Scottish Transport and Infrastructure Investment & Development Conference

Transport Scotland – Lawrence Shackman, Director of Major Projects

As Scotland pushes on with their pioneering regeneration- Transport Scotland continues to provide safe cost-effective and sustainable transport, building multi-million-pound infrastructure to drive economic growth. Current projects include £3 billion on the A9 Perth to Inverness, millions of pounds on the A58 schemes, and a £55 million plan to electrify the Fife route, with the aim to decarbonise all passenger services in Scotland by 2035.  Lawrence Shackman – Director of major projects will be joining us to discuss major transport projects, the development of inclusive and the drive to decarbonise transport.

Scottish Government – Katherine White, Deputy Director for Infrastructure & Investment

The Scottish Government’s infrastructure investment programme is focussed on delivering good outcomes for the people of Scotland and in particular, transitioning to net zero emissions, driving inclusive economic growth and building resilient and sustainable places. The latest Infrastructure Plan for Scotland was published on 4 February 2021. It sets out a long term vision for infrastructure, which supports an inclusive, net zero carbon economy and includes details on over £26 billion of major projects and large programmes.

Katherine White is Interim Deputy Director for Infrastructure and Investment, The Scottish Government. In this capacity she has played a leading role in the development of Scottish Government policy in a range of technical and high-profile policy areas including the production of the 2050 Scottish Energy Strategy and the 2021-22 to 2025-26 Infrastructure Investment Plan.

Mossend International Railfreight Park – David Cross, Director

Mossend International Railfreight Park (MIRP) will be Scotland’s largest international multi-modal rail freight park. It will expand the already established rail logistics operation at Mossend in Lanarkshire. The £260 million project will facilitate access to zero-carbon supply chain logistics, as well as faster, more efficient and cost-effective movement of goods with development of the wider distribution park set to begin in early 2023. David will be joining Peter D Sterling to discuss the project and the future of Logistics in Scotland.

Network Rail – Catherine Hall, Head of Strategic Planning, Scotland

Scotland’s railways carry over 2,500 passenger and 50 freight services each day, with 107 million annual passenger journeys in total and a contribution of £1.3bn each year to the nation’s economy. Network Rail work hard to invest in and develop the network to improve connectivity and ensure the greatest possible contribution to sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Key projects include a new two platform station at East Linton on the East Coast Main Line, major electrification work in East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire and a large scale modernisation project at Carstairs. Additionally, Network Rail is working with the Scottish Government to decarbonise the entire rail network by 2035.

Intelligent Land Investment Group – Mark Wilson, Chief Executive

Intelligent Land Investments Group is a Scotland based land investment company with experience across residential, renewable energy and energy storage. They have 14 major renewable energy projects in the pipeline, with a total value of £1.3 billion. Their projects are playing a significant role in Scotland’s energy transition and will create thousands of green jobs as well as saving millions of tonnes of CO2.

Mark will give an update on their development pipeline, which includes a newly announced 50 megawatt battery storage facility in Fife as well as the longer term £550 million ‘Red John’ Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) project on the shores of Loch Ness and the £600 million Corrievarkie PSH project.

Transport Focus – Trisha McAuley OBE, Board Member for Scotland

Transport Focus is the national, statutory consumer body for transport and an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Transport. In Scotland they have assisted with the development of the National Transport Strategy 2, published at the beginning of the year, the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan and the £500m Bus Partnership Fund which will ensure the views and needs of transport users are taken into account and that Scotland’s transport strategy enables positive and inclusive economic growth.

Scottish National Investment Bank – Eddie McAvinchey, Executive Director – Sustainable Investment

The Scottish National Investment Bank is Scotland’s development investment bank, wholly owned by the Scottish Ministers on behalf of the people of Scotland. Since their launch in 2020, the bank has committed to £191.4m in investment across a range of services. With a strong commitment to decarbonisation and sustainable development, the bank is investing in net-zero infrastructure including EV charging, digital infrastructure and both onshore and offshore wind. Project examples include £30m for rural digital connectivity, £13m to accelerate the Iona Wind Partnership and investment to support the installation of 1,700 new EV charging points.

Scottish Renewables – Morag Watson, Director of Policy

Scottish Renewables is the voice of Scotland’s renewable energy industry, and they work to grow the renewable energy sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry. They work across all renewable energy technologies and strive to help the sector deliver investment, jobs, social benefits and reduce carbon emissions. Morag will discuss how they are supporting the growth of the sector with recent developments including £300m from the Scottish Government for zero-emission heat networks and £30m of matched funding for innovative floating wind projects.

Balfour Beatty – Ken MacRae, Regional Commercial Director

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group who finance, develop, build and maintain the vital infrastructure that we all depend on. Ken MacRae is Balfour Beatty’s Commercial Director in Scotland, and he joins the session to discuss BB’s work to invest in and support the development of infrastructure across Scotland.

Built Environment Networking – Amanda Griffiths, Director

Amanda is one of the Co-Founder’s of Built Environment Networking – formed almost 10 years ago.

She’ll be hosting throughout the day, running the days proceedings and managing the interaction between our delegates and the speakers.

Scottish National Investment Bank – Mark Munro, Executive Director, Sustainable Investment

Mark joins the session to discuss the bank’s work to invest in and support the development of infrastructure across Scotland. This includes the recently announced £30 million of funding the bank has provided to enable the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour – with the expansion designed to improve both land and water access for offshore wind developers.