The Institute for Collaborative Working (ICW) Nuclear Forum brought together leading organisations from across the nuclear sector to explore how to assess the effectiveness of collaboration, demonstrate its value and continuously improve collaborative performance.

Kindly hosted by Mott MacDonald at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester on 22 October, the meeting welcomed representatives from Sellafield, Tetra Tech, Amentum, AtkinsRéalis, Balfour Beatty, Cavendish Nuclear, Costain, GRAHAM, LRQA and Mott MacDonald.

Discussions focused on two key aspects of effective collaborative working: understanding the maturity of collaborative relationships and demonstrating the tangible and intangible benefits that collaboration can deliver.

The session featured a range of perspectives and practical examples, including:

• Measuring collaboration: ICW perspectives on assessing different aspects of collaborative working and its effectiveness.
• Relationship maturity: An update on the ICW Relationship Maturity Portal being developed by the ICW Highways Forum, presented by Catherine Buckley from Balfour Beatty.
• Sharing good practice: Insights from Sellafield on recognising collaborative successes and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Demonstrating collaborative value: Mott MacDonald’s perspectives on capturing the tangible and intangible benefits of effective collaboration.

The meeting concluded with a facilitated discussion on the practical challenges of measuring the value of collaboration, including how these measures can be captured, shared and, importantly, used to improve collaborative performance.

The session highlighted the importance of sharing knowledge and good practice across the nuclear sector to support stronger relationships, continuous improvement and better collaborative outcomes.

ICW extends its thanks to Mott MacDonald and Odilon Serrano for hosting the meeting, to Catherine Buckley from Balfour Beatty for sharing insights from the Highways Forum project, and to all Nuclear Forum participants for their valuable contributions to the discussion.