The UK's leading infrastructure & supply chain event

Jon is the Director of Infrastructure, Enterprise and Growth at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, (the government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects). He advises on project delivery across half of the government's major projects; his £350bn portfolio includes all major transport, industry, energy, housing, foreign affairs, environmental and digital. Prior to joining the IPA, Jon spent ten years in executive roles within the utilities sector for Thames Water, BT Openreach and Clancy. Responsibilities included business strategy, transformation, capital programmes, operations, commercial, international supply chain and logistics. Jon pioneered long-term collaborative alliance contracts and behavioural procurement techniques, winning national awards as both Client of the Year and Supplier of the Year. A chartered quantity surveyor, Jon spent the early part of his career successfully managing large construction and infrastructure projects and later in executive operational, commercial and procurement roles for two of the UK's largest and fastest growing tier 1 infrastructure businesses.

Einav is the Chief Commercial Officer at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), a position which Einav has held since November 2017. Defra’s work impacts every one of us, and Einav’s team is proud of the work it does to contribute to combatting climate change by supporting both Government targets around Net Zero and global agreements which set out to protect our planet and our oceans. The Team Einav leads helps to deliver on projects like rewilding meadowland, reversing the decline of our peatlands, planting new trees, and building new flood defences. Work which is critical to our future and our grandchildren’s future. Prior to joining Government, Einav held several senior roles across a range of sectors including Health, Property, Banking and Retail. In December 2018 Einav was also appointed a NED of Fera Science Ltd. Einav sits on the Audit and Business Development Committees as well as the Board for the world-class science and research institute. Einav leads a winning team in Defra and recent awards have included the Civil Service Data Awards, the Procurement Leaders Award, and Excellence in Procurement Awards. Einav’s approach is to champion excellence, customer focus, value for money, sustainable outcomes, and high ethical standards. Einav is also a vocal supporter of campaigns to promote more equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and frequently highlights the importance of creating a workplace where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. Einav holds a First-class degree in Psychology and a Masters with distinction from Oxford University.

The New Hospital Programme is the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. It is a dramatic shift in the way we deliver major healthcare projects in England, building hospitals that will transform the health sector and set new standards for the way we build future social infrastructure. We will create world-class health facilities through innovation and collaboration, empowering clinical professionals to deliver the best possible care for patients. We are replacing outdated infrastructure with modern, innovative, and environmentally sustainable buildings to provide top-class healthcare services and facilities for patients, staff and local communities. Digital technology will change the way healthcare is delivered in these facilities. Smart technology will reduce basic and repetitive tasks and free up time for patient care. Our mission is to help NHS Trusts to provide high-quality, sustainable care for patients, deliver intelligent hospitals, develop national capability, and build better, build faster and build a sustainable legacy. Rather than treating each project as a standalone scheme, we will capture opportunities to standardise design and leverage scale to maximise effectiveness and efficiency. The New Hospital Programme is transformational and will set new standards for the commissioning of future social infrastructure.

Malcolm Harbour CBE served as MEP for the UK West Midlands for 3 Parliamentary terms 1999 - 2014. He was Centre-Right leader on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (2004-2009) and Chairman (2009-2014). His legislative work includes the Single Market for Services, Electronic Communications and Standards. He has a long-standing interest in promoting innovation through public procurement. In 2008, he was Rapporteur for an “own-initiative” report on innovation procurement. From 2009, he had a lead role in shaping Parliament's position on procurement reform and the negotiations for their adoption in 2014. From 2015-17, he chaired a UK Local Government Taskforce on Innovation Procurement that produced a widely read report. In 2019 he became an Associate Director at the Connected Places Catapult, with an expert steering role on procurement and the development of the Innovative Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), launched in 2023. He has contributed to many CPC reports and is a regular speaker at Procurement Conferences. He Chairs the IPEC Research Consortium with the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester.

Sophie is joint Assistant Director of Transport and Place at the National Infrastructure Commission, which she joined in 2022, coinciding with the final year of the 2nd National Infrastructure Assessment process. As part of this she co-directed the work on transport which included urban, (capacity) inter-urban, (connectivity) and decarbonisation strands. Sophie is a public sector strategic planner (MRTPI, PhD) by background, and has worked in the West of England, London and South Wales to develop statutory spatial plans at the regional and local level. It is in these contexts that she developed her interest in transport (and other) infrastructure and its interrelationships with wider needs, constraints and opportunities.

Wincanton is a leading British supply chain solutions company. The Group provides business critical services including storage, handling and distribution; high volume eFulfilment; retailer ‘dark stores’; two-person home delivery; fleet and transport management; and network optimisation for many of the UK’s best known companies. It is active across a range of markets including food and consumer goods; retail and manufacturing; eCommerce; the public sector; major infrastructure; building materials; fuel; and defence. With almost 100 years’ heritage, Wincanton's 19,600-strong team operates from more than 200 sites across the country, utilising 3,500 vehicles.

Marisa is an enthusiastic and motivated cost consultant with over 10 years' experience. Marisa understands the benefits of creating value through collaboration, building strong relationships with her clients and supply chains, driving greater societal outcomes through shared goals and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) focused strategies.

National Highways, formerly Highways England, is the government company responsible for the country's motorways and main A roads. This includes modernising and maintaining the highways, as well as running the network and keeping traffic moving.

Costain helps to improve people’s lives by creating connected, sustainable infrastructure that enables people and the planet thrive. We shape, create and deliver pioneering solutions that transform the performance of the infrastructure ecosystem across the UK’s energy, water, transportation and defence markets. We are organised around our customers anticipating and solving their challenges and helping to improve performance. By bringing together our unique mix of construction, consulting and digital experts we engineer and deliver sustainable, efficient and practical solutions.

Issy Greenfield is the Social Value and Legacy Manager at EKFB, overseeing social value initiatives on HS2. She is a dedicated advocate for social value and legacy management, leveraging her expertise to make a meaningful impact on communities and projects alike. In her role, Issy collaborates closely with internal teams and external stakeholders to identify opportunities for community investment and social value. She emphasises the importance of integrating social value into commercial conversations, recognising its potential to drive business success while aligning with ethical principles.

The New Hospital Programme is the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. It is a dramatic shift in the way we deliver major healthcare projects in England, building hospitals that will transform the health sector and set new standards for the way we build future social infrastructure. We will create world-class health facilities through innovation and collaboration, empowering clinical professionals to deliver the best possible care for patients. We are replacing outdated infrastructure with modern, innovative, and environmentally sustainable buildings to provide top-class healthcare services and facilities for patients, staff and local communities. Digital technology will change the way healthcare is delivered in these facilities. Smart technology will reduce basic and repetitive tasks and free up time for patient care. Our mission is to help NHS Trusts to provide high-quality, sustainable care for patients, deliver intelligent hospitals, develop national capability, and build better, build faster and build a sustainable legacy. Rather than treating each project as a standalone scheme, we will capture opportunities to standardise design and leverage scale to maximise effectiveness and efficiency. The New Hospital Programme is transformational and will set new standards for the commissioning of future social infrastructure.

HS2 is Great Britain’s new high-speed railway. Once operational, HS2’s British-built bullet trains will provide zero-carbon journeys between the UK’s two largest cities, Birmingham and London, with services continuing on to Manchester, the North West and Scotland using the conventional railway network, cutting journey times. By better connecting Britain’s biggest economic centres and catalysing plans for inner-city regeneration, HS2 will open up opportunities for the creation of thousands of new jobs and homes as well as driving transformative economic growth.

A strategic communicator, Caroline draws from more than two decades in the built environment and the public and private sectors. She has worked on some of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects including HS2 and Crossrail. Caroline focuses on devising powerful campaigns to engage diverse audiences and stakeholder groups and obtain consensus views. Commercially astute, she provides highly effective and intuitive bid development support, as well as brokering viable approaches for both clients and contractors. No matter the length of the project, Caroline motivates her team to deliver best practice year in, year out. Highly resilient and adept at steering projects through sudden change, challenge and crises, she offers an insightful approach to reputation protection and promotions, Caroline is also highly skilled at resolving conflict and removing contention. As a director, Caroline has oversight and manages the delivery of existing projects while maximising our commercial performance, driving growth and new business acquisition.

Laura Roche is the Senior Social Sustainability Manager for SCS Railways, one of the joint ventures delivering HS2 and has worked in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for over 5 years in the construction industry. Laura has a Master’s in Gender studies, is a member of Women in Transport and is passionate about how we make sustainable change to how the UK Construction industry values our people and local communities.

Heathrow is Europe’s largest airport, one of the top 10 busiest airports in the world and the second largest for international travellers. Heathrow is home to more than 80 airlines and is the UK’s most valuable cargo port, helping to drive British trade growth by connecting the nation to more than 200 destinations around the world.

Part of BiP Solutions, Tracker is a powerful and unique business intelligence solution helping customers find, bid for and win public and private sector business using market intelligence to support business growth objectives. As the market leader, Tracker provides access to Europe's largest database of contract and award notices so you don't miss out on great tender opportunities, meaning customers can engage earlier with buyers, be more competitive, and sell more effectively. Their range of packages are designed to support businesses looking to grow their share of the public and private sector market through powerful market intelligence, bid advisory, pipeline visibility and the latest tender alerts.

Member of the AWS Management Board. Member of UKWIR Board. Chair of the @one and SPA Alliance Boards. Jason is responsible for a wide portfolio of activity within Anglian Water Services Ltd. He sits on all their Alliance Boards that span the delivery of all their asset creation, maintenance and technology investment programmes. Functionally accountable for Supply Chain Management including Logistics, Portfolio Management of Investment programme delivery, Asset Intelligence, Carbon & Energy, Innovation Engagement, Alliance Contracts Management and Commercial & Delivery Assurance. Jason uses his position to enable greater integration and efficiency within Anglian Water’s supply chain. Jason previously worked for Skanska Construction UK, on many and varied Design & Construct Infrastructure Projects and Programmes, across multiple sectors. He began in their Civil Engineering arm, before finally becoming their Sector Director for Water & Renewable Energy, in their Utility Division, spanning a 25 year service. This time included membership of several Alliance and Joint Venture Boards, with various Client organisations and Contract Partners. Chair of Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) and Advisory Group member for Construction Leadership Council (CLC).

Following CompeteFor's successful use by the London 2012 Games authorities and their supply chains, the service continues to be used in the supply chain of major capital infrastructure projects, such as HS2. Part of BiP Solutions, CompeteFor is a free service that enables businesses to compete for contract opportunities linked to major public and private sector buying organisations. CompeteFor strives to be the national supply chain development service, matching buyers and suppliers. It focuses on opportunities in the supply chains of major capital infrastructure projects. CompeteFor has introduced a number of optional upgrades to further support buyers and suppliers.

In Simon's role at Esri UK, the world-leading provider of geospatial technology and services, he works with digital leaders at UK transport and AEC organisations to help understand the opportunities for using innovative geospatial solutions to model the built and natural environment.

Fiona Latter is an ILM Qualified Business Coach and Mentor with a focus on supporting the Construction and Creative Sectors. She has most recently been running a 2 year DCMS funded pilot known as the Creative Scale Up Programme which aims to support scaling up businesses in the sector by enabling them to have access to workshops on topics including Value and Pricing and Winning New Work through Tenders. The Programme also aims to introduce businesses to suitable investors by means of Showcase events. Fiona is also keen to support businesses develop international links and has attended trade missions to Malta, Jordan and Uzbekistan with plans to take out businesses to Estonia and Seattle over the next 12 months.

Glenigan is the trusted provider of construction project sales leads, industry data, analysis, forecasting and company intelligence. Glenigan combines comprehensive data gathering and exhaustive research with detailed statistical modelling and expert analysis to deliver information our customers can depend on. Established in 1973, their clients include companies involved in the design and realisation of construction projects, suppliers of materials and services to the construction industry and organisations that monitor construction activity.

John began his career as a laboratory assistant before becoming a qualified Master Brewer. Having spent 10 years in brewing production, John moved onto various procurement roles in the industry prior to spending 2 years in the food industry working for one of the country’s leading chilled food producers. In 2006, he joined the NHS being involved in the growth and development of two regional procurement organisations before joining Anchor 2 years ago in the role of Head of Procurement and Purchasing.

Dr Zaid Alwan is a Senior Lecturer who has academic and commercial expertise in Low Carbon Design Sustainable construction. He is a member of academic staff in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Environment at Northumbria University. Prior to his academic career, Dr Alwan worked in the commercial sector as a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and Low Carbon Assessor for both domestic and commercial buildings, working within multidisciplinary teams to optimise and deliver low carbon buildings.

Kristen joined Crown Commercial Service (CCS) in 2013 and has worked in various roles across the business over the past 10 years including project management, commercial strategy of £bn frameworks and business development. Kristen recently followed her passion for the environment and took on the position of Head of Sustainability, working to decarbonise the £30bn annual spend through CCS. Kristen works closely with public sector buyers, suppliers and industry bodies to help accelerate the journey towards achieving CNZ by 2050 at the latest. Kristen is MCIP-qualified.

Andrew is responsible for East Midlands Council’s work on infrastructure, transport (including the East Midlands Rail Collaboration Agreement) and development. He acts as the principal advisor to Transport for the East Midlands (TfEM) chaired by the Mayor of Leicester Sir Peter Soulsby and to the former East Midlands HS2 Executive Board. He is the professional lead for the EMCs Low Cost CPD programme for planners. In addition, Andrew provides policy support to Midlands Connect, the sub-national transport body for the Midlands. In a personal capacity, Andrew is a Corporate Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA), a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Andrew previously worked for West Devon Borough Council and Lincolnshire County Council. In 1999 he joined the East Midlands Regional Local Government Association (EMRLGA) to work on regional planning. In April 2003, Andrew moved across to the Regional Assembly as Director of Housing, Planning & Transport, and then over to East Midlands Councils in April 2010.

Natalie is Head of Supply Chain Development at the Lower Thames Crossing, a National Highways pathfinder project of regional and national significance. Natalie specialises in the supply chain management of major infrastructure projects, building resilient supply chains and collaborative partnerships to achieve a myriad of project ambitions, from low carbon construction to sustainable skills development.

Trudi is the UK & Europe Lead for Industrialised Design & Construction at Mott MacDonald, where a rapidly growing team is delivering integrated utilisation of DfMA, MMC, and platform approaches to unlock greater social, economic, and environmental outcomes. She has had an eclectic career working across a broad range of industries, but largely with a common theme of engaging with leaders - from SMEs to multi-nationals and government departments - to tackle challenges and support transformation. Prior to joining Mott MacDonald, Trudi spent 4 years as a director of the Construction Innovation Hub, working with government and industry to develop tools and approaches that enable improved productivity, performance and resilience. She now champions the transition of this work from research and development into deployment to support the efficient delivery of a more sustainable built environment.

Patrick leads on public affairs activity for Copper; specialising in building political support for large-scale infrastructure projects.

Colin is Competitiveness Director at ADS, the national trade association for Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space industries, which represents over 1200 member companies. He is also a founder member of the CIPS’s Aerospace and Defence Procurement Group. Colin, an Aerospace and Defence Supply Chain procurement and CI professional, has spent over thirty years in the aerospace and defence sectors and has held in leadership roles at global Aerospace and Defence companies including Thales, Leonardo Helicopters, Eaton, AirTanker, Babcock, Meggitt, QinetiQ. He has extensive experience and track record in leadership, change management, negotiation, project and relationship management, and has successfully worked with customers, partners and major sub-contractors at all levels. Colin has experience of implementing both LEAN based improvements and embedding significant change programmes in both the defence and aerospace sectors supply chains proven to deliver reduced waste, costs and risk, whilst improving performance. In his current role as Competitiveness Programme Director at ADS Group, Colin is leading the SC21 community strengthen and develop the SC21 Competitiveness Programme, a cornerstone of the ADS Supply Chain Solutions Framework, to better accelerate the competitiveness of the Aerospace & Defence industry’s supply chain, prepare it for market growth and the needs of the increasingly sustainable digital 21st century.

Jon is a Chartered Ecologist and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), and has been an ecological consultant for almost 30 years. Before that he worked at the Natural History Museum in London, researching beetle diversity in the tropics. He set up RSK Wilding (part of RSK Biocensus) in early 2020, with a primary focus upon biodiversity net gain (BNG), biodiversity offsetting and habitat restoration. Wilding works with developers, landowners and local authorities alike to ensure successful implementation of BNG whilst at the same time maximising other ‘natural capital’ benefits (such as carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, flood risk mitigation and improved public access to nature).

Launched in 2012, the Supply Chain Sustainability School is a multi award winning initiative which represents a common approach to addressing sustainability within our supply chains. With more than 50,000 members, the School provides free practical support in the form of e-learning modules, tailored self-assessment and action plans, sustainability training and networking opportunities.

Guy Battle is the CEO and founder of Social Value Portal, Co-Chair of the Public Sector Chapter for The Sustainable Procurement Pledge and Facilitator and Associate Manager for the National Social Value Taskforce. Guy also is a Chair of Riversimple; which builds hydrogen fuel cars to deliver net zero carbon personal mobility. Guy is passionate about the contribution that business can make to improve our society. This has been one of the driving motivations behind Social Value Portal, which was set up in 2015 to provide cloud solution for measuring, procuring, and managing social value. Guy is the creator of the TOM System that has become the most widely used methodology for measuring and reporting social value globally. Guy is serial social and environmental entrepreneur having previously set up and sold and number of businesses, including dCarbon8 which was acquired by Deloitte in 2010.

Giles Jones is Project Manager at Liverpool City Region (LCR) Freeport. LCR Freeport is a multi-modal special economic zone driving growth in the region’s advanced manufacturing, biomanufacturing, logistics and low carbon industries. When fully operational LCR Freeport is expected to create 10,000 jobs and secure in excess of £800m of inward investment. In this role Giles is responsible for liaising with public and private sector partners to drive delivery of the Freeport. Prior to assuming this role Giles was employed by the UK’s Department for Business and Trade for four years.

Adam joined Conquip two years ago and is responsible for collaborating with strategic partners on large Civil, Infrastructure and Commercial projects. As a champion of early contractor engagement, he sees the huge benefit this can bring in identifying new and innovative approaches to construction methodology, to improve productivity, safety and sustainability. Adam has 20 years’ experience in account development in the construction, manufacturing and professional services industries. Conquip is constantly pushing the boundaries of productivity, safety, innovation and sustainability. Founded in the UK in 2003, Conquip has grown to become a large, global brand, recognised for innovative engineering and manufacturing, excellent service and as a solutions provider. Built on the trust that its customers have in Conquip, its mission is to provide an extraordinary service to the construction and infrastructure industries. This stems from design, manufacturing, equipment sales and rental, to delivery, services and after sales support to ensure customers meet industry standards and maximise operational output.

Dr David Crosthwaite, Chief Economist at the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS), has headed up its consultancy services for the past eight years. Previous roles include Head of Business Economics at AECOM. He has extensive experience delivering bespoke data consultancy services for both public sector and private sector clients and, as well as being published on industrial economics and has been involved in the successful delivery of numerous economic and data studies. Dr Crosthwaite will examine the current climate for infrastructure projects with exclusive insights from the latest BCIS data, including what’s on the horizon for civil engineering tender prices, input costs and output figures, as well as looking at how sub-sectors are expected to fare in the next few years. He will also examine transparency around infrastructure projects and the importance of benefiting from shared cost and carbon data as an industry.

Programme and Project Partners is a ground-breaking 20-year partnership between KBR, Jacobs, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Altrad Babcock and Sellafield Ltd. Together they are delivering one of the most complex portfolios of major infrastructure projects in the world to help achieve Sellafield Ltd’s purpose - to create a clean and safe environment for future generations.