Advisory & Investigation

Engaged by the University of Cambridge to provide independent project advisory services for the first phase of North West Cambridge, an ambitious US$1.3bn sustainable urban development of homes, shops and schools on the city’s outlying farmland to alleviate overcrowding and rising land prices. Scope included independent technical and strategic project management advice, and project progress monitoring to assist the University’s management team in minimising key project risks for the delivery of major infrastructure and common facilities.

Technology advisory services in support of a European consortium engaged in a dispute relating to the commissioning of an open road tolling project in Southern Africa. Operating under the FIDIC Gold Book Conditions of Contract for Design, Build and Operate (DBO) projects, the dispute arose over the impact of delay and allegations of the Employer failing to discharge its operational obligations. Assessed fitness for purpose relative to expected KPIs and assumptions, system scalability and performance tuning for the future.

Appointed to provide independent project advisory services in relation to a frustrated technology implementation for an award-winning, UK-based health insurance provider. Key issues included a misunderstanding of initial expectations, continuous changes to project scope and an overall lack of communication, documentation and adherence to good project management. Following initial review of the project history, the exercise involved benchmarking performance of the supplied system against the legacy system to establish whether end-to-end performance had improved.

Engaged to provide independent strategic project management, progress monitoring and technical advice to assist with construction management and dispute avoidance on a major building refurbishment and fit-out project in South West London, England. The US$57m, Grade I listed building project involved demolition and reconstruction works to create linked office, meeting and residential accommodation and new structural framing to support the existing top floors.

Provided advisory services relating to a biomethane-to-grid project in South West England. The 1MW anaerobic digestion (AD) facility is designed to convert organic materials from local food and agricultural waste into gas and electricity, feeding biogas directly into the UK national grid as renewable bio-methane. Reviewed Contractor’s entitlement to an extension of time, which had a direct bearing on the validity of the termination of the contract, following equipment issues and crop feedstock deficiencies.

Expert technology advisory services for a US$60m dispute relating to the implementation of an SAP enterprise resource planning software system at a major UK media and broadcasting corporation. The organisation was advised that specific SAP modules could interface with its legacy systems with no customisation and no changes to the existing legacy systems. In the event, the legacy systems required extensive re-work and the lifespan of the project, initially 12 months, extended to nearly three years.