The challenge
HS2 Ltd's CFO Directorate needed to evolve its control environment from one offering limited assurance to one that gives the HS2 Executive and stakeholders confidence that effective controls are in place to support delivery of the programme. Progress across controls-focused workstreams — spanning financial controls, risk, cyber security, commercial, technical assurance and corporate sponsorship — was tracked in a fragmented set of trackers, with no consolidated way to evidence status or report to the Executive Committee. Historic and outstanding assurance actions, generated across multiple assurance sources, also needed to be reviewed, categorised by status and progressed to closure.
How we helped
We defined what a strong control environment looks like for each of HS2's core business units, working collaboratively with teams to translate this into agreed outcomes, and developed the controls and milestones each business unit needed to meet to achieve them. We assessed these controls against HS2's key risks to ensure appropriate coverage, then established a regular cadence of tracking and status reporting across the CIP's workstreams — financial controls, risk, cyber security, commercial, technical assurance and corporate sponsorship — feeding into a regular executive report to HS2's Executive Committee (ExCo).
We chaired and coordinated the CIP Working Group, maintaining the action log, agenda and cross-workstream follow-ups, and led a review of historic and outstanding assurance actions generated across multiple assurance sources, categorising them by status and required follow-up. We are now supporting HS2's Corporate Quality and Assurance team to align the programme's controls and milestones with HS2's Integrated Management System (IMS), ahead of CIP ownership transitioning to business-as-usual.
The results
Our work gave the CFO's office a single, consolidated view of progress across a previously fragmented set of trackers, providing one source of truth on assurance status. By aligning CIP controls and milestones to HS2's IMS now, we have created a clean handover path so the programme integrates into business-as-usual rather than sitting alongside it. A consistent core team combining PMO, Commercial and Controls expertise has given the CFO's assurance agenda continuity and independent challenge, together with a trusted external perspective throughout, while upskilling client staff to support their development and future management of the CIP as we hand the programme over to HS2.
About our team
Our team combines PMO, Commercial and Controls expertise to give HS2's CFO Directorate consistent continuity and independent challenge throughout the CIP. Like this one, all of our assignments are led by a highly visible Partner or Director who will continually liaise with the client to ensure their needs are met whilst leading teams of talented consultants, accountants and advisors — upskilling client staff along the way to support a smooth handover to business-as-usual.
