Project & programme delivery · Project controls · Commercial · Training
The Herne Group improves major-project performance through experienced practitioners, integrated project controls, commercial expertise, assurance — and successfully deployed advanced technology.
Specialists in protected and highly regulated industries — nuclear · defence · energy · infrastructure
Accreditations & memberships
Independently certified, industry recognised.
ISO 9001UKAS-accredited quality management
Cyber Essentials PLUSHands-on technical audit, the higher tier
ADS Group memberAerospace, defence, security & space
Controls & Skills AuthorityThe professional body for project controls
SME of the Year 2025ECITB ECI Training & Development Awards
Approved supplier to leading tier 1 and tier 2 clients · NEC · JCT · FIDIC · bespoke contracts
Who we are
Our practitioners participate in client teams rather than sitting outside them as advisors. We integrate, understand the problem, take ownership and stay involved through implementation — using client budgets responsibly and focusing on activity that actually improves the project.
Established in 2017, The Herne Group is a major-project consultancy providing project and programme delivery, project controls, and commercial and supply chain services, supported by training and capability development. We collaborate, challenge constructively, solve problems and drive value. No project theatre.
What we do
Herne can provide individual specialist capabilities or bring them together as an integrated project delivery service.
Delivery pillar 01
We help clients establish, manage, improve and recover major projects — running programmes and projects directly, standing up the PMO that supports them, and intervening practically when delivery is not going to plan.
Delivery pillar 02
Integrated schedule, risk and cost management. Robust, reliable controls that tell you where the project actually is, what is coming, and what to do about it — and the foundation on which our advanced project intelligence capability is built.
Delivery pillar 03
Practical commercial management from procurement through to final account — drafting and administering the contract, managing the supply chain that has to deliver it, and intervening early where the commercial position is at risk.
Capability
We develop capability from apprentices taking their first steps into the industry through to experienced project professionals and whole organisational teams. Recognised nationally: ECITB SME of the Year 2025.
Also available: expert witness services supporting legal proceedings and dispute resolution.
Where we work
Environments where decisions, assumptions and controls outputs must withstand scrutiny from clients, regulators, assurance teams and auditors.
What makes us different
Not a pilot. Not a proof of concept. We combine enterprise AI with experienced project controls practitioners and established project governance, inside live programmes where the outputs have to withstand client, regulator and auditor scrutiny.
Over a six-month period, Herne mitigated in excess of 12 months of cumulative programme slippage and avoided more than £14 million of cumulative delay-related costs through the implementation of targeted recovery and acceleration measures.
We do not simply produce AI outputs. Our practitioners interrogate the information, test its credibility and understand the project context — then support the project team in converting intelligence into practical interventions. Complex analysis that can require days of manual processing can now be undertaken in minutes, giving experienced professionals more time to apply judgement and act.
Planning, cost, risk, change, EVM, reporting and governance — delivered by experienced practitioners.
Integrated data architecture and Power BI reporting turning programme data into visibility.
Rapid interrogation of live programme information, validated by our practitioners.
Interventions developed, tested against governance, implemented and measured.
AI case study
Protected industry — client confidential.
A major programme operating against a fixed delivery milestone approximately twelve months away was experiencing increasing schedule pressure. The project already possessed experienced planning and project controls capability — expertise was not the issue. The challenge was rapidly interrogating the scale and complexity of the live programme to identify where intervention could deliver the greatest benefit while there was still time to act.
Combining established project controls with advanced technology, we interrogated the live programme and identified:
Our practitioners tested the credibility of every finding against the project context before anything was progressed. Targeted recovery and acceleration measures were developed with the project team, assessed against baseline, commercial position and risk, then taken through established project governance and implemented.
Over a six-month period, Herne mitigated in excess of 12 months of cumulative programme slippage and avoided more than £14 million of cumulative delay-related costs through the implementation of targeted recovery and acceleration measures.
Selected case studies
Delivery, controls, commercial and recovery work across nuclear, defence, energy and infrastructure. Client names are withheld in line with our confidentiality obligations — we are happy to discuss detail directly.
ProblemA major steam generation facility within a submarine enterprise programme, operating in a secure NEC-based defence infrastructure environment, required restructure and recovery. The commercial position had stalled through a sustained period of non-approval, schedule credibility had eroded, and executive visibility across cost, schedule and risk was limited.
InterventionWe mobilised in 2025 as part of a Programme Improvement Team, partnering with a tier 1 delivery partner and working alongside the Project and Commercial Directors. We led commercial and supply chain intervention while establishing a lean, integrated project controls capability across planning, cost and risk.
ProblemA client evaluating EPC contract returns for a Gen3 deployment needed assurance across project management, construction and commissioning; commercial and contract terms; engineering and technical; operations and maintenance; and nuclear fuel — and a defensible basis for selecting a preferred bidder.
InterventionPartnering with a tier 1 consultancy, we completed a comprehensive review of EPC contract documentation and supplier returns, then supported the client in clarification and negotiation meetings, providing expert input and mediation as native English speakers on the critical points of contention.
ProblemA European utility needed to frame an outline strategy for a delivery model supporting a fleet of approximately 15 SMR units, and to evaluate a spectrum of SMR technology vendors from a standing start.
InterventionWe engaged at a very early programme stage, providing expert advice and staffing augmentation through initial vendor discussions, and led the structuring and development of a comprehensive technical evaluation.
ProblemA joint venture delivering a £1.2bn nuclear encapsulation plant needed procurement leadership, credible change and performance reporting, and confidence that critical manufacturing packages would complete on time and within agreed budgets across a complex supply chain.
InterventionEngaged periodically over eight years from Strategic Outline Business Case onwards, we provided strategic leadership and oversight of all procurement activities, project delivery support focused on critical manufacturing work packages, change management and reporting, and a structured supplier relationship management programme.
ProblemA framework of infrastructure works across a secure naval estate required a PMO capable of operating within a List-X Common Working Environment, with a major Outline Business Case to support.
InterventionWe partnered with two tier 1 contractor organisations to provide specialist PMO design, programme management and controls team support, working directly with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
ProblemA portfolio of infrastructure works at a royal dockyard needed credible baseline programmes to support contract engagement with the MoD for two major programmes of works, and a business case covering a decade of investment.
InterventionWe mobilised a programme management and controls team to develop realistic and credible baselines and the supporting controls infrastructure.
ProblemA national infrastructure-scale hydrogen programme in FEED was not set up to support the forward programme. The contractor was struggling to meet contractual requirements for programme controls and scheduling outputs, and to manage key sub-contractors effectively.
InterventionWe partnered with a tier 1 contractor supporting a strategic pipeline partner, providing programme management, controls and commercial management support in an event recovery scenario.
ProblemA major UK decommissioning operator faced losing 25 years of ponds decommissioning knowledge. Experienced personnel were retiring mid-programme and there had been no fleet-wide capture of Learning from Experience — just as the next generation of plants prepared to come offline.
InterventionWe mobilised a team specialising in programme management, engineering and leadership to assess the position across nine stations, interviewing personnel with ponds decommissioning experience across the fleet and deep-diving historical drawings, photographs and reports.
ProblemA civil nuclear client needed independent advice on potential extension of time claims and the associated prolongation costs, in a contract with intricate employer’s requirements and specifications.
InterventionWe mobilised a team specialising in commercial claims and dispute resolution, working through the requirements in detail to ensure every element of change had been captured and properly accounted for.
ProblemThe development and manufacture of a full-scale mock-up of a reactor primary system spanned multiple suppliers and contractors, under strict innovation-funding reporting requirements.
InterventionWe partnered with a tier 1 contractor and AMR consortium partner, providing specialist programme management and controls support across the whole programme.
Strategic technology partnership
We combine deep nuclear, defence and major-project delivery expertise with Nodes & Links’ purpose-built schedule intelligence platform. Nodes & Links is not a general-purpose AI tool applied to project data — it is built on project controls foundations, schedule logic and programme analysis.
Advanced project and schedule intelligence technology. A platform designed to understand critical path behaviour, schedule dependencies, risk exposure, float movement and sequence logic — with transparent, traceable reasoning that can be presented to auditors, client assurance functions and regulators. No black-box outputs.
We provide the sector knowledge, project controls expertise, implementation capability, governance, challenge and practical intervention required to convert that intelligence into project outcomes.
“There is no other software out there that allows us to interrogate a live programme in this way and quickly identify where intervention is possible, where delivery performance can be improved, and where recovery and acceleration opportunities genuinely exist.”
“Nodes & Links is effective at project, programme, and portfolio level. It is a genuinely strategic P3M tool that provides the visibility and intelligence needed to support delivery across complex organisations and interconnected programmes.”
“The Herne Group offers a powerful view of the future of project controls: experienced professionals using auditable AI to investigate more options, understand the consequences and make stronger decisions. We’re proud to support that work on live, high-stakes project environments.”
Read the full partnership announcement → · Visit Nodes & Links →
We bring consistent management to all our work, adapting our approach to the specific project, client and environment.
We take time to understand your business, requirements and values before proposing anything.
We bring together the right talent from our in-house team and carefully selected specialist associates, based on our professional experience and judgement.
We integrate with your wider professional team — or fulfil the employer’s requirements in-house.
Robust schedule, cost and risk data drives decisions and keeps accountability visible.
Increasingly supported by advanced analytics and project intelligence.We learn from experience, then adapt and update our approach to improve future delivery and outcomes.
Our people
Our people combine strong technical skillsets with the professionalism and relationship-building that complex projects demand. We look beyond technical capability when building our team — we use psychometric profiling alongside our own professional judgement to understand individual strengths, working styles and how people complement one another.
We’re always interested in exceptional people — see how to join us →
Developing the workforce of tomorrow
Our apprentices and developing professionals gain recognised qualifications, real project experience and structured mentoring, with ongoing support from directors who remain actively involved in both our delivery teams and our clients.
The Herne Group — presented by category sponsor NUVIA at Glaziers Hall, London
Recognised for our commitment to developing talent through training, mentoring and hands-on project experience, and for the measures taken to overcome the barriers an SME faces in the highly regulated nuclear sector.
With security clearances and limited access to client projects restricting opportunities for new entrants, we built internal scenario-based training using real but desensitised project data. New entrants spend months building a work breakdown structure, developing a schedule and working through risks and progress updates before a client placement — and we place apprentices on projects at no cost to our clients.
Lewis White, Project Controller — ECI Training & Development Awards, One Marylebone, London
Lewis was named ECITB Apprentice of the Year 2024, recognised for his dedication, proactive attitude and one-team mindset.
Lewis used skills developed alongside his apprenticeship to turn a work placement into a billable role, creating a significant reporting dashboard for a major nuclear decommissioning project. He now leads our apprenticeship programme.
If you want real responsibility on major nuclear, defence and infrastructure programmes, and an employer that invests in getting you there, these are the routes available.
Project controls and quantity surveying apprenticeships with structured support through to End Point Assessment. Our programme is led by Lewis White — ECITB Apprentice of the Year 2024, who came through the route himself. You will be prepared through scenario-based training built from real, desensitised project data before undertaking client-facing work.
Join a small team where you are given real responsibility on major nuclear, defence and infrastructure programmes from the start.
Planners, project controllers, risk managers, quantity surveyors and commercial managers who want to work directly with clients. Our size means experienced people can take on new responsibilities and opportunities quickly, without being constrained in the way they might be within a traditional organisational structure.
We maintain a network of vetted, hand-picked specialist associates and sub-contractors who work alongside our in-house team on client instructions.
Get in touch
Whether it is a programme to establish, a recovery to lead, a claim to assess, a bid to win or a team to develop, start with a conversation with one of our directors.