Integrated planning surfaced £47m in validated benefits for a UK water utility
A UK water utility replaced siloed planning with a single integrated plan, clear stage gates, and a planning system that restored forecast credibility and regulatory confidence.
Starting point
In 2020, the utility was operating under intense regulatory scrutiny after a £126 million penalty for unintentional misreporting. Operational, capital, and strategic functions each maintained their own plans, with limited visibility across portfolios. Scope overlapped, benefits were double counted, and financial forecasts did not align between functions or with regulatory commitments.
No central planning team or planning system existed to coordinate activity across water and wastewater portfolios. Regulatory deadlines for mandated programs were approaching, and leadership needed a way to prioritize, sequence, and track work without further penalties or surprises in the plan.
Approach
The client engaged a consulting team to design and implement a more disciplined approach to integrated planning. The team also included Bhuvan Maingi, who is now part of Strathen Group. The first step was to map the full universe of operational initiatives, capital schemes, and strategic projects across water and wastewater. This created the foundation for a single Integrated Plan, with a shared calendar and explicit dependencies between programs.
Working with Strategy and Asset Management and Operations leadership, the team defined stage gate qualification criteria and benefit rules. Initiatives needed clear ownership, evidence for benefits, and alignment to regulatory drivers before entering the Integrated Plan. Benefits were governed by rules that prevented double counting, required owner sign off, and linked each benefit to either cost savings, penalty avoidance, or service outcomes.
To support this, the team implemented a planning system and a set of standard artifacts. These included a consolidated initiative and benefit register, dependency maps, risk and mitigation logs, and a forecast pack designed for leadership review. A single planning taxonomy and common data standards allowed finance, operations, and capital delivery teams to speak in the same structure when updating plans and forecasts.
Integration forums were then set up to resolve overlaps in scope, cost, benefits, and schedules across portfolios. Monthly integration meetings tested new initiatives against stage gate criteria, reviewed critical path items, and examined changes that might affect regulatory milestones. An exception process handled late cycle changes so that emergencies could be addressed without destabilizing the broader plan.
Finally, the engagement focused on building an internal Integrated Planning capability. Role charters, RACI, and process guides were created for internal planners. Training and coaching sessions helped the internal team run the planning cycle, manage forums, and maintain the planning system. By the end of the engagement, the planning function operated as business as usual without external support.
Integrated planning moved the utility from isolated function plans to a single, sequenced portfolio with clear ownership, dependencies, and decision rights at each gate.
Outcome
The integrated planning model revealed the true picture of work and benefits across the utility’s portfolios. By standardizing initiative definitions and enforcing benefit rules, the team identified £47 million of de-duplicated gross benefits across water and wastewater. Overlaps in scope were reduced as similar initiatives were combined or retired, and ownership was clarified for each part of the plan.
Sequencing work against regulatory commitments allowed the utility to avoid an estimated £23 million in further penalties. Mandated programs were prioritized and scheduled to meet regulator deadlines, while less critical initiatives were moved or reshaped to fit around these constraints. This provided the regulator and internal stakeholders with a more credible view of how commitments would be met.
Finance forecasts became more consistent as the Integrated Plan and forecast pack gave leadership a single version of the truth. The planning cycle now ran on a regular cadence, with monthly integration meetings and stage gate reviews replacing ad hoc discussions. The internal Integrated Planning team took over the process with clear role charters, RACIs, and documented standards, giving the utility a sustainable capability rather than a one off exercise.
For regulated utilities, the biggest step change often comes from integrated planning that disciplines every major decision, not from isolated cost cutting drives.
This work now shapes how Strathen Group approaches integrated planning in regulated sectors: start with governance and rules, expose conflicts early, and leave behind a capability clients can run themselves.
