Preparing for AMP8: Five Workforce Strategies for Successful Delivery

As the UK water sector looks ahead to Asset Management Period 8 (AMP8), workforce strategy has never been more critical. With increasing investment in infrastructure, tighter environmental regulations, and rising expectations from both regulators and customers, water companies are under pressure to deliver more — and faster — than ever before.

One of the clearest lessons from AMP7 is that delivery success is directly tied to workforce readiness. Skills shortages, fragmented delivery models, and late-stage resourcing challenges caused avoidable risks in the last cycle. The organisations that thrived were those that prioritised early planning, flexible resource strategies, and robust partnerships.

With that in mind, here are five key workforce strategies to help ensure successful delivery in AMP8:

1. Start Workforce Planning Early — Much Earlier

One of the most significant lessons from AMP7 is the danger of late mobilisation. Waiting until projects are fully defined before engaging with suppliers, recruiters, or training providers creates bottlenecks and cost overruns.

In AMP8, forward-thinking companies are mapping skills requirements years in advance, identifying where gaps will emerge and engaging early with talent pipelines. This doesn’t just reduce delivery risk — it builds confidence with regulators and stakeholders.

2. Address the Skills Shortage Proactively

Skills shortages across key disciplines — from civil engineering to digital water technologies — are well-known in the sector. But solving them requires more than recruitment drives. Successful AMP8 strategies will:

• Invest in apprenticeships and graduate schemes to develop future talent.
• Upskill existing employees, particularly in digital and data skills essential for smart water infrastructure.
• Engage with local communities and schools to raise awareness of water sector careers.

By focusing on long-term skills development rather than reactive hiring, organisations can reduce their reliance on expensive short-term resourcing.

3. Embrace Flexible Resourcing Models

Rigid delivery structures often limit the ability to scale teams up or down as project phases fluctuate. To address this, water companies and their delivery partners are increasingly adopting flexible, blended workforce models that combine:

• Permanent staff for core delivery roles.
• Contract or freelance specialists for peak demand or niche skills.
• Trusted supply chain partners who bring in targeted expertise.

Flexible resourcing not only reduces risk but also improves delivery agility — especially crucial given the likely surge of concurrent projects in AMP8.

4. Strengthen Collaboration Across the Supply Chain

Successful delivery in AMP8 will require deeper, earlier collaboration between clients, Tier 1 contractors, SMEs, and training providers. Shared workforce planning, transparent competency frameworks, and aligned incentives help to create integrated delivery ecosystems where skills and capacity can be shared or deployed where they’re needed most.

This collaborative mindset also helps avoid the bidding wars for scarce talent that characterised parts of AMP7.

5. Apply Lessons from AMP7 — and Measure Continuously

Finally, organisations should apply structured reviews of their AMP7 workforce performance. What worked? Where were the gaps? Where were the cost overruns or safety risks linked to resourcing challenges?

Leading organisations are now embedding workforce performance metrics into their delivery governance, ensuring that lessons learned inform decision-making at every stage of AMP8.

From Risk to Opportunity

AMP8 brings with it both challenges and opportunities. The organisations that succeed will be those that treat workforce strategy not as a bolt-on to project delivery, but as a central, strategic driver of success. By planning early, investing in people, and building flexible delivery partnerships, the water sector can shift from reactive firefighting to proactive, confident execution.

The time to start preparing is now.