Prenika brings 20 years of experience in Programme and Project Management, most recently at Greater Anglia, where she headed up their £1.4bn New Trains Programme Management Office.
Alex Gilbert, Managing Director of Amey Consulting, said: “Prenika has joined Amey Consulting at an exciting time as we seek to make Amey Consulting a centre of excellence for Programme and Project Management. She has considerable international PMO experience including delivering public services and most recently, leading transformation projects for a major train operating company. I want to take this opportunity to welcome her to the team”
Commenting on her new role, Prenika added: “I am delighted to join Amey Consulting and look forward to building a PMO business which is capable of meeting the high expectations that clients have come to expect from Amey Consulting”.
Prenika, tell us a bit more about your career so far in programme and project management?
I started my career in the public sector, initially in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister where I established the PMO function to ensure that the UK’s blue light services had the capability and resources to respond to catastrophic incidents. When avian flu and foot and mouth hit the UK, I set up the PMO for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure the disease outbreak was contained. After stints at the Department of Health and UK Border Agency establishing project controls functions, I moved into the Financial Services sector where I managed a number of programmes and multi-disciplinary teams, including heading up the growth of the Portfolio, Programme and Project functions at Lloyds Banking Group and managing the PMO for the Barclays international corporate portfolio across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. I have spent the last seven years in the Transport sector, with a particular focus on rail projects. Most recently, I established and led the PMO for the largest fleet transformation programme in the UK – supporting the replacement of Greater Anglia’s entire fleet with brand new trains over the course of a couple years.
What is it about PMO that you particularly enjoy?
I am passionate about being a PMO professional and supporting programmes and clients to deliver excellence. Working in a successful PMO is hugely rewarding - being able to measure the tangible difference you’re making to clients, whether that be a direct positive impact to the bottom line or influencing key stakeholders to ensure programme outcomes are achieved. And being in a PMO is all about great teamwork – bringing together diverse skills sets, experiences and personalities to deliver high quality output. I love building strong PMO teams that are responsive to change and provide constructive challenge to their colleagues whilst challenging themselves to continuously improve. Working in a PMO environment means that I get to shape programme organisations, influence Board decisions and it also allows me to indulge in my passion for creating and reinvigorating project and programme standards and practices that are also flexible and easy to use.
What attracted you to Amey Consulting?
Amey Consulting has a fantastic reputation in the industry and its work impacts the day-to-day lives of so many people in the UK, particularly though its focus on creating social value. The new Advisory and Analytics business which the PMO is an integral part of is incredibly exciting – the concept of ‘Infrastructure Solutions for Life’ designing and creating infrastructure solutions that benefit society and creating a carbon neutral environment is what makes Amey Consulting different. Having the chance to set up the PMO function and develop Amey Consulting’s expertise in this area was an opportunity I had to say yes to!
What will the next five years look like for Amey’s PMO Consulting Business?
We want Amey Consulting to become a Centre for Excellence for Project, Programme and Portfolio management. We want to be the advisor of choice for PMO services and to create a smarter and simpler way of doing Portfolio, Programme and Project management. There is a common misperception that Programme management is complicated, but overcomplication can often lead to misunderstanding and therefore to mistakes being made. We want to get back to basics, actively learning from others in the industry and challenging industry norms.
What should clients expect from Amey Consulting?
Our PMO professionals have hands on delivery experience, advising, guiding, and shaping Programme delivery with enthusiasm and passion. They will always go above and beyond to add value and deliver on outcomes. We will strive for excellence by actively challenging ourselves to find better ways to deliver for our clients so that Amey Consulting becomes the PMO of choice.