Good news (New Stadium, Pennine Tunnels, Tower London Education Centre, Defence Investment Plan); Not so Good News (New Drug Project, Cost Creep, Spaced Out, Bridge Project Funding, New School Demolition); Other Project News (Commonwealth Games, Olympia Reopening. MOLA Dig, Northfleet Harbourside Mega Project); The Begging Bowl, Tunnels for Telescopes and Animal Risks
REPORT
By Dr. Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
What a month! Hot weather, Wimbledon, World Cup, Farnborough Air Show, Commonwealth Games – all on top of mega matters the month before. Perhaps the major event to affect the UK project world is the assumption of power by yet another Prime Minister, our 7th in 10 years. Naturally, a new Prime Minister brings new thinking, not just his/her own but political rivals, one of which called our New Leader (hereafter NL, not to be confused with the Netherlands) “a pair of eyelashes and a tee shirt”; the other obvious change is a new set of priorities. So far, we have had almost non-stop media release, usually at 6 a.m. but so far, not much on projects. No doubt NL’s impact on projects will become clear once we see how he reacts to all the demands for handouts.
And so on with the UK PM News – where we start with some good news
GOOD NEWS
New Projects
- New Stadium. One to please NL, Manchester United have acquired most of the land needed to construct the UK’s biggest sporting arena. The 25-acre site, located approximately 350m north-west of the current stadium is intended to work cohesively with the wider Old Trafford regeneration strategy, ensuring optimum connectivity and the best possible experience for fans. The 370 acre regeneration project is expected to deliver around 15,000 new homes, including affordable housing, create 48,000 new jobs locally and over 90,000 nationally, and add more than £7 billion a year to the UK economy.
- Pennine Tunnels. Ten years ago, a plan was put forward to build a tunnel through the Pennines. It would link Sheffield in the East with Manchester in the West, cost around £10 BN. Five routes for the project, involving boring two 15m-wide holes through the Peak District, were shortlisted by the government. At the time, concerns were raised about driver safety in the 20 mile long tunnel but fears were contrasted with the 15-mile Lærdal tunnel, northeast of Bergen in Norway and the 11-mile long Zhongnanshan tunnel in China. The plan was eventually abandoned but a new firm claims the tunnel can be achieved that for a fraction of the expected cost by copying the Scandinavians and using explosives rather than tunnel-boring machines. In a press release Michael Dnes, former head of future roads technology at the Department for Transport (DfT) and co-founder of Future Works, stated “We’ve concluded that it’s possible to dig the tunnel as much as 90 per cent cheaper than the government thought”. Laerdal, the world’s longest tunnel, was built in Norway for considerably less than the amount spent on planning permission for the still incomplete Lower Thames Crossing.
- Tower of London Education Centre. Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) have launched a project to raise £70 million for a multimillion-pound plan will seek to modernise its educational and community facilities, turning the historic site into one of the world’s most unique learning spaces. The aim is to increase the number of annual school visits by 75,000 a year. HRP have already raised £20 million, the project is one of the largest single investments in the Tower since the 13th century when Henry III and Edward I expanded the palace which was constructed as part of the Norman Conquest toward the end of 1066.
- Defence Investment Plan. OK, not a project as such but it can be viewed as starting point for a major program. The four-year financing package plan (2026/27 to 2029/30) totals some £298 billion including a £15 billion new funding boost to accelerate warfighting readiness, autonomous systems, munitions, and service housing upgrades.
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2026). UK Project Management Roundup, report, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue VIII, August. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/pmwj167-Aug2026-Shepherd-UK-Regional-Report.pdf
About the Author
Dr. Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Dr. Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for the PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. He retired from a 30 year career in the British Army in 1994. He is also managing director for MS Projects Ltd, a consulting company supporting various UK and overseas Government agencies, nuclear industry organisations and other businesses. Miles has over 35 years’ experience on a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. His PM experience includes defence, major IT projects, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, nuclear security, rail and business projects for the UK Government and EU. His consulting work has taken him to Japan, Taiwan, USA and Russia. Past Chair and Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is also past president and chair and a Fellow of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). He was, for seven years, a Director for PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre and is past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. He served on British Standards Institute project management committee (2002 – 2026) including 5 years as Chair. He was involved in setting up APM’s team developing guidelines for project management oversight and governance. Miles is based in Salisbury, England and can be contacted at miles.shepherd@msp-ltd.co.uk.
To view other works by Miles Shepherd, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/miles-shepherd/.
