InfraRed Capital Partners

IRCP is an international infrastructure asset manager. It oversees over $13bn spread across more than 300 assets in 18 countries. Infrared is extensively involved in the UK PPP market. IRCP wants to be established as the industry benchmark on UK PPP data quality and completeness, governance and transparency.

Creating best in class industry standards and PPP Performance with IRCP

Brief:

To support IRCP’s delivery of their intent, Curshaw were retained to:

  • Risk assess a representative portfolio of IRCP’s UK projects

  • Undertake contract reviews for key projects

  • Develop methodologies to demonstrate both operational efficiency and handback preparedness

  • Recommend PPP data quality improvement needs, where necessary; and

  • Develop a management information tool that is able to showcase Project operations to a defined standard of contractual performance and management, based on the needs of contracting authorities and central government.

The Process:

Building on three pathfinder Project Reviews Curshaw developed a standardised approach to risk assess the portfolio of projects that involved undertaking proactive deep dive contract reviews including desktop contract, CAFM and payment mechanism analysis and field work with all project stakeholders including Contracting Authorities to gain critical insights on client challenges and concerns.

The standardised approach involved the development of scalable best practice standards for operational performance of PFIs and handback preparedness against which to objectively assess projects.  In turn Curshaw ranked projects based on operational and handback risk by utilising their risk assessment model. 

Curshaw identified the need for a tool for Management Service Providers (MSP) to use, independently of IRCP and Curshaw, to determine, using evidence, where performance can be improved. We proactively developed this tool for IRCP to roll out to their MSPs.

The final deliverable of the overall project was the development of the management information reporting tool that enabled the tracking and management of project by project and portfolio performance improvement actions and project risk assessments through click navigable PowerBI dashboards. This reporting mechanism demonstrates transparency and governance and improves the dialogue with all stakeholders at project level and Central Government oversight bodies.


As a consequence of delivering the overall project, Curshaw has been able to identify portfolio risks and opportunities that had not formed part of the original client brief. We were able to provide IRCP details of a range of further portfolio-wide initiatives that addressed the challenges of Asset Managers who work on their own individual assets and wouldn’t necessarily identify that their challenges were not unique.

The Outcomes:

  • Identification of higher risk projects that ensured resources could be efficiently targeted across the portfolio. This line of sight to project risk and portfolio risk enables the targeting of early  interventions resulting in robust plans for efficiently addressing material portfolio risks and enacting opportunities.

  • Improvement plans with actions assigned to Project stakeholders identifying mutually beneficial actions and improvement plans.

  • PowerBI dashboards to track actions and identify themes through click navigable PowerBI dashboards.

  • Measurable improvement with Contracting Authorities through transparent management information on performance improvement action plans.

  • Trusted partner status enhanced through portfolio roll out of systematic approach to improvement in the open and in dialogue with Central Government oversight bodies and Sponsor Departments. 

  • Established best practice standards that objectively assessed projects mid-life and in preparation for handback These standards, underpinned by defined evidential requirements,  substantiated performance and identified gaps.

  • Ensured Consistency of Approach through adoption of a standards-based approach.

  • The proactive creation of a MSP self assessment tool identifying performance improvement requirements and action plan development. 

  • Identification and management of portfolio risks and opportunities - Looking across all IRCP projects to identify risks and opportunities that are commonplace and can be mitigated and capitalised upon efficiently at scale through further portfolio-wide initiatives.