Situation
Our client, one of the UK’s largest gas distribution network operators, was using AI and data to build a more accurate view of methane leakage across its network. Better insight would help target investment, reduce leakage, improve safety and support lower customer bills.
With existing industry models still relying on long-standing assumptions, the programme had wider significance for methane reduction, Net Zero and the UK’s infrastructure resilience.
But as the work moved from proof-of-concept to production, delivery became harder to control. Timelines slipped, visibility weakened and fragmented ways of working led to late defects, rework and falling confidence in the results.
Approach
Valcon was brought in to restore control and predictability without killing the momentum the programme had already built.
- Programme governance was strengthened and a steady delivery cadence put in place.
- Quality and test assurance processes were shaped, along with the standards behind them.
- Ways of working changed across the teams: failure modes and negative scenarios were weighed early, ownership was shared across groups, delivery became more visible, and release readiness was managed through runbooks, clear validation expectations and defined decision points.
Results
Confidence in delivery rose, on the back of clearer plans, better transparency and stronger release readiness. The data solution itself became more reliable, because rigorous testing, including the negative scenarios that usually get skipped, clearer standards and tighter control of environment differences cut the late surprises and unplanned rework.
Trust in the insights improved too. Stronger data validation, consistency and traceability across the key data flows meant the numbers coming out of the platform could be relied on, which is the entire point of a programme built to measure leakage accurately. Operational risk dropped as well: better access, clearer runbooks and improved observability let teams resolve issues faster when they did surface.
Make procurement-led transformation deliver more value
Valcon helps senior teams turn complex supplier ecosystems, delivery risk and transformation spend into clearer control, stronger outcomes and measurable impact.
