Saïd Business School secures contract to deliver government's Major Projects Leadership Academy

By Nicky Godding

2 June 2022

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Oxford Saïd Business School has been awarded the contract to update and deliver the Major Projects Leadership Academy, providing mandatory training for major project leaders, and its complementary programme, Orchestrating Major Projects, which provides training for senior officials who sponsor and are accountable for major project delivery.

The contract will see the content of the programmes refreshed to meet the government’s future major project challenges, including training on modern construction and digital methods, managing costs and carbon impacts, and delivering government projects better, faster and greener for the benefit of the people of the UK.

Together the programmes, which will welcome participants from this summer, are expected to improve standards of major project delivery.

Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees Mogg said: "It is important that we are launching the latest version of the Major Project Leadership Academy (MPLA). This is an example of HM government’s determination to build professional expertise and capabilities that will ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent well so that infrastructure will be built efficiently."

Nick Smallwood, Chief Executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and Head of the Government Project Delivery Function, added: "It is vital that all project professionals and SROs have access to world-class training that enables them to deliver the UK’s essential and ambitious projects and programmes - that is why we are investing in the future of our leaders so that they are equipped with the right skills and experience to make a real difference.

"The Major Projects Academy is just one example of this and I look forward to continuing to work with Oxford Saïd Business School on the programme."

Dr Paul Chapman, Programme Director of the MPLA and OMP at Oxford Saïd Business School said: "UK government major project leaders are accountable for the most complex and impactful projects that shape the nation’s social and economic fabric and deliver benefits that impact the lives of millions.

"Oxford Saïd Business School, supported by key subcontractors Atkins Limited and Edgecumbe Consulting Group Limited, looks forward to continuing to work with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to ensure major project leaders benefit from rigorous insights and personal and professional development that equips them with the right skills to discharge their accountability effectively and with vigour in an ever-changing world."

More than 500 senior leaders from over 50 public sector organisations successfully completed the previous Major Projects Leadership Academy, while more than 70 senior officials have enrolled on the Orchestrating Major Projects programme.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.