Morgan Sindall at Dumfries High School
Client Type
Infrastructure
Services provided
Strategic engagement with utilities, land rights / consents, utility value engineering
Protecting programme delivery and budgets for Dumfries & Galloway’s flagship education project
Our insights created savings of £15 million while strengthening the approach to utility management, helping to safeguard project timelines and minimise potential disruptions on this nationally.
Background
The £53 million redevelopment of Dumfries High School will provide state-of-the-art educational facilities for over 900 pupils. The site presented complex utility challenges involving aging infrastructure owned by Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN), with critical implications for project timelines, costs, and legal compliance.
The brief
Assisting Success was engaged by Morgan Sindall, on behalf of Hub South-West, to provide specialist expertise on Extra High Voltage (EHV) and High Voltage (HV) cable diversions which risked derailing the project.
With SPEN initially indicating no funding support and significant legal risks looming, the project faced escalating costs and potential programme delays. Our role was to protect the client’s interests, drive a commercially viable solution, and avoid the time and cost risks associated with protracted statutory processes such as Necessary Wayleave applications.
Our solution
Assisting Success took swift and strategic action to tackle the technical, legal, and commercial challenges surrounding the SPEN apparatus at Dumfries High School. We initiated detailed technical and legal engagement with SPEN, issuing a Notice to Remove to trigger statutory obligations and intensify negotiations. By combining deep knowledge of utilities law, engineering requirements, and stakeholder dynamics, we robustly challenged SPEN’s initial positions and steered discussions toward a more collaborative solution.
We also offered practical, value-adding alternatives — such as undertaking trenching works — to create commercial leverage and showcase flexibility. Through focused dialogue, we highlighted the mutual benefits of early agreement and the reputational risks of delay or dispute. Our strong advocacy secured a circa £200,000 contribution from SPEN toward the diversion costs, significantly reducing the financial exposure for the client.
Our work delivered a major cost saving, avoidance of 12–18 months of legal delay, and preservation of the development programme for Dumfries & Galloway Council’s flagship school project.
Their insights and detailed reviews directly influenced improvements in risk management, commercial control, and overall project governance. Assisting Success provided invaluable support, accelerating delivery and adding real, measurable value to HS2’s objectives.
