There you are in front of the guys from the government.

Ten projects.

Billions in investment.

A slide deck so polished it should have its own LinkedIn account.

Across the table, an experience contractor smiles.

“Very exciting.”

And then… back to his mobile phone…

He checks the calendar.

The team needed to bid your PPP is also wanted on a data centre, an energy project and a private industrial development.

Tight schedule.

Limited resources.

All four projects will have problems.

That is one of the few things construction always delivers on time.

But when a problem arrives, the private client may get the right people in a room and settle it.

The public client may need a steering committee.

Then a governance committee.

Then legal advice on whether the steering committee was allowed to recommend anything to the governance committee.

Then someone asks whether the minister needs to sign.

The minister is busy… or on holiday… which are normally equivalent terms.

I have sat enough with contractors and investors.

And, I know which client I would rather call when we need to resolve something difficult.

And that choice now matters more.

Energy and digital infrastructure are chasing the same capital, engineers, designers and commercial teams as PPPs.

Sorry guys…

Those people cannot be copied and pasted into every bid.

Yet a market sounding can still go like this:

“Would you be interested in bidding?”

“Of course.” – I never heard a different answer in my life…

“Excellent. Strong market appetite.” – I never heard a different answer in my life either…

The contractor goes home and assigns its best team elsewhere.

Perhaps the better question is:

“What would you have to turn down to bid for us?”

And then:

“When this project hits a serious problem, who on our side will actually be able to make a decision?”

Your PPP may be a government priority.

That does not put it at the top of anyone else’s calendar.

Use this information to your own risk… if you need real attention, you can click below.

PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day.

PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com

PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below.