Thames Water shortens procurement process for £3bn water infrastructure upgrades

Procurement specialist JCP has helped UK-based water utility Thames Water achieve an over 75% reduction in the procurement time for its approximately £3bn water infrastructure improvement contract.

Thames Water has reduced the procurement process from 18 months to four to upgrade deteriorating water infrastructure in the country, a project which is expected to take around 12 years to complete.

JCP oversaw a shift in focus from a competitive approach to a more collaborative and supportive environment with Thames Water partners across the supply chain. The water utility avoided the need for a lengthy costly bid process to secure industry experts for the refurbishment programme.

Thames Water capital procurement head Tim Coles said that the utility has procured an option to offer the longest contract term ever awarded by the company.

"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," he said.

"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. Working collaboratively with us they quickly produced a process that was rated as excellent by both ourselves and the bidders."

JCP director Simon Vaughan said that the collaboration approach to procurement is the way forward for companies working on long-term and high-cost projects.

"We devise flexible models that companies can apply to individual procurement projects so that they can deliver on both time and cost, often ahead of projections," he said.

Thames Water has reduced its procurement cycle in view of a call from the water regulator and the government to emphasise on greater efficiencies in procurement for large-scale infrastructure projects.

The UK Cabinet Office has acknowledged the approach as a time and money-saving option.

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Image: Thames Water has reduced the procurement process for its water infrastructure upgrade programme in the UK. Photo: courtesy of Ben Franske.