At Costain Group our very reason for being in business is to address the major challenges that people care about by delivering solutions across infrastructure and the environment, and this is articulated and delivered through our Engineering Tomorrow strategy. We have embedded our social commitment into the way we do business through our Costain Cares approach and for our 150 year anniversary in 2015 committed to raising £1 million for our chosen charities British Heart Foundation, Macmillan Cancer Support, The Prince's Trust and Samaritans. And there is no surprise that this strategy is delivering increasing value for our shareholders.

I am tremendously excited that my role is to support our delivery on this approach on two of the largest projects in the UK.

Costain is working in an alliance called eight₂O to deliver Thames Water’s AMP6 (asset management period) investment of over £2bn over the next six years. This is an exciting time as we develop the delivery model for the alliance and my role is to implement the training and development that will support our strategic objectives. Central to our approach will be a new innovative concept of ‘Social Action Learning’ where we use collaborative social enterprise tools and a commitment to social action combined with action learning to accelerate skills development and the creation of the required culture. The latest neuroscience research proves why this approach will work successfully and will be a subject for another day.

My other role is as legacy lead for the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) as part of our joint venture with Vinci CGP and Bachy, entitled CVB. TTT has embedded legacy commitment deeply into the procurement process for the project and this includes the impact on people, place and the local economy in line with the project’s vision of ‘a cleaner Thames, a growing economy and a healthier future for London’. As a joint venture we have responded by engaging with organisations such as London Youth Rowing (LYR) to lay the foundations for exemplary delivery in 2015 and beyond.