Case Study: Commercial Leadership in Port & Marine Environments
Client / Sector
Associated British Ports (ABP) - Marine & Infrastructure
Challenge
ABP needed to progress multiple strategic port investments, including the Future Port Talbot redevelopment and other national growth projects. The challenge was to develop robust business cases, secure board and regulatory approvals, and establish delivery systems that could manage cost, risk, and programme certainty across complex, high-value portfolios.
Our Role
Effectus CS provided client-side commercial leadership and direction to ABP’s Major Projects Group. Our role included:
Leading commercial strategy and cost planning for major port and landside developments.
Structuring procurement models aligned with NEC4 contracts to balance risk and incentivise performance.
Embedding programme controls and assurance processes to deliver governance confidence.
Supporting dispute avoidance and resolution, ensuring progress was not derailed by claims or uncertainty.
Outcome
Secured greater confidence in business case submissions and capital approvals.
Delivered cost planning and commercial frameworks that improved predictability of outturn costs.
Strengthened ABP’s ability to engage confidently with Tier 1 contractors and regulators.
Positioned ABP’s Major Projects Group as a capable, commercially disciplined client organisation.
Why It Matters
This case study demonstrates ECS’s ability to act as a trusted partner on the client side - bringing clarity, protecting commercial interests, and providing the systems and discipline needed to deliver major infrastructure programmes with certainty.
