November 2021

Vercity CEO Blog – Stuart Yeatman

I hope you are keeping safe and well. I want to share some of the current Vercity highlights, including ESG reporting, Consultancy progress and an overview of our new Project Exit initiative.

ESG Four Pillars – Setting Targets and Supporting Clients

Vercity is reporting on its own targets through our Four Pillars ESG Report. This aligns with the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) identified metrics, drawing on existing standards and measures, and reporting in a transparent way.

The Vercity Four Pillars also support 9 of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Developments Goals (STG), chosen to best support our clients and end users.

Our Four Pillars are People, Planet, Prosperity and Governance. The first full-year report is due July, 2022.

Vercity Consultancy – Developing the business

Vercity Consultancy continues to grow and develop. Over the last two years it has grown by over 20% and attracted even more skilled professionals to the team. The success of the consultancy business is all about the engagement and commitment of everyone in the consultancy team, which is clear throughout. In addition to securing new clients, we continue to support our existing clients and our colleagues.

There are some highlights worth noting, which illustrate the exciting journey taken over a relatively short period of time.

• Developed innovative new areas of service such as Handback Management and Obsolescence Management.
• Engaged with our diverse clients through Investor Forums, to better understand their needs and continuously develop how to serve them.
• Achieved accreditation with Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Asset Management, and hope to be certified to ISO9001 shortly

Project Exit – An introduction

As many of you will be aware there’s been a growing focus in UK PPP on the process of investors exiting projects and the handback of assets to the public sector. To lead Vercity’s approach to this challenge, Patrick Hamill will be taking up a new role as Commercial Director (Project Exit). This new role will allow Vercity to really focus on how we support not only our investor clients and our public sector stakeholders throughout the process of Project Exit but will also ensure the right support is put around Vercity colleagues, whose day-job is to manage projects.

The role will overlap between the divisions of the business, working with colleagues in Operations, Finance and Consultancy to build on the good work already done in this area and ensure a comprehensive approach. That approach will span from several years before the actual ‘handback’ date in the contract through to various activities that will still be needed for some time after. Patrick will continue to operate as the Key Account lead with InfraRed and on the development of the MyRIAD management system.

Please let me know any topics that you would like to see covered in further updates.

All the best

Stuart Yeatman | CEO | Vercity Group