Annual Conference: Harnessing Emotional Intelligence in the Successful Delivery of Major Projects (Part 2)

Sir Tim Laurence

No longer at member organisation

Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence joined the Major Projects Association as Chair on 1st April 2013. His 37 years of service in the Royal Navy culminated with three years as Chief Executive of the organisation which manages Britain's Defence property and projects worldwide (now known as the Defence Infrastructure Organisation). After retiring in 2010, he became a freelance non-executive with interests in property, regeneration, transport and defence. He is Chairman of two property companies specialising in urban regeneration projects. In April 2015 he took over as Chairman of the English Heritage Trust, the charity which looks after England's National Collection of historic sites, including Dover Castle, Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall. In July 2016 he became Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He holds non-remunerative positions with the Great Western Railway, with the Durham Global Security Institute and with a number of charities, including RNLI and the HMS Victory Preservation Company.

Dr. Paul Chapman OBE

Senior Fellow in Operations Management, Saïd Business School

Paul Chapman is a leading expert on the learning and development of executives, especially those responsible for leading the delivery of major programmes/major projects typically valued at more than $1 billion.

Paul is Academy Director for the UK Government’s “Major Project Leadership Academy” (MPLA), a one-year part time programme for the Major Project Leaders responsible for delivering the UK Central Government’s portfolio strategic projects valued at over £440bn. In this role he also designed and directs the “Sponsoring Major Projects” programme for UK Government Ministers.

At Oxford Paul also set up the MSc in Major Programme Management, a two-year, part-time programme that attracts senior programme leaders from around the world (50% are based outside the UK) who lead programme across a range of sectors.

These programmes involve working closely with client organisations and participants to understanding their potential for development and growth through to realising these opportunities. These roles also include engaging teams of faculty and experienced practitioners to create the design and content required to ensure an engaging learning experience. For example, in addition to the MPLA, Chapman’s work with the UK Government extends to include developing and delivering workshops for the Civil Service’s Permanent Secretaries and also for particular departments that bring together Ministerial teams and their Senior Civil Servants. This means that the insights and capabilities Major Project Leaders develop on the Academy receive better support and can be implemented more effectively in the workplace, which is leading to notable improvements in Major Project delivery.

Paul’s research takes concepts at the heart of operations management, especially engineering and production, and blends these with other insights. This includes developing an approach to reducing new product development lead times that enabled organisations to improve market sensitivity and return on capital. Another strand of research brings together operations management with criminology to address product loss through theft and errors. The outputs from this work have been adopted internationally, saving retailers in Europe and the Americas over $2 billion in recent years.

Before joining Saïd Business School, Paul was a Senior Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management and previously was a member of the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick. Paul took his BEng, MSc and Engineering Doctorate at the University of Warwick.

Paul is also Vice President of the Association for Project Management (APM), the Chartered body for the project profession, and previously served six years as a Board Member and Chair of the Professional Standards and Knowledge Committee.

Katherine Bew

Managing Director, PCSG

Katherine Bew is the founder and Managing Director of specialist-built environment consultancy firm PCSG Ltd. In 2000, at the age of 29 and having spent almost 10 years in the civil engineering division of John Laing Construction, Katherine set up her own company with a clear focus on helping contractors with their pre-construction activities, in particular business strategy and bidding. 20 years on, a lot has happened, including the merger of her business with that of her husband Mark Bew (former Chairman of the UK Government BIM Task Group). She now has a 50+ strong team based in the UK and Australia. Katherine’s passion is bringing about better social, environmental and financial outcomes by enabling transformational change through the use of digital asset data and developing high performance collaborative team cultures. She will share examples of how environments are created that enable people to flourish and better results to be delivered.

Andy Mitchell CBE

Chief Executive, Tideway

Andy became Chief Executive Officer of Tideway full time in early summer 2014. He was previously Programme Director and Board Member at Crossrail. Andy has managed a number of high-profile projects both in the United Kingdom and overseas. After 12 years working in the United Arab Emirates, France and South Africa and on major developments such as Hong Kong Airport and the Hong Kong West Rail, he joined Network Rail in 2001. He was Project Director for Network Rail’s Southern Power Upgrade project, and was also the Major Programme Director of the Thameslink Programme.

Andy is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, former Chair of the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Platform (i3P), and the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) and more recently became Co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC). He was awarded the CBE for his services to Civil Engineering.

Nirmal Kotecha

Chair, Major Projects Association

Nirmal was appointed Chair of the Major Projects Association in April 2025. He is a Partner at Allora Infrastructure and an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Thames Water. He has held senior roles in several Major Infrastructure Client organisations across a number of sectors including, Energy, Roads, and Water, and led the transformation of their procurement, commercial and programme delivery capability.

He stepped down from UK Power Networks in 2024 after serving over 12 years on the Executive Team as the Director of Capital Programme & Procurement, having successfully delivered its ED1 major capital programme via the ED1SON Alliance.

Nirmal was previously on the Board of the Highways Agency for four years, as their Major Projects Director, having joined on the back of the Nichols’ Review in 2007, and is credited with transforming the Agency’s commercial and programme delivery capability.

Prior to that, he was at Anglian Water where he developed the @One Alliance which is still regarded as an exemplary model for collaboratively delivering a large and complex programme of works.

Nirmal is the immediate past Chair of the Infrastructure Client Group Management Board and is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineers and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing Supply and is an Alumnus of the London Business School.

William Hoare

No longer at member organisation

Will is a Management Consultant within Accenture Capital Projects and Infrastructure practice,

focusing on energy transition technologies. He has experience working with EPCs, regulators and the

supply chain in heavily regulated industries.

Will is passionate about the intersection between decarbonisation and the practicalities of delivery

through major programmes. He loves the international aspect to major projects and is learning

Mandarin.

Tiffany Duffin

Analyst, Accenture

Tiffany is an Analyst at Accenture, where she has been working within the Power Generation & Infrastructure practice and the Sustainability Strategy practice. Here she has worked with various clients to improve business processes and value the impact of sustainability on business and society. Tiffany's interests lie in large-scale industrial sustainability, particularly the application of circular economy business models and clean energy solutions to drive business growth. Tiffany is also a member of Accenture's Capital Projects & Infrastructure Committee, through which she has been working with the MPA to develop a Major Projects Young Professional's Network.

Sir Tim Laurence

No longer at member organisation

Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence joined the Major Projects Association as Chair on 1st April 2013. His 37 years of service in the Royal Navy culminated with three years as Chief Executive of the organisation which manages Britain's Defence property and projects worldwide (now known as the Defence Infrastructure Organisation). After retiring in 2010, he became a freelance non-executive with interests in property, regeneration, transport and defence. He is Chairman of two property companies specialising in urban regeneration projects. In April 2015 he took over as Chairman of the English Heritage Trust, the charity which looks after England's National Collection of historic sites, including Dover Castle, Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall. In July 2016 he became Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He holds non-remunerative positions with the Great Western Railway, with the Durham Global Security Institute and with a number of charities, including RNLI and the HMS Victory Preservation Company.