Green Light for Kier and HMP Glasgow
We were delighted to see media coverage over recent days confirming Kier have been awarded the contract by the Scottish Government to deliver a major new prison project, HMP Glasgow.
The project is valued at over £680million and will see the construction of a new prison which upon anticipated completion in 2028 will replace Scotland’s largest prison, HMP Barlinnie, which was constructed in 1880 and is in urgent need of replacement.
As mentioned in an article from 2023, Acorn was appointed by Kier to help create and develop a unified senior leadership team who would collectively be responsible for creating a collaborative culture which will cascade throughout the project.
The location for the new prison – close to the centre of Glasgow – is a disused brownfield site which once housed a major gas works, and Kier has been on-site since the autumn of 2023 undertaking remediation works.
Kier has also committed to support the local economy by committing to a 50% spend with local supply chain partners and an ambition to create 100 new jobs during the construction, including 50 apprentices.
Acorn’s Keith Longney has been working with the Kier senior lead team of HMP Glasgow for the last two years: “Every aspect of this project means it was always going to be creating headlines to some degree from the outset until completion, and no doubt for a good few years to come.
“The city centre location, the contract value, the socio-economic impact of the project during construction and the anticipated long-term socio-economic benefits to the community are all out there for everyone to see. Right from the outset, the SLT were under no illusion that their activities would be scrutinised.
“Our primary objective was to create clarity amongst the senior lead team, with shared and agreed expectations around their role in developing a collaborative culture both within Kier, the supply chain and also with the client.
“This is a massively complex construction project comprising multi-disciplinary contractors; at times, it’s estimated that there may be upwards of 1,000 people on-site.
“The culture established by the leadership team will invariably see challenges in the months and years ahead. But this is a strong and cohesive SLT with unified accountability and behaviours which will prove to be steadfast in the interrelationships with both the client and project partners.
Keith’s work with the SLT has included residential workshops and remote coaching sessions with Kier’s personnel.
Whilst the primary area of work for Acorn was when Kier had been awarded the pre-construction contract, the coaching sessions will continue with the SLT and sub-teams throughout the build of HMP Glasgow.
In addition, Acorn has been working with the wider team reflecting on project performance and ensuring the team is ready to approach this new phase of the project, that key deliverables are met, and the collaborative culture is further cascaded in order to ensure what is a highly successful culture to date is not diluted as the project team expands.
Further references to this project can be found at:
Images: Holmes Miller https://www.holmesmiller.com/
https://projectscot.com/2025/02/kier-secures-1-billion-hmp-glasgow-contract/
