Engineering Excellence Community Forum: A new specification for infrastructure productivity – PAS 4010

Darren James

The CEO of Aureos (formerly Keltbray Infrastructure Services) since December 2024, Darren James oversaw its private equity purchase from Keltbray, where he was group CEO from April 2020.

Previously he’d served Costain for more than three decades, starting as an industrial placement student and finishing as chief operating officer.

James is also a seasoned non-executive director. After ending a six-year stint with the Port of London Authority in that capacity, he was appointed to the board of Welsh Water in January 2025 as chair of its performance and safety committee. He is also a director of the Railway Industry Association and a member of the Rail Supply Group’s council.

An ICE Fellow, he sits on ICE’s Learning Society Committee as the co-lead for engineering excellence.

Andy Alder

Andy is a civil engineer and leader of major infrastructure programmes. He is currently Managing Director of Major Infrastructure Delivery at Anglian Water, responsible for leading circa £3bn of strategic infrastructure projects to secure future water supply, enhance the natural environment and enable economic growth. These include the 600km strategic interconnector programme to deliver a water supply network across the east of England.

Andy was previously Programme Director for Tideway, and led the design and construction of major projects including Crossrail Western Tunnels, Dublin Tram and Docklands Light Railway Extensions.

Andy is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Chartered Project Professional, and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Association for Project Management. He is chair of the ICE’s Audit Committee and ICE’s group leading improvements in productivity in the infrastructure sector and engineering safety management.

Mark Hansford

With a background in both civil engineering and journalism, Mark Hansford has spent more than 25 years as a specialist in disseminating infrastructure knowledge.

After leaving the University of Birmingham with an MEng in 1997, he began his career as an engineer with AtkinsRéalis, where he conducted water supply and distribution analyses, including an asset condition study covering the 100 largest urban water schemes in Ghana.

In 2000, Hansford joined New Civil Engineer magazine, where he progressed through a series of roles. As editor from 2014 to 2020, he led its relaunch as a monthly title publishing daily digital news.

An ICE Fellow, Hansford then served the institution for nearly six years as its director of engineering knowledge. He now works with several organisations seeking to share knowledge, stimulate discussion and enable action to improve the performance of the UK infrastructure sector.

Ed McCann

A past ICE President, Ed McCann is an experienced project director. He was fundamental in growing Expedition Engineering from a startup to Building magazine’s Engineering Consultant of the Year in 2012. 

With a deep understanding of the construction process, McCann is particularly skilled in strategic consultancy, feasibility studies and design. He has led projects all over the world, including the award-winning Infinity Bridge at Stockton-on-Tees and London 2012’s Olympic Velodrome. 

In his most recent projects, McCann has worked with infrastructure clients to improve processes and implement new technologies. This has included creating and delivering a productivity workstream for High Speed 2; designing the Rolls-Royce small modular reactors programme factory for BAM Nuttall; and developing the Berkeley Homes modular housing system.

His interests include developing talent in the built environment sector. This led him to co-create the Constructionarium, a not-for-profit provider of education and training. He is also a co-founder of the Get It Right Initiative, an organisation working to eliminate avoidable errors in construction.

A renowned thought leader, McCann is often invited to write articles and speak at industry events. He has also made TV programmes about civil engineering.