The Herne Group
Nuclear · Defence · Energy · Infrastructure
Helping businesses and organisations deliver major projects.
Experienced practitioners, integrated project controls and commercial expertise for protected, highly regulated industries.
Who we are
We work inside your project team.
We integrate, understand the problem, take ownership and stay involved through implementation, using client budgets responsibly and focusing on the activity that actually improves the project.
Established in 2017 and headquartered in Wigan, we work across nuclear, defence, energy and infrastructure, in the UK and internationally.
How we workLargest programme supported
Cumulative delay-related costs avoided on one live programme
Cumulative programme slippage mitigated in six months
Collective delivery experience
What we do
Specialist capability, or one integrated delivery team.
Herne can provide individual specialist capabilities or bring them together as an integrated project delivery service.
01 Project & Programme DeliveryEstablish, manage, improve and recover major projects.
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.
- Project & programme management
- PMO design & establishment
- Delivery improvement
- Programme recovery
- Assurance & independent peer review
- Integrated project delivery support
- Risk & issue resolution
02 Project ControlsIntegrated 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. They are also the foundation our advanced project intelligence is built on.
- Planning & scheduling (including P6)
- Integrated controls: cost, risk and change
- Earned value management
- Reporting, data & Power BI
- Schedule assurance
- Programme recovery
- Advanced project intelligence
03 AI Implementation & Project IntelligenceEnterprise AI inside live programmes, validated by practitioners.
We have deployed enterprise-grade AI within live major-project environments in protected industries. We help boards, programme leaders and project controls directors understand what AI can do for major project delivery, and how to implement it successfully.
- AI Implementation Advisory
- AI-enabled project controls
- Schedule intelligence
- Schedule assurance
- Risk & schedule analysis
- Recovery & acceleration analysis
- Scenario analysis
- Project performance intelligence
04 Commercial & Supply ChainCommercial management from procurement to final account.
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.
- Commercial & contract management
- Procurement & supply chain
- NEC, JCT, FIDIC and bespoke contracts
- Quantity surveying
- Supplier relationship management
- Commercial assurance
- Claims & dispute avoidance
05 Training & CapabilityFrom first-year apprentices to whole organisational teams.
We develop capability from apprentices taking their first steps into the industry through to experienced project professionals and whole organisational teams. Recognised nationally as ECITB SME of the Year 2025.
- Project & programme management
- Project controls
- Commercial awareness
- Leadership
- Collaboration
- Learning from Experience
- Organisational capability
- Early careers & apprenticeships
Also available: expert witness services supporting legal proceedings and dispute resolution.
Where we work
Protected, regulated, safety-critical.
Environments where decisions, assumptions and controls outputs must withstand scrutiny from clients, regulators, assurance teams and auditors.
Nuclear Decommissioning
Clean-up and legacy facilities, ponds decommissioning, fleet-wide knowledge capture.
View sectorNuclear New Build
Gen3 deployment, SMR fleet development, EPC assurance and vendor evaluation.
View sectorDefence
Infrastructure frameworks, List-X environments, DIO and MoD business cases.
View sectorEnergy & Utilities
Hydrogen networks, energy from waste, water capital delivery and regulated investment.
View sectorInfrastructure & Construction
National and international programmes, new build, fit out and refurbishment.
View sectorGovernment & Public Sector
Business case development, assurance and programme establishment against public funding.
View sectorRail & Transport
Programme controls and commercial support on rail and transport infrastructure.
View sectorManufacturing
Advanced manufacturing programmes, modular build and innovation-funded delivery.
View sectorCase studies
Selected programmes.
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.
Nuclear · Major project
Box Encapsulation Plant
Engaged periodically over eight years on a £1.2bn nuclear encapsulation plant, we led procurement and provided delivery support, change and performance reporting, and supplier relationship management.
Read the case studyDefence · Submarine enterprise
Steam Generation Facility
A steam generation facility within a submarine enterprise programme required restructure and recovery. As part of a Programme Improvement Team, we led commercial and supply chain intervention and established a lean, integrated project controls capability.
Read the case study
Nuclear new build · SMR
SMR development programme
A European utility needed an outline delivery model strategy for a fleet of approximately 15 SMR units, and an evaluation of SMR technology vendors from a standing start. We engaged at a very early programme stage and led the technical evaluation.
Read the case studyWhat makes us different
Analysis is not implementation.
We have deployed enterprise-grade AI on live major programmes in protected industries.
Our practitioners interrogate the information, test its credibility and understand the project context, then support the project team in converting intelligence into practical interventions. Analysis that can take days of manual processing now takes minutes, giving experienced professionals more time to apply judgement and act.
- Advanced analysis surfaced the opportunity.
- Experienced practitioners tested and validated it.
- The project team implemented it and the programme recovered.
Cumulative programme slippage mitigated
Cumulative delay-related costs avoided
Achieved over six months on a live programme in a protected industry.
How we work
Consistent management, adapted to every project.
We bring consistent management to all our work, adapting our approach to the specific project, client and environment.
Understand
We take time to understand your business, requirements and values before proposing anything.
Assemble
We bring together the right talent from our in-house team and carefully selected specialist associates, based on our professional experience and judgement.
Integrate
We integrate with your wider professional team, or fulfil the employer’s requirements in-house.
Control
Robust schedule, cost and risk data drives decisions and keeps accountability visible, increasingly supported by advanced analytics and project intelligence.
Improve
We learn from experience, then adapt and update our approach to improve future delivery and outcomes.
Our people
Recognised by the ECITB for how we develop our people.
Our apprentices and developing professionals gain recognised qualifications, real project experience and structured mentoring, with ongoing support from directors who stay actively involved in our delivery teams and with our clients.
News
Latest from Herne.
The Herne Group and Nodes & Links form a strategic technology partnership
Combining nuclear, defence and major-project delivery expertise with a schedule intelligence platform built on project controls foundations.
Herne named SME of the Year at the ECI Training & Development Awards 2025
Recognised for developing talent through training, mentoring and hands-on project experience in the highly regulated nuclear sector.
Lewis White named ECITB Apprentice of the Year 2024
Our apprentice project controls technician was recognised for his dedication, proactive attitude and one-team mindset.
Get in touch
Speak to a director about your project.
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.