Building infrastructure needs more than supporters from the sidelines – it needs advocates

Nearly ten years ago I joined Tideway, the company responsible for delivering London’s new super sewer. It was one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in Europe and it was exhilarating to join this massive new multi-billion-pound programme.

There was a sense of excitement and purpose, and a great energy – but we also knew we were starting off against a difficult backdrop.

Too big, too expensive, unnecessary…

It is hard to believe now, when Tideway is regularly held up as an exemplar of UK infrastructure, that back in those days it had a “controversial” tag attached to it.

According to critics, it was too big, too expensive and unnecessary.

With work taking place across 24 construction sites (and at some, 24-hours a day), there was a genuine fear of what years of upheaval would look like, particularly in densely populated, residential areas where political opposition had been high during the planning stages. Furthermore, there would be little obvious to show for the disruption – no shiny new stations or faster commutes. Our work would remain largely unseen.

Even harder to believe is that the problem of sewage pollution was nowhere to be seen on the public agenda. We were s solving a problem that few people outside of a dedicated activist base knew existed. In fact, I would argue that one of Tideway’s greatest legacies is that care of waterways is now a significant part of the national conversation.

Against that backdrop it was critical that we built not only support, but advocacy – deep, long-lasting relationships based on trust and on delivering something bigger than any one organisation or group. Support can be passive; advocacy requires people to actively champion a project because they understand its purpose and can see its value. Advocates are there for the difficulties and surprises, as well as the celebrations.

We had something to build on here, thanks to the huge amount of work done during the Development Consent Order phase (this was critical in achieving consent). But if the project was to have a chance of successful delivery we had to go much further.

I will highlight three elements that helped us succeed.

Firstly, an aspirational vision, set by inspirational leadership (our team loved, and lived and breathed our vision of ‘Reconnecting London with the River Thames’).

Secondly, a genuine commitment to deliver benefits beyond the core infrastructure (if you’re spending billions of pounds on a project then you have the platform, buying power and influence to shift the dial in so many other areas – be it jobs and skills or health, safety and wellbeing).

Finally, investment in telling and owning our own story.

It is always a flawed strategy and try and avoid getting noticed. Don’t say too much; keep your heads down; be apologetic about what you’re doing; and if someone does notice, be ready to react and minimise the damage.

On Tideway we turned this around. We were proudly building the Thames Tideway Tunnel and we took every opportunity to tell our story. We utilised our greatest asset – the River Thames – and we set out to be a genuine part of the communities we served as well as an enabler of London’s future success as a global city.

We adapted our strategy of investing in local communities as we learned more about what achieved real and lasting value; and we gave ourselves permission to be creative – a must when you’re talking about a gigantic sewer tunnel.

Yes, we had to look at what we were doing through the lens of risk, but we did that by identifying the opportunity, first. 

Significantly, this approach has set the standard for the company as it enters it operational phase; and as it seeks to demonstrates the ongoing value of the new infrastructure (at the time of writing it had prevented more than 20 million tonnes of sewage from entering the Thames).

If you talk to anyone who worked on Tideway they will speak of their pride. Those of us who left recently, with the Tunnel fully operational, remain firm advocates and that is as true for the people who worked directly for Tideway or our principal supply chain as it is for the partners and stakeholders. We built a genuine coalition of advocates who were prepared to play an active part. That’s different from cheering on from the sidelines.

If this is the difference between success and failure it also makes for a more fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved.

The next generation of infrastructure projects are being delivered in a world where public expectations are even higher; scrutiny is immediate; and trust is hard-earned. The ones that succeed will be those that invest as much energy in building advocates as they do in engineering and delivery – they will see advocacy as a strategic asset, not a communications output.

They will be bold, brave, and generous in sharing success. And take delight, every day, in the fact that they are making history.