Pirbright Institute Development Phase 3 OBC
In September 2020, Steer ED was appointed, as part of the consortium led by A.D. Little, to develop and write the Outline Business Case (based on Treasury’s Five Case Model) for the expansion of The Pirbright Institute's facilities at Guildford, Surrey. The ultimate client for the work was UKRI, via the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the latter having operational oversight of Pirbright and its sister institutes. The work was nationally strategic in that it represented a major upgrade in the UK’s capacity and capability to deal with infectious disease as part of climate change and the increasing movement/travel of individuals across the globe.
Steer ED’s specific responsibilities were to lead the development of the Financial and Management Cases and oversee the work (by quantity surveyors, Turner and Townsend) on the Commercial Case.
The Financial Case involved developing a bespoke costing model (which could interface with the Economic Case’s Value for Money assessment and provide the flexibility to model capital cost and revenue income scenarios over a 50-year forward period) and undertaking a detailed analysis of financial risks.
By contrast, the Management Case required Steer ED to come forward with best practice governance arrangements, execution team model structures, guidance on the assurance/approvals process, formal plans for monitoring and evaluation, detailed ‘realisation profiles’ on 16 defined benefits streams, and a detailed assessment of risks (almost 40 in total) likely to be faced in scheme implementation and operation, as well as identifying risk ownership and mitigation plans.
The Commercial Case produced a very fine-grained workplan for progressing the development, the procurement strategy, advice on the potential for The Pirbright Institute to transfer risk to contractors, and advice on headline processes for managing contracts.
Progressively developed over a 15 month period and working intensely with the Pirbright team, the ADL consortium developed a compelling multiple-hundred-million pound case for investment by the public purse, fully driven-out of long and shortlisting options for achieving the development’s intended objectives. The work was completed in January 2022. The Outline Business Case is now being reviewed by UKRI, BEIS and HM Treasury, with the expectation of Pirbright being invited to provide a Full Business Case starting later this year.
