The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 176
Guest: Sir John Armitt, chairman, Public Private Partnership Commission
In this episode discuss how the new Burnham administration can use host public debate to accelerate its plans for infrastructure investment and actually start to turn ambition into reality. My guest is Sir John Armitt, former chair of the National Infrastructure Commission and a past-president of the ICE. arguably one of the most prominent, knowledgeable and influential figures when it comes to setting and delivering UK infrastructure policy.
Sir John is now chair of the new
Public Private Partnership Commission
which aims to overhaul how the UK selects, funds, delivers, and operates infrastructure. In a recent Financial Times editorial, John and the Commission advocates for
a new Office of Budget Responsibility for Infrastructure, designed to, as he puts it, shield major investments from political interference and move decisions away from the so-called "Treasury brain."
The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 175
Guest: Victoria Johnson, Vice President, HDR Engineering, Inc.
In this episode we discuss mega projects, specifically their potential impact, positive and negative, on the communities they serve and the environment they leave behind.
While historically the success of a mega project was measured in terms of its delivery to budget or completion to schedule, today these metrics have shifted wider and deeper as populations grow and the pressure of climate change bites. Today's measures of success and our focus on the human return on investment, the benefits created to living standards, including carbon reduction, economic growth and environmental improvement. In short, we're no longer just building assets, we're building the social and environmental scaffolding for the 21st century. To discuss this change and its impact on the infrastructure sector,
my guest today is
Victoria Johnson, Vice President and global infrastructure executive at infrastructure consultant HDR Engineering, Inc.,
who has spent the last two decades redefining the architecture of our cities.
A series of conversations with some of the key leaders and influencers from across the UK infrastructure sector, produced and hosted by journalist and commentator Antony Oliver.
The next episode of the Infrastructure Podcast will be published on Monday 31st August 2026
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The power behind The Infrastructure Podcast
Antony Oliver Consulting
Editorial consultancy services for the infrastructure sector
Antony works with a range of clients across the infrastructure sector, helping to boost their communication and marketing strategies and delivery so as to stimulate discussion and action in the industry.
This work includes:
- editorial support and creation
- event organisation, preparation and delivery
- round table discussion hosting and workshop/team facilitation
- video and podcasting
He has spent the last 30 years working as a journalist and editor across the infrastructure sector. Having joined New Civil Engineer magazine in 1994, he edited the title for 14 years until 2013, expanding NCE from a traditional paper magazine to deliver live events and conferences and then embrace the expanding world of multi-media digital delivery.
In 2014 he left NCE to create and launch Infrastructure Intelligence, a new digital-first publication for the sector, and for two years led and developed this ground-breaking media brand for the Association for Engineering and Consultancy.
He is a chartered civil engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, having started his career with Owen Williams and Partners and Balfour Beatty. He is committed to driving change across the UK infrastructure sector and is a Trustee of the Built Environment Trust and a Director of the Building Centre in Store Street, London.
antony@antonyoliver.com
