Why place-based investment needs stronger business cases

The UK is not short of ambition when it comes to infrastructure and regeneration. Nor is it short of capital. Yet too many projects still struggle to move from concept to delivery.

Across the industry, opportunities are identified, strategies are developed, but progress often slows when it comes to turning those ideas into investable and deliverable schemes.

The scale of this challenge is reflected in AtkinsRéalis’ De-risk, Incentivise, Deliver research, which found that 90% of investors see the UK as an attractive destination for infrastructure investment over the next three years.

However, nearly two-thirds (64%) of investors report having stepped away from UK projects, citing concerns around returns, risk and regulatory complexity.

A key part of this disconnect lies early in the lifecycle. Developing a compelling, investable proposition requires time, expertise and resource. In many cases, that upfront capacity – whether funding, skills or delivery capability – is limited. As a result, schemes can struggle to reach the level of maturity and clarity needed to attract investment with confidence.

Closing that gap requires a more deliberate approach to building business cases – one that connects strategy, delivery and investment from the outset.

A shift towards place-based thinking

In many cases, schemes are presented as standalone projects, which can make it harder to demonstrate shared value and manage risk at a portfolio or regional level.

Greater impact can be achieved through more integrated programmes that bring together housing, infrastructure and regeneration within a coherent strategy. Risks can be managed more effectively across a portfolio, value creation becomes clearer and delivery pathways are easier to define.

Closing that gap requires a more deliberate approach to building business cases – one that connects strategy, delivery and investment from the outset

Place-based thinking plays a central role in this shift. When anchored in a clear, long-term vision, it creates the structure needed to bring together individual schemes into something more cohesive and investable.

This approach is already being applied in practice most visibly at Liverpool Central Station. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s vision for the station is not a transport upgrade with regeneration bolted on.

It is an 86-acre, £5bn transformation of one of the North of England’s most significant city-centre gateways: a proposal to integrate Liverpool Central with Lime Street so that Merseyrail and national rail services connect in a single hub, in the way King’s Cross and St Pancras do in London. The surrounding area - the Knowledge Quarter, Queen Square, the waterfront - would be unlocked for homes, offices, leisure and green public realm. 

The project has been selected by the Department for Transport and the Office for Investment as one of four national pilots for the reformed Green Book.

The pilot reflects a renewed focus on place-based investment, enabling multiple government departments to assess a project’s value across transport, economic development, housing and regeneration, rather than through a single benefit-cost ratio. That matters because the traditional benefit-cost ratio model has in the past disadvantaged regional projects. While it measures transport time savings well, it captures little of the wider economic and social value that a scheme like Liverpool Central would generate. The pilot essentially asks: what is this place worth to the people who live, work and invest here? In doing so, it provides a more holistic view of value.

Strengthening the foundations of the business case

Developing a strong business case requires more than demonstrating technical feasibility. Investors need confidence in how value will be generated, that a strong policy framework exists, how risks will be managed and how delivery will be achieved over time.

Investors need confidence in how value will be generated, that a strong policy framework exists, how risks will be managed and how delivery will be achieved over time

That challenge places greater emphasis on integrating commercial and financial thinking from the outset - revenue models clearly defined, assumptions grounded in market reality, delivery strategies set out alongside credible governance and risk allocation.

Building that level of clarity and confidence depends on having the right capability and resources in place as schemes are developed. Access to the necessary expertise – whether through in-house capability, external advisers or partnerships across the industry – allows business cases to be tested and strengthened at an earlier stage.

The Liverpool Central business case, which the combined authority is working to submit to government this summer, will be an early test of the reformed Green Book approach.

Crucially, early strategic financing compounds: capital attracted at this stage can generate returns reinvested into the wider programme.

Collaboration earlier in the lifecycle

Creating investable schemes depends on bringing together technical, commercial, legal and financial expertise – and sustaining that collaboration throughout the process. Traditional delivery models, however, tend to separate strategy, design and investment into distinct phases, which can limit opportunities to shape outcomes effectively.

Despite the clear benefits of earlier collaboration, a number of entrenched barriers continue to limit progress. Procurement frameworks, budget structures, risk appetite and organisational silos all contribute to a complex landscape that can make change difficult to implement.

While these challenges are significant, a more integrated approach can help to address them by creating space to align objectives and resolve issues before they become constraints. Bringing together local authorities, public sector bodies, developers, advisers and investors earlier in the process allows technical design and commercial strategy to evolve together, supported by clear financial thinking. This, in turn, supports stronger alignment between economic and social outcomes.

More collaborative delivery models are already giving mayoral combined authorities greater flexibility to take this approach forward. But this progress is uneven. Not all regions have the same structures or capacity, meaning industry has a critical role to play in supporting a more ambitious, end-to-end approach through strategic partnerships.

A shared industry responsibility

Delivering stronger, more investable business cases is not solely a task for local authorities and other public bodies. It requires coordinated action across the industry.

Developers, contractors and advisers all play a role in shaping how opportunities are brought forward. Engaging earlier in the process allows industry to contribute to the development of integrated programmes and delivery models that are grounded in both ambition and practicality. A key part of this shift is a greater willingness to participate in shared risk arrangements – aligning interests more closely across public and private partners.

Encouragingly, there are signs of progress, with growing recognition of the need to think beyond individual schemes and to better capture the full economic and social value of investment. This is reflected in the Green Book pilots, including the wider Liverpool Central Station regeneration programme, alongside projects in Birmingham, Plymouth and Port Talbot, which together offer a template for how similar programmes could be developed and evaluated across other regions.

Laying the foundations for delivery

Unlocking the full potential of infrastructure and regeneration depends on stronger public-private partnerships built around investable, deliverable projects.

Putting the right funding, capability and expertise in place to develop robust business cases is key to building a pipeline that can attract capital at scale and sustain long-term delivery.

What needs to happen now reasonably clear. Central government has a key role in ensuring the Green Book pilots produce a methodology that can be applied consistently across regions. Combined authorities need to use the headroom devolution provides to build genuine in-house capacity for business case development. Developers and contractors need to provide technical and commercial insight that stress-tests schemes early.

The Liverpool Central pilot is significant because it could demonstrate what is possible when transport, economic development, housing and regeneration are assessed together. That needs to become the norm.

Richard Bonner is AtkinsRéalis’ managing director buildings and places