Lender Technical Advisor
& Consent Management services :
2 key success drivers in the early stages of a project

As Lender Technical Advisor, Assystem offers a comprehensive analytical methodology to address project risks, support investor profitability, and facilitate negotiations. We provide detailed recommendations to minimise risk and maximise added value. Our teams work with major international financial institutions and investment banks to ensure compliance with local financial organisations worldwide.

concludes Onur Oztuncer.

Consent management experts to support strategy, deployment, regulatory compliance and stakeholder management in complex or large-scale projects

Supporting projects and programmes on a global scale with consulting services and technical expertise is crucial to structure and organise their development before the implementation phase. But what does the “Perfect Setup” really look like?

John Pearson, expert in consent management for complex projects, explains a perfect set up is to adopt a holistic approach to the consents process. Understanding your consents, licensing and permits from your ‘primary’ authorisation such as a Development Consent Order (DCO) or large-scale planning permission in the country through the numerous ‘secondary’ consents relating to detailed conditions, permits and licenses in the delivery phase is essential to achieving a robust delivery programme. Organisation can enhance performance in the long-term by drawing on lessons learned through project delivery and applying them into the pre-application phase for the next development. For example, in the UK, Assystem have over 20 years’ experience in the delivery phase of some of the national largest construction projects working alongside major contractors. Our work on the Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancements (CSIE) Project which was the first undertaken through the UK governments Project SPEED initiative (Swift, Pragmatic, Efficient, Enhancement Delivery) designed to halve the time of project delivery and significantly reduce costs is a great example.

 Therefore, we constantly seek feedback loops of best practice and improvement to look beyond the early consenting phase of a project.

Our consultants working on projects are not seeking to achieve permission but rather facilitate the construction of the future infrastructure (nuclear facilities, electrical substations, railways, viaducts, tunnels, bridges, or even buildings).

explains John Pearson.

Often the consent management is looked at purely with respect to the ‘primary’ authorisation but, this might only provide you with an outline permissions or framework for further detailed submissions. As a result it is essential to understand the period between your ‘primary’ consents and when you can start work. What additional detailed consents, environmental permits and licenses do you need. As well as consents you may need to serve notice and acquire land which can have its own specified process. Understand these detail consents, what deliverables are required, the stakeholders and timescales involved is key to setting up for long term success through the delivery phase.  

We continually seek to improve our consent management service through the use of digital technologies particularly around reporting and tracking progress. Our digital offer in consent management has proven to be a major asset to clients that:

• Benefit from a unified and accessible consents system
  At the heart of any successful programme lies clarity, particularly around consents. From the earliest stages, every permit, planning condition, and regulatory milestone should be captured in a structured, centralised system. But more than that, this system must be accessible across functions: planners, engineers, legal, environment, stakeholder engagement. When everyone is working from the same, up-to-date source of truth, the potential for misalignment drops and decision-making becomes faster and more confident.
• Consolidate planning that reflects regulatory reality
  Too often, delivery plans are drawn up based purely on physical progress or assumed lead times, with consents treated as parallel or administrative tasks. In a perfect setup, that thinking is reversed. Here, delivery activities are only brought into the plan when they’re both technically and legally ready to proceed. That means regulatory conditions are mapped directly onto the project schedule - creating a sequencing logic that recognises both engineering dependencies and statutory obligations. It’s a planning mindset that avoids the false start. This reduces costly programme delays by providing surety to delivery timescales.
• Integrate consent management with project controls
  A strong setup actively connects consents to the project controls environment. This means live dashboards, integrated with programme data, that reflect the real-time status of the consenting processes. Teams can instantly see when a consent-related risk is emerging and respond with speed including prioritising assessment and design work, resequencing work, escalating for resolution, or engaging the regulator. With the right consents team in place supported by these digital tools, consents stop being a retrospective tick-box and become a proactive delivery enabler.
• Ensure relationships built in, not bolted on
  Finally, the best setups understand that great consents management is about relationship, not just a requirement. Engaging not only with regulators but, the project team early and keeping that dialogue open throughout builds trust on both sides. But this trust doesn’t come from ad hoc conversations. It’s earned through structured updates, consistent information, and a culture of transparency. When regulators feel part of the programme journey rather than occasional gatekeepers, reviews become smoother, and surprises are reduced.

A prime example of this in action is Assystem’s engagement on the Thames Tideway Tunnel – a project that designed to modernise London’s Victorian sewer system, the project tackles one of the capital’s most pressing environmental challenges: the discharge of untreated sewage into the River Thames during heavy rainfall. By preventing tens of millions of tonnes of pollution annually, the project supports cleaner waterways, improved biodiversity, and greater climate resilience in the face of more frequent extreme weather.

Our approach to consents and planning on the Thames Tideway project was grounded in integration, digital connectivity, and close collaboration. This methodology supported the delivery of a complex infrastructure programme with strong environmental objectives. It also offers a practical model for future projects, particularly in low-carbon and energy-intensive sectors, where aligning regulatory processes with programme delivery is increasingly critical.

Our model is 100% replicable for any complex infrastructure scheme across any of the sectors we work in from nuclear new build, hydrogen, electrical grid, transport or water. 

Our consents managers are excellent at managing stakeholder interfaces seamlessly on behalf of our clients, we coordinated the numerous specialist assessments and other deliverables required to obtain consents focusing on the needs of the delivery programme and we keep our clients up to speed on progress at all times so problem areas can be resolved with minimal fuss and lost time, if any. ” explains John Pearson.

A Strategic Advantage in High-Regulation Environments

Ultimately, the roles of the Lender Technical Advisor (LTA) and Consent Management emerge as a strategic lever that is essential for the successful delivery of complex infrastructure projects.

The LTA’s involvement ensures the technical soundness and bankability of the project by providing an independent and thorough assessment of technical risks, performance assumptions, timelines, and budgets. This expertise is a key factor in building lender confidence, securing financial commitments, and supporting effective financing structures.

At the same time, proactive management of permits and regulatory constraints through consent management is critical to avoiding delays, anticipating legislative changes, and ensuring ongoing compliance. In an environment of increasingly complex and evolving environmental, social, and administrative requirements, this function plays a central role in maintaining the schedule and mitigating legal risks.

Faced with permitting and licensing processes that are considered too slow, there is a gain to be made in speeding up these approvals and thus deploying infrastructure more quickly, particularly in a context where energy security, climate transition and economic competitiveness are key issues. This requires striking a difficult balance between acceleration and maintaining rigorous standards of safety, environmental and social standards. Much more than a technical supplier, engineering plays a strategic role in supporting the permitting process. We are a key lever in improving the quality of the application, reducing processing times, avoiding disputes and delays, coordinating all stakeholders and managing regulatory complexity, while ensuring the profitability of the overall project.

Together, LTA and Consent Management contribute directly to the robustness of a project from its early development stages, reinforcing its credibility with stakeholders and laying the groundwork for controlled and resilient execution. For large-scale industrial initiatives, integrating both from the outset is not only a best practice but often a decisive factor in the overall success of the project.