliance to deliver our AMP6 programme. This represents a complete transformation in the way we carry out investment. Our focus will be on delivering value, as opposed to just cost- efficiency. We will take a long- term view, as well as making sure we meet out shorter-term goals." Thames originally felt the "new" alliance format should comprise a programme manager, four design and build organisations, contractor / consultant teams, and a technology and innovation provider. However, Gosden says the strategy to have four design and build contractors was dropped in favour of just having two. He says the two selected (CVA and SMB) are capable of delivering everything needed, giving Thames the opportunity to keep the build simple with fewer people around the alliance table. Having selected the alliance partners, Thames has awarded them Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) deals, enabling the company and the alliance partners to create the AMP6 business plan and define the scope of technology and innovation services to be delivered in AMP6 and beyond. Gosden explains: "By forming this early, two years before the start of the next five-year regulatory period, we stand the best possible chance of delivering the safest, most sustainable and most innovative solutions – those which don't necessarily involve simply pouring concrete." Tim Coles, head of capital procurement for Thames Water, added: "We have procured an option to offer the longest contract term ever awarded by Thames Water. Rather than taking a purely commercial and technical approach, we have focused on behaviour by putting our people and our partners' people through interviews, site visits and workshops. "This process has reduced the procurement process from up to 18 months to four and has significantly lowered the cost of bidding for the bidders involved." It is not the first time that Thames has gone down the alliance route. In AMP3, the company had three large alliances working and Gosden says that at the end of these there was a question about whether value had been achieved. Thames moved away from this having realised a commercial rather than a traditional contract approach was probably needed. The new alliance board will comprise representatives from Thames and from each alliance Gosden says starting early means the best possible chance of delivering the most innovative solutions – those 'which don't nec- essarily involve simply pouring concrete' partner. MWH is the programme manager in the alliance, and will act as a common thread across its many parts." Jon Dodwell, MWH's lead within the alliance, explains: "We will make sure work is delivered in the most efficient way possible and run the governance and reporting systems that will provide reliable performance management information." Dodwell says the team is excited to be part of the alliance, working with their partners to develop the organisation, its culture and its programme management processes and systems. "Many of the AMP6 challenges are still unknown. "Our goal as programme manager is to make sure we have the right systems and processes in place so we can deal with whatever comes our way. This will include helping to introduce innovative programme delivery strategies." In addition to being programme manager, MWH is also a member of one the SMB joint venture that also consists of Skanska and Balfour Beatty. John Abraham, SMB director, is passionate that the alliance partners will work together to find "affordable and sustainable solutions" to help Thames Water provide safe and reliable services for today's customers and future generations. Colin Kelly, SMB director, added that SMB is committed to ensuring Thames Water's pipes, sewers and other facilities are fit to serve future generations through "great leadership, people, processes and systems". CVA is the other design and build consortia. The alliance brings together the expertise of Costain, Veolia and Atkins Andy Bull, who is the alliance core team head of commercial and supply chain and chairman of the CVA joint venture, said: "It's a great team, we're a strong alliance and I'm very excited about the future." IBM will work with Thames Water and the alliance partners to create the AMP6 business plan and define the scope of technology and innovation services they will deliver in AMP6 and beyond. Jon Bentley, IBM alliance board member, says: "Thames Water is taking the lead in innovating by applying big data analytics to extract very precise business insights. This will help to deliver better customer service as a result." Keith Wishart, alliance core team leader for technology and innovation, adds: "This is fantastic opportunity to deliver transformational change through innovation." ■