Since the company's birth in 2016, Agilia Infrastructure Partners has been at the heart of some of the most complex infrastructure projects in the UK.
The platform for this was the huge experience in the Infrastructure sector of the co-founders and long-term friends, Mike Pugsley and Amar Qureshi, who in particular helped develop the ground-breaking £4.2 billion Thames Tideway Tunnel. For those not familiar with this project, the Thames Tideway Tunnel runs a length of 25km from Acton to Abbey Mills, where it connects with the already constructed Lee Tunnel. The purpose of the project is to prevent the discharge of up to 39 million tons of sewerage into the River Thames every year.
A project of this scale and complexity challenged everyone involved to think differently, requiring an innovative approach to how mega projects are delivered. Traditional models for infrastructure delivery were considered, assessed and adopted, adapted or dismissed, and new ideas were actively encouraged to create a new delivery model to meet all the various stakeholders’ objectives – including the Government, the Environment Agency, Ofwat (the water industry regulator) and Thames Water (the UK’s largest water company) and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.
The Tideway ‘model’ has been globally recognised as an innovative, and a highly effective approach for the delivery of infrastructure. It is now being explored for use on other projects within the UK and beyond.
It is this kind of innovation that has set Agilia apart within Infrastructure delivery. The company employs a niche skillset, calling on some of the most experienced professionals in the sector alongside the development of ‘new talent’ to spot and plug gaps within the market. It occupies a difficult to define but essential place – the place in the centre of big infrastructure projects – helping pull together different professional disciplines, as well as the private and public sectors to get these projects done. Filling this crucial gap has seen the company grow quickly over the last four years, with a turnover now in excess of £4M. Current high-profile projects include Portsmouth Water’s Havant Thicket reservoir and the proposed new £16 billion nuclear power station in Suffolk, Sizewell C. These projects as well as other projects which Agilia is working on could see the creation of thousands of new jobs, with Sizewell C in particular making a hugely significant contribution to long term jobs within the Tees Valley region.
Today, Agilia employ 22 people with a breadth of expertise in areas such as commercial, finance, accountancy, project leadership and civil engineering and has plans to increase this to 30 over the next 12 months. The company has an office in Bishopsgate, London, with its head office located in Middlesbrough, on Skippers Lane Industrial Estate. Though most projects to date have been located in the south, co-owner and CFO Mike Pugsley was born and still resides in Redcar and he, along with fellow co-owner and CEO Amar Qureshi, are looking to expand the company’s operations into the North East with an ambition to drive this forward quickly.
Mike added, “With the country facing huge challenges recovering from the aftermath of Covid-19, infrastructure will play an essential part in regenerating the economy, especially as a part of the Government’s proposed ‘levelling up’ agenda. I’m extremely proud to come from Teesside and our vision for Agilia has always been as a company which is closely connected with the Tees Valley region.”
Mike continued, “We’ve always been passionate about recruiting new talent and the company has already employed a growing number of people to work within our Middlesbrough office, including our Chief Operating Officer who has recently joined. That’s just the first step for us; our clients continued support and opportunities to use our deep experience and expertise to help develop new projects in the North will allow us to play our part in building the local economy back better and quickly. Infrastructure is at the heart of our economy and it’s hugely satisfying to know that our work will impact positively not just on today’s generation, but several generations to come.” Supporting the Government’s Kickstart initiative with recruitment in the Redcar and Middlesbrough region is also a stated objective of the Company.
The name Agilia will already be familiar with hundreds of people across the Teesside region through their association with the Redcar ‘Agilia’ Bears Speedway team. Agilia have been the team’s main sponsor since the beginning of 2019, a partnership that will continue into 2021. The Bears, whose stadium is located within the South Tees Motorsports Park in South Bank, Middlesbrough, enjoyed their most successful season to date in 2019 with the help of Agilia’s backing. The company have even gone as far as offering employment to Redcar Bears’ club boss and co-promoter, Jitendra Duffill, who was left without work following the cancellation of the 2020 British Speedway season due to Coronavirus. Jitendra now works in Agilia’s head office as Corporate Manager, whilst remaining in his role with the Bears.
“I’ve been a huge Bears fan since I was a young boy. Speedway is an amazing sport that deserves wider recognition and its brilliant to be associated with such a fantastic sports club. It’s just our way of giving back something to the local community. The Redcar Bears are a real credit to the region as well” added Mike.
