Asset Strategy and Workplace
Supporting the public sector on their ‘one public sector’ approach to improving service delivery
When Scottish Government set out its five-year Infrastructure Investment Plan in 2021, central to that was a new 'investment hierarchy' which provides a common framework to support planning and decision-making in public sector infrastructure investment.
The key principles within the investment hierarchy underpin the work of our Asset Strategy and Workplace team. This is focused on providing strategic advice to the public sector to improve the planning, management, and use of their assets.
We promote a place-based approach to collaboration and co-location as key drivers that can improve service delivery and local community resilience, and ensure a better use of assets.
Our New Frontiers for Smarter Working programme provides guidance and support to public bodies across Scotland to understand, develop, and embed their own future workplace models.
Our work is primarily focused on the following programmes:
We are taking forward a programme of work on behalf of Scottish Government to support the development of evidence based Asset Strategies that embed the ‘investment hierarchy’. These will help inform future infrastructure needs and associated investment.
We provide support to Scottish Government on its Single Scottish Estate programme which seeks to deliver a more efficient and effective public sector office estate. We also work closely with Scottish Government on its core estate strategy and asset planning development.
We support public organisations develop collaborative approaches to asset sharing projects, including strategic briefs and business cases, that help demonstrate the full range of benefits that can be achieved.
To support and smooth the path to more effective and efficient asset sharing, we have developed four high-level ‘Principles’. To read the paper, please click on the image below.
We also work with Scotland’s three emergency services to increase the number of shared Police, Fire, and Ambulance facilities. Our work has helped boost the number of locations where at least two of the three services are co-located from 15 to nearly 50 over the last five years.
We provide support to Scottish Fire & Rescue Service on its Community Resilience Hubs initiative. This aims to define a solution for rural and island fire stations which maximises public value, seizes the opportunity to support broader community resilience, enables more joined up public service delivery, and reduces carbon.
Our Asset Strategy and Workplace team’s New Frontiers for Smarter Working programme continues to provide guidance and support to public bodies across Scotland to understand, develop, and embed their own future workplace models. For work and workplace, the potential for change over the last few years has been significant, and we continue to help organisations understand their ambitions.
We do this through the delivery of cross-sector learning forums, and useful resources stored on a shared knowledge hub, and are directly supporting organisations on their smarter working journeys.
Our New Frontiers for Smarter annual reports provide insights into how work and workplace is evolving for the public sector in Scotland.
Our team
Peter Kearns
Senior Associate Director
Peter’s programme and project management skills span 40 years. He is experienced in leading public sector bodies through sustained periods of transformational change along with his private sector property development experience in urban re-generation, commercial, residential, planning and transport strategies.
This experience extends from sound commercial knowledge working both nationally and internationally. Peter has a degree in Engineering and an MBA.
Contact Peter
Shona Adam
Associate Director
Shona is a workplace change specialist with over 30 years' experience in workplace design.
Her focus is very much on the cultural change aspects associated with smarter working and how people connect with their physical space to create efficient and effective workplace solutions. Shona has an honours degree in Interior Design plus supporting qualifications in holistic design and various alternative therapies.
Contact Shona
Gordon Alexander
Associate Director
Gordon is a Chartered Surveyor with over 20 years' experience providing strategic property advice to the private and public sectors. He joined SFT’s Asset Strategy and Workplace team in 2013.
Contact Gordon
Ruth MacDonald
Associate Director
Ruth is a chartered surveyor with over 30 years’ experience in the public sector, including local authority and higher education. Prior to joining SFT Ruth worked in a variety of roles including regeneration, development management and strategic asset management.
Contact Ruth
Iain Wardrop
Associate Director
Iain is a Chartered Surveyor with 30 years' experience in both private practice and the public sector providing strategic advice on land and property portfolios and regeneration projects.
He is now involved in property and business change programmes that support public authorities with the asset management of their physical estate.
Contact Iain
