Ben Gardner-Briggs

• Led portfolio transformation activity responding to statutory change (NESO Connections Reform); conducted project-level audits and change impact assessments to evaluate project readiness against NESO strategic alignment criteria, ensuring programme compliance with changing requirements.
• Designed and implemented structured portfolio prioritisation framework combining planning status, land security, grid readiness and development investment exposure, introducing standardised readiness reporting across workstreams and enabling senior leadership to prioritise development resources during regulatory reform.
• Created structured portfolio governance framework, embedding stage-gate controls, investment decision criteria and readiness thresholds that became standard operating procedure across development function.
• Established and improved cross-functional governance and workflow coordination between planning, legal, engineering and environmental teams, increasing alignment across concurrent programmes and reducing delivery friction.
• Introduced structured workflows and tracking mechanisms across land contracting process, improving coordination between legal, planning and wider development teams.
• Designed and maintained portfolio reporting dashboards, risk viability frameworks and structured project data standards, integrating technical inputs into centralised reporting system to enhance executive decision-making, risk visibility and full budget tracking.
• Managed and maintained portfolio and project-level RAID logs, regular risk reviews with cross-functional leads, ensuring active ownership and resolution tracking within delivery teams.
• Facilitated internal change communications during regulatory reform, briefing project teams and workstream leads on NESO Connections Reform impacts, revised priorities and updated delivery expectations.
• Prepared and presented regular programme-level board reports and steering committee updates, translating complex multi-workstream delivery data into clear executive-level narratives.
• Directed and reviewed contributions of multidisciplinary internal teams and external consultants including planners, engineers, technical/environmental advisors, solicitors, surveyors and designers across 28 concurrent projects with £20m+ development budget within circa £350m portfolio.

Delivered operational transformation consultancy for several partner companies within national programme operating under UK Government ECO4 scheme.

Led change initiatives across contractor networks to improve programme governance, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency across contractors, surveyors and compliance teams.

• Led redesign of end-to-end operational delivery processes across survey, compliance and installation teams, improving funding conversion rates and reducing compliance rejection rates by up to 58%.
• Conducted as-is process mapping across survey, installation and compliance functions to establish baseline for transformation design and identify process inefficiencies and compliance gaps.
• Conducted stakeholder analysis across operational, compliance and installation teams to identify change impacts, engagement requirements and adoption risks during programme transformation.
• Led organisational adoption of newly implemented website platforms, CMS and CRM systems, coordinating operational teams, suppliers and technical stakeholders to ensure successful rollout, training and integration into programme delivery.
• Delivered change adoption through operational documentation, training and stakeholder engagement, ensuring revised delivery processes and evidencing controls were successfuly embedded across contractor and compliance teams.
• Facilitated cross-functional workshops between operational, compliance and installation teams, translating outputs into practical change plans, operational guidance and implementation roadmaps to drive process alignment and operational performance.
• Designed and delivered structured training sessions for contractor-facing staff on revised operational processes, evidencing requirements and quality assurance standards, ensuring consistent adoption across distributed teams.
• Developed communications and engagement materials supporting rollout of new processes and improving operational clarity across distributed contractor networks.
• Implemented governance frameworks and evidencing controls aligned with PAS and Ofgem requirements, significantly reducing audit failure and post-completion clawback exposure.
• Developed KPI dashboards and programme reporting frameworks to improve pipeline visibility and decision-making across operational leadership teams.
• Tracked and reported programme performance against funded measure targets, monitoring pipeline conversion, submission volumes and rejection trends to flag delivery risks early.

Managed full lifecycle delivery of construction and energy efficiency programmes valued up to £3.4m across commercial and residential developments.

Coordinated multidisciplinary internal and contractor teams while maintaining control of programme schedules, budgets, contract administration and delivery governance across multiple concurrent projects.

• Redesigned delivery processes to introduce earlier QA gate checks, ensuring clearer scope definition and reducing post-completion rework costs by average of 28% and up to 40%.
• Introduced and embedded standardised project delivery methodology across business, including templates for project initiation, change control, lessons learned and closeout, improving consistency across project team.
• Established and maintained structured programme plans, milestone reporting and risk registers to ensure delivery certainty, improving delivery consistency across concurrent projects.
• Produced and maintained detailed project programmes using MS Project, tracking critical path, float, milestone delivery and resource allocation across concurrent live sites.
• Prepared detailed project budgets, cost plans and monthly cost reports for internal and client review, tracking spend against agreed budgets and identifying and managing variances in real time.
• Led full project lifecycle delivery including feasibility assessment, business case input, procurement, construction, execution and operational transition.
• Coordinated multidisciplinary internal teams (6 direct reports) and external contractor teams of up to 25, ensuring clarity of roles and delivery transparency, increasing long-term contractor retention rate by up to 140%.
• Accountable for cost forecasting, margin protection and budget control across projects valued up to £3.4m, introducing structured cost and delivery reporting processes to improve cost visibility and enable proactive decision-making.
• Served as primary client interface for private investors, the University of Sussex and Local Authorities under ECO4 scheme, managing stakeholder expectations and sensitivities to ensure alignment with agreed objectives; project performance led to 400% increase in direct projects sourced.
• Supported operational transition of completed schemes by providing documentation and guidance to ensure successful adoption of completed assets.
• Managed procurement and appointment process for subcontractors and specialist trades, including preparation of scope of works documents, tender evaluation and contract negotiation.