How do you solve a problem like cost overruns? It is a needling question our industry has been asking for some time, and one laid bare in the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) recent paper, Cost drivers of major infrastructure projects in the UK.

At the heart of the paper, and brought to the fore in the very first sentence, is the view that “infrastructure costs in the UK are too high and they have been so for decades”. It is an opinion shared by many, spoken about widely, and backed up by facts (the paper cites several quantitative analyses in addition to its own findings).

The answer is not simple, let’s be totally clear, and I honestly believe that industry professionals fully acknowledge the need to do better. But there is no denying that this is a narrative we have grappled with for some time.