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Chartered company cuts through framework complexity for Thames Water
GMS adds utility firm to its portfolio of public sector and tier 1 contractor clients
GMS Ltd has begun working with Thames Water. Image: GMS Ltd
CIOB chartered company GMS has begun working with Thames Water to assist the utility firm with its asset management, the latest in a run of success for the firm.
GMS supplies specialist learning and development services for complex frameworks and contracts. It is now supplying these services to Thames Water Utilities for its AMP8 (Asset Management Period 8). This five-year period began last year and is the current regulation cycle for the UK water industry. It defines how much money water companies can spend, what outcomes they must deliver and how customers are protected.
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This agreement follows on work GMS recently completed with the NHS Blood Transplant. GMS delivered learning on NHS obligations under the NEC suite of contracts for its framework agreements with tier 1 contractors.
Towards the end of 2025, GMS concluded three months of structured face-to-face learning and development with contractor Coniston Ltd, focusing on JCT contracts and the Safety Act.
Development is now taking place to assist Willmott Dixon with its PPC2000 framework with the Ministry of Justice.
GMS is also retained by clients globally on the bid phase of complex projects to validate the scope, design liabilities and risk profile to assist in ensuring that offers are robust.
Clearing up contract misunderstandings
GMS was founded by CIOB Fellow John Hayes in 2017, who is also a technical author of Code of Practice for Project Management for the Built Environment.
Hayes established a service that enables stakeholders to avoid the procurement, operational and commercial difficulties that often arise from the complexity of framework agreements and contractual relationships.
John Hayes
Hayes explains: “One of the fundamental reasons why difficulties arise is a misunderstanding of the obligations of the parties contained in the framework agreements and the contract conditions. This problem is exacerbated by the volume of documents included in the framework agreement.
“GMS has developed, presented and tested solutions to these particular problems. The business is really focused on achieving measurable improvement to our clients’ performance using experience-based lessons and case studies.”
Hayes says the process has five key objectives:
Business and personal improvement.
A fuller understanding of design and scope accountabilities.
Enhancing collaboration and teamwork by highlighting stakeholder obligations, accountabilities and responsibilities.
Avoiding disputes and disagreements by explaining the framework in a simple, headline and focused manner.
Improving stakeholder performance and success.
GMS’s method of working begins with the client sharing all framework agreements, contracts and supporting/supplementary documents together with any reports, additional information, data, appendices or schedules. It then prepares presentations that summarise the key operation and commercial stakeholder obligations, and rolls this out to selected staff using methods and timings that work for them.
“This is often a mixture of face-to-face and remote learning,” explains Hayes. “The presentations are updated regularly to incorporate real-time recommendations by the attendees. Sub-presentations are also prepared to reflect selected key areas of improvement that could include design obligations, programme submission protocols, administrative notice provisions and the procurement process.”
GMS also prepares commercial guidance handbooks and project execution plans, which are non-binding documents that allow new and incumbent stakeholders to appreciate and understand key framework obligations.
“Ideally, our services are retained to maintain momentum throughout the framework period to ensure ongoing improvement in the learning and development arena,” adds Hayes.
