Navigating Uncertainty and Unlocking Value at the AIPM Forum in London

This December, Copperleaf® hosted 52 delegates at our Asset Investment Planning and Management (AIPM) Forum in London. Industry leaders from the water, electricity, gas, and transport sectors gathered at the Museum of London to network with peers, share common challenges, and develop new strategies. The event also included breakout sessions for the Copperleaf Water Community Indaba, where our UK and Ireland water clients got together to discuss industry trends, explore the Copperleaf product roadmap, and prepare for AMP8 (Asset Management Period 8).

The Forum kicked off with a keynote address from Chris Durham, Deputy Chief Economist at the National Infrastructure Commission. Chris spoke to the importance of maintaining and upgrading critical infrastructure, advising that companies must invest between £55-80 billion each year to boost competitiveness, improve quality of life, and support the transition to net zero by 2050.


Chris Durham, Deputy Chief Economist at National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), presents the NIC’s recommendations for infrastructure investment

Next on the agenda was a ‘Use Cases from the Copperleaf Community’ presentation, where speakers from Enexis, Network Rail and South Staffs Water outlined their journey with Copperleaf, the pain points the software has solved, and the benefits they’ve seen from the solution, including:

  • Higher value plans
  • Reduction in planning time
  • One single source of truth for investment planning
  • Multi-scenario analysis to evaluate ‘what-if’ scenarios
  • Increased transparency and visibility across the business
  • Clear visualisations to communicate with stakeholders at every level

Delegates then got the chance to play the Copperleaf Optimisation Game, where participants were tasked with analysing several projects and investments to build the most valuable and cost-effective portfolio, taking into account multiple financial and non-financial constraints and targets. This was an opportunity for participants to understand how value-based decision making can transform investment planning by aligning plans with strategic objectives, reducing planning time, and maximising investment returns.

In their breakout session, the Water Community got a glimpse of the Copperleaf product roadmap and the new features they can expect in the coming months. Matthew Bather, Client Success Manager at Copperleaf, then led an interactive ‘Preparing for BAU in AMP8’ workshop, where the Community reflected on their current challenges, how they define success in AMP8, and the core principles guiding their decision-making process.


Ben Smit, Business Product Owner at Enexis, presents Enexis’ journey with Copperleaf


Participants put their skills to the test in the Copperleaf Optimisation Game

After a networking lunch, Edward Clark, Regional Director for Northern Europe at Copperleaf, and Charles Hull, Senior Technical Sales Manager at Copperleaf, demonstrated how the Copperleaf solution helps companies around the world navigate uncertainty, mitigate risk, and maximise value. This presentation illustrated how the software uses value-based decision making to ensure projects are evaluated on a common economic scale, allowing organisations to identify the highest-value investment candidates and achieve strategic goals and targets.

Following this demonstration, Miranda Sharp, CEO of Metis Digital, discussed why many companies are reluctant or ineffective at sharing data. This is often an issue of who has access to the data, whether it is being managed by true subject matter experts, and a lack of understanding of how the data is being used. In some key case studies, however, the CEO highlighted the importance of sharing information where missing data would have been crucial to maintaining the safety of critical infrastructure, minimising risk, and saving lives, and explored how sharing data can generate value for the organisations involved.

In his presentation, John Green, Strategic Value Manager at Anglian Water, explained how the water company measures benefits across all value drivers using its six capitals model and value framework. The team assess the impact of each investment across these six principles—Natural, Social, Manufactured, Financial, People and Intellectual—to embed a continuous and transparent approach to investment planning, deliver better services to customers and stakeholders, and find more value in every investment.

The Forum ended with a short quiz to test our delegates and summarise the key takeaways from the event, followed by an evening of networking drinks to build on the conversations and relationships formed throughout the day. We were also delighted to announce our next Copperleaf Community event—the Copperleaf Summit in Brussels, Belgium from 4-5th June, 2024!

Introducing the next Copperleaf Summit with Belgian hot chocolate stirrers was a big hit

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all our speakers, attendees and organisers who made the event such a success—we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Find out more about the Copperleaf Community and future events.