Odds & Ends, Good News, Not So Good News,
Other Project News, Professional Society News
and SPUN
REPORT
By Dr. Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
You have probably heard too much about the various Seasons here in UK but as we move into what is widely known as The Season, I should mention it and provide a little background. This follows in the Odds and Ends, which covers some items from the project world that didn’t fit elsewhere. Elsewhere we look at some changes at APM, rather more good news than we have had for a few months and some old favourites in the form of HS2 and red tape return.
ODDS AND ENDS
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- The Season. This starts with the delivery of a major project, the Chelsea Flower Show, reported last month and ends with the start of the Lawn Tennis Championships (you might call it Wimbledon, but my Manners Imp dictates otherwise). There are lots of interesting social events including the King’s Birthday Parade (some call it the Trooping of the Colours), Royal Garden Parties and the like, all of which are technically projects although many of the Project Managers would not accept this accolade.
- Projects Ancient and Modern. Stonehenge has emerged as probably Britain’s oldest project, even older that HS2 or Hinkley C! We had confirmation some years ago (reported in these pages – see my profile in the PMW Library) that there were several stages to the construction but now we have evidence that a previously unknown R&D phase took place just before the main construction started, about 500 years before – this may also be evidence of the planning issues faced by the Neolithics which show little changes.
GOOD NEWS
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- Planning Progress 1. Two projects have cleared early hurdles. First, a strategic review carried out last month by UK Sport reported that UK could host an Olympic Games in the 2040s. It has been reported that HM Treasury has agreed in principle to a second round of work. Sensibly, the next stage is intended to what a bid to the International Olympic Committee would entail. What is encouraging, from a Project perspective, is that lessons learned from other Games are informing the assessment. Using the Brisbane Games “hub and spoke” approach allows planners to propose a model that uses facilities in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Bradford. This plays well to the aspirations of the current Government and its potential new leader.
- Project Planning 2. No less than 16 long term infrastructure projects have been approved by OFGEM, the energy regulator. All relate to pumped hydro energy storage and are intended to improve domestic power supply and lowering. These involve long-duration storage systems to balance unpredictable wind and solar power. Ofgem published the results of its first round of applicants on Friday and hopes to encourage the development of 16 projects, representing 7.645 gigawatts (GW) of capacity.
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/2026/07/pmwj166-Jul2026-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/.
