Good news, Not so good news,
Other project news and the
Deadliest Windfarm for birds
REPORT
By Dr. Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
The New Year is certainly moving quickly, and the project world has seen quite a lot of activity in terms of project performance, new prospects opening and old stories resurfacing. We kick off with a story both refreshing and unexpected and follow with more good news. The project world suffers, like the rest of the world, with disappointments, catalogued here as Not So Good News, and we highlight the most significant ones before moving on to a summary of other project news.
GOOD NEWS
High Speed Rail (HS2) Success. No, this is a real development, and all the more welcome after all the bashing they have had. Readers may recall the Bat Shed (careful how you say this…) story last year where it emerged that a cool £100 million had been invested in a shed to protect bats. This has been raised as an example of planning bureaucracy and sheer lunacy, depending on the newspaper you read. Similarly, in 2024 the price was £100 million but this year it is £200 million (blame the Chancellor of the Exchequer for rampant inflation). Against this unlikely background, my Home Counties imp bring news that the shed is regarded as value for money. According to David Prŷs-Jones, head of natural environment at HS2, the structure, is a “professional response to a complex problem”.
It is not clear how the reasoning for this judgement works but this is clearly a serious matter of Health and Safety concern. While most commentators regard the structure as designed to protect bats, the safety of rail passengers is a significant aspect. The structure actually protects trains from the impact of bats. While a single bat might not be a risk, ask yourself what would happen if a very large number of bats joined together to attack a train? One for the risk analysts to ponder, me thinks.
Navy Project. We rarely have any news of projects of the Royal Navy, so it is pleasing to learn of a successful result. Proteus is a full-size autonomous helicopter, and had its first flight at Predannack airfield in Cornwall. The aircraft is a demonstrator for the Royal Navy. The project aims to integrate uncrewed aerial systems alongside traditional crewed aircraft as part of the country’s future “hybrid air wing” and the Atlantic Bastion strategy.
Designed and built in Yeovil by Leonardo, as part of a £60m programme for the Royal Navy, it supports100 highly skilled jobs. The aircraft is equipped with sensors and computing systems controlled by advanced software that allows it to interpret its environment, make decisions and act without human intervention in the cockpit or cabin. According to the Company, Proteus is among the world’s first full-sized autonomous helicopters.
No Shovel Projects. Gone are the days of shovel ready projects, at least as far as the UK water industry is concerned. This familiar concept has not actually vanished but Origin Tech, a British company has developed “Find and Fix”, which it describes as a “non-disruptive leak detection and repair technology”. The purpose is to carry out repairs to our elderly water distribution system without the need for costly and disruptive excavation. Tested on 7,000 repairs on water leaks
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 II, February. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/pmwj161-Feb2026-Shepherd-UK-project-management-round-up-report.pdf
About the Author
Dr. Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Dr. Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. 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 30 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 immediate past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. He is currently Chairman of the British Standards Institute project management committee. 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/.
