History
Robertson Capital Projects is dedicated to targeting and securing investment opportunities, assuming full responsibility for all phases of the procurement process. This requires substantial dialogue with client partners and supply chain members involved in delivering the full life requirements of individual project activity. The company's involvement in PPP spans more than a decade, which has seen the business evolve from a contractor led response targeting construction workload, into a market leading PPP project management and investment business.
This has seen the business play a leading role in the UK PPP market as it continues to develop and mature, summarised in the following timeline:
1. Mid 1990's
The UK government introduced PPP (more commonly referred to as PFI at the time) as part of its strategy to improve the delivery of public sector infrastructure and to comply with European legislation on government borrowing. One of the principal benefits was to combine initial capital investment programmes with long term asset management skills. The requirement to provide risk capital and project finance requirements led to the creation of long term partnerships between the public and private sectors. At that time Robertson was actively involved in a wide range of large construction projects in health, education and housing. If the group was to retain its market share in these key sectors it was clear that PPP procurement could not be ignored, leading to the group's role in its first PPP project, an MOD military housing estate Joint Venture in RAF Lossiemouth. The foundations of Robertson Capital Projects' business had begun.
2. Late 1990's
As public sector clients became more familiar with PPP, so did the stream of market opportunities. Projects remained relatively small in scale, which suited the natural growth of Robertson. It was becoming clear that this new market was not only here to stay, but would provide significant opportunities for companies who were responsive to change and capable of adapting to this new way of working with the public sector. Robertson committed itself to providing resources which were capable of leading and managing all aspects of the PPP bid process, which led to the award of its first stand alone PPP projects.
Significant achievements in this period included:
- Opening one of Scotland's first healthcare PFI projects - New Craigs Hospital, Inverness
- Successfully delivery one of Scotland's first bundled education contracts - Aberdeenshire Schools PPP1
3. Early 2000's
The advent of the new millennium coincided with a step change in the way in which Robertson participated in the PPP market. This saw existing PPP activity formally structured into a specialist autonomous company, Robertson Capital Projects. It was through this new business that all project company activity covering design, construction, finance and facilities management (FM) operations was to be controlled.
This focus and a ramp up of resources led to significant success in new and existing markets, including:
- Entering the wider UK PPP market and winning a number of health and education sector contracts
- Securing one of the UK's early NHS LIFT pathfinders in Newcastle and North Tyneside
- Consolidating the company's position at the forefront of the Scottish PPP market
4. Mid to late 2000's
Robertson Capital Projects has developed into a leading PPP operation with extensive links throughout the market. This includes the development of an extensive supply chain, including both internal Robertson companies involved in D&B/FM activity; together with the establishment of joint ventures with some of the UK's largest construction industry and equity partners. This provides Robertson Capital Projects with the ability to undertake projects of any scale or complexity and in any geographic target area.
To support the increasing demand for Robertson Capital Projects' services the company operates from offices in Stirling, Newcastle and Dublin. Robertson Capital Projects are currently working on a wide spectrum of health care, social care and education projects across Scotland, England and Ireland. As the business enters the latter part of the decade, it is ideally placed to continue it's innovative and award winning approach to working in partnership with its client base and industry partners.