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The Regional Rethink

The map of UK infrastructure is being redrawn. Major programmes are no longer concentrated in London but spread across Scotland, the Midlands, the North and Ireland. From grid upgrades and HS2 to Net Zero Teesside, leadership and opportunity are following the projects, not postcodes.

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The Regional Rethink

The map of UK infrastructure is being redrawn. Major programmes are no longer concentrated in London but spread across Scotland, the Midlands, the North and Ireland. From grid upgrades and HS2 to Net Zero Teesside, leadership and opportunity are following the projects, not postcodes.

The centre of gravity is shifting: infrastructure talent is following the projects, not postcodes.

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Over the past 18 months, we’ve a rebalancing of where opportunity and leadership demand sit across the UK and Ireland. Scotland has experienced a Power Transmission & Distribution boom, with grid upgrade and connections driving major programmes. Sizewell C is relocating significant population of its programme team from London to Leiston near Ipswich as delivery accelerates. Network Rail’s largest enhancement programme in delivery is the TransPennine Route Upgrade. The Atomic Weapons Establishment is hiring heavily around Reading for the opening of their new office. HS2’s earlier move to Birmingham has redefined the Midland’s talent landscape. In the North East, Net Zero Teesside is ramping up, and across the Irish Sea, Dublin is pulling on UK rail expertise into MetroLink and DART+.

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A decade ago, London was the centre of the infrastructure world – Crossrail, Thames Tideway and Heathrow Expansion concentrated leadership, investment and opportunity within the M25.

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That era has passed. The projects now shaping the national economy are dispersed and the senior talent market is following suit.

 

What this means for leadership and hiring

  1. Decision making is decentralising. The volume of senior roles that once sat in London are now dispersed nationally.
  2. The best leaders are visible locally. Successful executives are engaging directly with devolved authorities, regional partners, and local supply chains. Presence has become a strategic advantage again.
  3. Infrastructure leaders living in Scotland, the Midlands, and the North no longer need to work away from home all the time, they have some good local options to work on challenging major programmes.
  4. Hiring strategies must follow, as contractors and consultants will need to be local to the project clients. A national or cross-regional search approach – not just London first – is now essential to secure the right senior capability at the right time.
  5. London hubs – some major regional programme clients have established smaller hub offices in London to tap into the large pool of south-east based infrastructure professionals, to make themselves more accessible to the mass market.

 

In my view, this regionalisation is a healthy evolution. It spreads opportunity, strengthens local economies, and builds more resilient leadership pipelines.

 

How is your organisation adapting? Are you building leadership where the delivery happens? I’d welcome your perspective — drop me a line at jn@newsomconsulting.co.uk.