MJA is delivering an independent assurance approach for the Southern Renewals Enterprise (SRE), bringing strategic assurance leadership, commercial audit and enterprise capability into a single view.

As the venture’s independent assurance provider, we assess that the 5 Business Partners, Volker Fitzpatrick, Volker Rail, Octavius Infrastructure, Atkins Signalling and Network Rail Works Delivery comply with an extensive Enterprise Agreement, assessing their ability to secure authority to deliver, report, forecast and plan the works accurately, control costs and work within tight incentivized overhead and profit boundaries. This process is ongoing and will be interlinked with wider Integrated Team and Ecosystem culture. As we roll out the baseline review we will next develop a planned and extensive integration competency review. Which will provide the next steps towards improvement plans to be agreed with the Capable Owner as the Enterprise embeds itself to deliver renewals across Control Period 7 and beyond. MJA’s value add is to enable the client to understand that there is a clearer basis for decisions about commercial risk, delivery confidence and the capability needed to realise the enterprise model’s potential whilst always returning back to the twin pillars of Delivery and Cost Certainty.

Project 13 brings owners, partners, advisers and suppliers together in long-term relationships focused on customer outcomes and asset performance. Its five pillars are Capable Owner, Governance, Integration, Organisation and Digital Transformation. The Capable Owner establishes the outcomes; integration brings together the capabilities, processes and information needed to deliver them. This provides the context for MJA’s assurance and planned competency review. [1, 2]

Shared outcomes demand confidence across organisational boundaries. In an enterprise, strong controls within individual partners are only part of the picture: leaders also need to understand whether responsibilities, information and decisions connect effectively. SRE needs assurance that makes those connections visible and helps the Capable Owner target improvement where it matters.

Appointed in February 2026, MJA combines strategic assurance leadership with a dedicated commercial audit capability. We work with Enterprise leadership and business partners to translate the Enterprise Agreement into practical assurance requirements, review priorities and reporting that supports decisions. This brings the detail of commercial testing into the wider discussion about enterprise performance, risk and improvement.

Our offer connects the full commercial assurance cycle: framework design, review planning, evidence testing, clear findings and follow-up on agreed action. Working within the Integration Team culture gives us insight into the interfaces that shape performance. Independent scrutiny turns that insight into challenge that the Capable Owner and Enterprise leadership can use.

Our strategic assurance role connects the questions leaders need answered with the evidence needed to answer them. Review planning, reporting and continuing oversight are intended to help the Capable Owner and Enterprise leadership understand where assurance is available, where further scrutiny is needed and which corrective actions merit attention.

The commercial audit remit covers incurred and forward costs. Reviewing costs already incurred provides scrutiny of the records supporting expenditure; reviewing forward costs brings forecasts and their supporting assumptions into view. Together, these activities are intended to give leaders a more informed basis for challenging cost information and considering its implications for delivery.

Findings and corrective recommendations connect that scrutiny to management action. Continuing oversight provides for follow-up on the response, while responsibility for accepting recommendations, implementing controls and delivering improvement remains with the Capable Owner and accountable managers.