Connect Plus created integrated teams under a collaborative framework to deliver a £350 million highways asset management programme using Two Stage Open Book within the 30-year concession. The teams comprised Connect Plus (M25) and Highways England (clients), Jackson Civil Engineering, Aggregate Industries, Lafarge Tarmac, Balfour Beatty, (Geoffrey) Osborne, Skanska UK (main contractors), Atkins Consultancy Services, Flint & Neill, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Connect Plus Services (lead designers and contract managers) and Temporal Consulting (collaborative change consultant).
Connect Plus created and implemented an innovative Sustainable Business Culture Model through which it agreed efficiency savings of 8% together with design improvements to reduce whole life costs and improve long-term reliability. The culture promoted continuous improvement dialogues, including a collaborative cost review, ensuring that good practice was repeated and that lessons were learnt and applied to subsequent projects.
Connect Plus established a Balanced Scorecard process to allow the whole supply chain to input into monitoring performance across the Connect Plus community. The supply chain members were regularly invited to score performance against these objectives by reference to critical success factors. Scores were given on a 1 to 12 scale, allowing the whole M25 community to give feedback on the programme, understand areas of strength and improve areas of weakness.
The Balanced Scorecard approach enabled Connect Plus to understand and measure progress towards its declared objectives of:
■ Creating and maintaining a group of directors and facilitators empowered with the skills and behaviours to support and lead the cultural change and role model collaboration
■ Delivering a whole life approach
■ Minimising the impact of maintenance works
■ Maintaining project facilities
■ Enhancing knowledge of project facilities
■ Respect for the environment
■ Reduced risk.