As the UK looks to bolster its economy and accelerate the drive to net zero, WSP’s new managing director for the UK and Ireland Paul Reilly says there’s “plenty of opportunity for industry” as 2025 gets under way.

Reilly has just taken up the post having served as deputy CEO UK and Ireland and joining WSP in 2022 as managing director for its planning and advisory business.

And he’s clear that the government’s agenda – targeting green energy, infrastructure development, investment and an overhaul of the planning system – means the year ahead could be one of great potential for WSP and industry as a whole.

WSP, which employs more than 10,000 people across its UK and Ireland business, is about to enter its next strategic cycle with transport infrastructure, water, energy and carbon capture and storage just some of the areas it has seen significant contract wins.

“There’s plenty of opportunity for us, and our industry, as we get behind the government’s agenda,” he said.

“Eyes are on the spring with the Spending Review and the National Infrastructure Strategy. There’s plenty to do and as a country we’ve set ourselves some pretty significant challenges – reducing emissions by 68% by 2030 and quadrupling offshore wind.

“We need to consider projects that are not just nationally significant, but nationally critical, and think about how we speed up the consenting of these to meet the challenges we have set.

“The spring Spending Review will give us greater clarity in what we can expect in terms of infrastructure planning reform, a twin track process that can speed up projects that are part of the government’s missions.

“And we stand ready to support any of those changes to move things faster.”

In October last year, the government announced the creation of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), which will look to bring infrastructure strategy and delivery together addressing the systemic delivery challenges that have hampered growth.

NISTA will combine the functions of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).

“There’s been a lot of positivity from the work of the NIC and IPA,” said Reilly, “but if their roles can be strengthened and provide even more certainty, we’re behind that.

“We want to see more investment and make the UK even more investable, especially in key projects in the energy, water and infrastructure spaces.

“The UK’s GDP hasn’t really moved much since 2011, and the UK’s investment figures haven’t really ticked up since 2018. That’s years of lost opportunity.

“As industry we need to get behind the government’s ambitions and get behind our clients that are keen to invest in the UK, simplify the process to get consent and speed up the process of delivery.

“If we can get these things joined up, a strong and certain pipeline over the next 10 years and a real commitment to catalyse investment, then we can all get behind that and maybe meet some of the deadlines that have been set.”

WSP’s last strategic cycle – 2022-2024 - has been one of significant progress.

It has continued to expand with acquisitions including the environment and infrastructure business of John Wood Group plc in 2022 and the built environment consultancy business from Capita.

It is building on growth areas such as transport, where it is working on large and complex projects with HS2 and National Highways.

Water is another area of significant growth, having secured major contracts for the AMP8 investment programme.

Last year National Grid announced WSP had been appointed as one of seven industry partners to deliver The Great Grid Upgrade - a new enterprise model to advance the delivery of critical electricity infrastructure across the nation by supporting the UK supply chain capacity and fostering collaboration across best practice and skills.

But challenges remain for industry, says Reilly, particularly when it comes to achieving net zero.

“We’re not making progress quickly enough,” he said, “every day we see communities affected by extreme weather conditions.

“We need to do more, and we need to do it more quickly.

“I think it’s absolutely right and proper that government asks the private sector to step up and help the country meet a lot of these challenges.

“But I also think it’s completely appropriate for the private sector to ask the government to make some interventions to allow it to invest with more confidence and to accelerate that delivery.

“Streamlining consent regimes, making sure our statutory bodies are supportive, and having mandates that are respectful of the national agenda.

“This is what I’m hoping to see as we go into the spring.”

He added: “In our industry we should be proud of the approach we’re taking on net zero, the innovation and how we’re driving all this forward.

“But with a more secure pipeline and with some incentives to catalyse further investment we can go further and faster.

“Our UK industry is brilliant and has really adopted the need for forward thinking in this space. What I’m hoping for in the next few years is for industry to convene more regularly, share best practice, share good ideas – to push ourselves to all get better and be proud of collaboration in this space.”

It’s often said the industry is only as good as the people it employs.

Last year saw more than 1,300 new recruits join the WSP team in the UK and Ireland.

“In 2025 we’ll continue to recruit more great people,” said Reilly. “We’ve won a lot of strategic positions and we’ll be mobilising teams against them.

“There’s always concern about talent coming into the industry and we’ve got to own that problem ourselves. We definitely do here.

“We are bringing in great people, developing great careers, but we’ve got to double down on that to keep them.

“A big part is engagement, having fun at work and being proactive about managing wellbeing.

“People come to work because they want to be employed on interesting and challenging projects. Our job is to make that as easy as possible to do, support that and make that happen.”

Reilly’s change in position comes as Mark Naysmith, former president for WSP’s EMEIA region, has stepped up to become global chief operating officer.

With more than 35 years at WSP, Naysmith brings extensive experience and a proven track record of driving operational excellence and strategic growth. 

He now oversees global operations, driving growth, financial performance and collaboration across WSP’s regions worldwide.

Reilly says he is stepping into “some pretty prestigious footsteps” taking up the UK MD role.

But as his first month in post gets under way, he says a key driver remains championing careers in the sector where he sees great potential – and where he now leads more than 10,000 people.

“On a day-to-day basis when people come to the office, we want it to be a good fun environment, it has to be a place they want to be.

“We’ve brought more than 1,300 people into the business over the last 12 months – and we want to continue attracting some of the brightest and best of industry that want to come and join us.”