Post-Brexit, that old adage ‘you have to speculate to accumulate' is a mantra Treasury officials should be reciting in their sleep. It's also a case the construction and engineering industry has been making for some time, with large firms like Aecom and Arcadis setting out the central role nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) like Crossrail 2, a third runway in the South East and the Mersey Gateway will play in ensuring the UK can continue to compete on the world stage.

Not only are these and other projects desperately needed – to make the economy more efficient, improve productivity and, in general, raise living standards – they must also be delivered on time and within budget. To demonstrate why, take, as an example, the estimated £9.5bn in potential trade the UK has missed out on in the last year alone because of delays in making a decision on the Heathrow/Gatwick conundrum – a loss that will continue to accumulate at a rate of £1.1m every hour until a new runway opens.