James Corrigan

UK Managing Director, Infrastructure

Having joined the company as a graduate I am passionate about developing our young talent to be the leaders of the future. I strongly believe that it is incumbent on me in my role to ensure that our young professionals are provided with the right experiences and skills to transform the infrastructure sector of the future.

I am the UK Managing Director for Infrastructure, overseeing a team of experts working across major projects and programmes. My teams work across some of the country’s most impactful and significant programmes. We ensure that programmes are effectively set up and mobilised for success and managed through the delivery process to operational use.

I joined the company in 2005 on a summer placement and worked part-time while completing my degree in quantity surveying. In 2006 I joined as a Graduate Cost Manager in the rail team. I was appointed to the UK board in 2023 as Managing Director for Infrastructure.

Since joining in 2006, I have worked on some of the UK’s most complex infrastructure programmes, including Crossrail and HS2. I spent two and a half years building and leading our programme advisory team with a clear focus on setting up major programmes for success.

In May 2023, I was appointed UK Managing Director of Infrastructure and sit on our boards for both the UK and Global Infrastructure.

Career highlights

Appointed UK Managing Director, Infrastructure
2023
Appointed Head of UK Programme Advisory
2021
Promoted to South East Cost Management Cost Centre Lead
2015
Promoted to Director
2014
Joined Turner & Townsend as a Graduate Cost Manager
2006

Q. What attracted you to join Turner & Townsend?

A. An opportune work experience placement whilst studying my degree in quantity surveying at university gave me a valuable insight in the direction of the business which convinced me that Turner & Townsend was where I wanted to develop my career.

Q. How has your career at Turner and Townsend developed?

A. I Joined as a graduate Cost Manager after university working on my first project for Network Rail, who are still a key client today. My career progressed across their civils portfolio in the Southern England, which led to an opportunity for me to work in our Dublin office on what has now become the Metro Link programme.

My rail experience held me in good stead to work on Transport for London’s upgrade programme and then onto Crossrail in 2015. This was followed by a move to HS2 where I supported them in achieving Notice to Proceed. In 2020 I was appointed UK Head of Programme Advisory where I grew the business unit from a team of 40 to over 150 professionals.

Q. Which project are you most proud of being involved in at Turner & Townsend?

A. It’s simple, Crossrail. It is possibly one of the most complex infrastructure projects in the UK to date. Due to the complexity of the project, it provided me with the opportunity to develop the most as a professional. The lessons I learnt from the programme still hold good today in all that I do.

Q. How do you contribute to Turner & Townsend making a difference?

A. Developing and leading our people in building their experience and careers is close to my heart. I love a challenge, building my team’s resilience and encouraging them to continually learn, to try new things, stretch the boundaries and continue to evolve the way we operate is key to building our future leadership. At the heart of this is our clients, so challenging the team to continually strive to go above and beyond while holding their integrity in the way that they operate and deliver our services is an imperative in seeking the best solutions to achieve success.

Q. Detail any specialist skills or experience for which you are known

A. Building strong and long-lasting relationships with clients is at the core of who I am. This allows me to bring my experience to bear in initiating major programmes and to collaborate with the Infrastructure Projects Authority on developing the sector. I am proud to have contributed to the IPA’s Project Route Map which has been key to guiding the public sector in setting up large programmes for success.

Q. Describe your typical day.

A. I start every day with reading Client Care feedback. Typically, this results in me congratulating my teams on their work with our clients, or working with leadership team on how we can continuously improve. After that, no day is the same.

Q. What do you most enjoy most about working at Turner & Townsend?

A. I love the variety of work and the diversity of clients that we work with. I enjoy seeing the significant contributions we are making to help develop the county’s infrastructure for future generations. It is a privilege to work on the UK’s biggest and most complex projects and knowing the difference we have made. I’m always delighted to see others develop through the business and become leaders in their own right.

Q. What is the emerging trend in your industry specialism and how are you responding to this?

A. Large infrastructure programmes are becoming more challenging and complex in their nature and, therefore, how we continue to provide integrated capabilities at a programme level is becoming more important.

Our clients' expectations are that they are looking for long-term partners who can help deliver their strategic outcomes, and specifically in achieving the decarbonisation of the sector. We need to continue to evolve our services in responding to these challenges by ensuring that our advisory services implement cutting edge methodologies and thinking in digital and AI to be our clients’ programme partner of choice.