Maximising growth through infrastructure delivery

What can HS2 Phase 1 tell us?

Driving economic growth through infrastructure investment is one of the major issues facing policy makers today, both in the UK and around the world. 

However, the focus is too often on the operational benefits of new schemes, even though these can take years to materialise.  

This report models the economic benefits across the pre-operational phases - design, build and procurement - of a major infrastructure project, using HS2 Phase 1 as a case study*.

It is clear that, under the right conditions, infrastructure investment can deliver significant benefits even before assets come on line.  

A range of policy interventions should be considered to capture and maximise these benefits for the UK; supporting innovation and skills development, enterprise creation and export growth, to position British business at the heart of the global boom in infrastructure investment over the longer term.

(* This report was published in March 2013 and the analysis conducted based on data available at the time of writing.)