The challenge:

As two major project delivery frameworks approach their planned exit and transition to the new successor delivery vehicles, knowledge and information management (KIM) has been recognised as a critical enabler for delivery continuity, resilience, safety, and long-term value. Continuity is particularly key, with a top KPI relating to uninterrupted project delivery between the transitioning frameworks.

 

The solution:

​As part of the planning and procurement process for the new frameworks, the Sellafield Intelligent Client (IC) established Transition, Exit and Mobilisation workstreams to prepare for and guide the mobilisation, transition and exit activities.​​​

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How we contributed: 

​Fox & Associates were commissioned to support the Intelligent Client prepare for the transition and exit of the existing delivery partners, as well as the preparation and mobilisation of the successor delivery frameworks. While were were engaged to deliver a range of services, the focus of this case study is upon the knowledge and information management (KIM) aspects of our work. Below were some key considerations and activities we identified as necessary to ensure delivery continuity, minimise risk, and preserve organisational learning and information:

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1. Requirements Capture

• The first step was to determine what Sellafield required in relation to knowledge and information management to support transition and exit. The team worked collaboratively with the intelligent client teams to determine what was required in relation to the capture, retention, management and utilisation of the knowledge and information held within the incumbent frameworks. This formed part of a wider requirements capture process that included all other aspects of enabling digital services.

• The requirements capture then formed the basis of a detailed options appraisal to assess potential solutions to deliver those requirements.

 

2. Knowledge Capture and Transfer

• Identify critical knowledge: Pinpoint key processes, lessons learned, decisions, and domain expertise essential to the successor frameworks’ operations. Our team conducted workshops and interviews to capture key learning points from incumbent client and supply chain personnel; particularly in relation to applying that learning to improve the likelihood of a successful mobilisation of the new frameworks. We captured learning around what worked and what did not, what the gaps were in expectations and capabilities, and what processes were missing or required updating.

• Conduct knowledge retention interviews/workshops, especially with departing or transitioning staff, to ensure tacit knowledge isn’t lost. On a risk basis, during this phase of the project we conducted limited targeted interviews with key personnel. More will be held as the mobilisation phase begins.

• Document standard operating procedures (SoPs): Ensure that workflows, governance models, and technical knowledge are clearly captured, particularly where they are specific to the framework and have not been captured in the standard Sellafield SLPs and SLMs. A key activity of the team was to identify the required SoPs that would be for the new frameworks (by discipline, e.g. information management, cyber security, IT infrastructure, training and upskilling, etc). This then formed the basis of an initial gap analysis against existing Sellafield Management System processes, procedures mad manuals.

 

3. Information Governance and Compliance

• Data audit and classification: Review and categorise data and documents for relevance, sensitivity, and compliance with regulatory and contractual obligations. This was a significant piece of work delivered by the team, in which we facilitated system and information audits across the exiting frameworks (client-side and supply chain) to establish the scale of information involved, and to recommend options and approaches to manage that information. The audit identified a significant volume of complex information in various forms, locations and classifications (both digital and non-digital), and an approach to addressing that legacy data was presented for consideration by Sellafield’s Information Services Organisation (who have ultimate responsibility for holding and managing the information).

• Access rights and permissions: Manage secure handover of information systems and repositories, ensuring the right people have appropriate access at the right time. Identifying and agreeing responsibility for data ownership, custodianship and management will require some effort in advance of transition, and the team identified various activities that will be required to resolve access rights and permissions during and post transition. One example of the challenge is that the outgoing supply chain partners will require access to the data for a period of many years in line with contractual warranty requirements, and a secure and commercially appropriate means to enable that will be required.

• Retention and disposal schedules: Align with Sellafield Ltd’s information governance requirements to archive or dispose of records appropriately, as well as contractual requirements of NDA and Sellafield upon the delivery partners. This was another area of complexity, requiring significant effort from the team, intelligent client and various legal teams to establish what would be retained, what would be disposed of, how and when.

 

4. System and Repository Transition

• Repository rationalisation: Evaluate which systems will continue, be decommissioned, or replaced in the successor frameworks. Our team identified the IM systems currently used by the incumbent frameworks, and made an initial assessment of what might transition – e.g. just the information or the system that holds and processes it as well? For example, the existing partnership utilises its own Microsoft Cloud. Should this be transitioned or decommissioned? With the need to know being paramount, this is a complex area, and at this early stage of the transition, the team identified the various challenges that would need to be addressed to facilitate successful handover of data.

• Migration planning: Ensure secure, clean, structured, and validated transfer of key data and documents to successor platforms. This will be a key area of activity, which will follow once decisions have been agreed on what information is transitioning, in what form, where, when, how and by whom it will be accessed, and therefore how and where it will be stored. In the meantime, our team (Ben and Jay) prepared initial migration, and cyber security approaches and plans to outline how the migration might be achieved.

• Metadata and search optimisation: Maintain integrity and findability of information post-transition.

 

5. Stakeholder Engagement and Communication

• Develop a Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan that identifies those who will be affected by the transition (this being a significant change project), expresses how we intend to transition and the various steps in the dance. Gill Hart, supported by Erica Gaffney, led this piece of work.

• Develop a change management plan that describes how the transition will be achieved. This was Ben Curran’s primary role in the team.

• Develop a KIM transition plan: Co-create with exiting and successor stakeholders, including timelines, responsibilities, and touchpoints. Aaron led the building of a comprehensive KIM transition plan for the existing partnership as a member of their Transition Workstream, focusing upon the IM aspects and making recommendations on how, when and where the partnership's knowledge and data would be captured and transmitted to the successor framework (via Sellafield).

• Conduct training and onboarding: Equip successor teams with the knowledge, tools, and context needed for their roles. The first step in this process is to carry out a training needs analysis. The team also made an initial assessment of the suitability of the existing personnel and compliance system for potential use by the successor, as well as suitability of existing online training platform for use by the successor.

6. Lessons Learned and Continuous Improvement

• Facilitate post-project reviews: Document successes and challenges of the existing partnerships and their supply chains to inform future delivery under the new frameworks. 

• Embed feedback mechanisms: Provide the systems and processes to encourage knowledge-sharing behaviours within the new partnerships from day one.

 

Team members involved:

Staff - Aaron Bazler (Digital Transition Lead, 2018-2024 / Strategic Digital Lead, 2024-25), Peter Fox (Strategic Digital Lead, 2014-2020 / 2024-25), Erica Gaffney (sub-project manager 2024-25), Gill Hart (Comms and Stakeholder Engagement Lead 2023-25). Associates - Jay Baird (Cyber Security Lead 2025), Ben Curran (System Manager 2013-2020, Digital Change Lead 2025), Graham Morgan (Cloud and IM Lead 2021-25).

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As Digital Strategic Lead for the existing delivery partnership between 2014 and 2020 and, more recently, the Sellafield Intelligent Client's Mobilisation and Transition Project (2024-25), Peter was ultimately responsible for all aspects of Information Management in the original partnership, and latterly for defining the KIM and digital requirements for the successor framework in advance of its mobilisation and transition. Peter also led the requirements capture exercise for the successor vehicle, and he prepared the Target Digital Operating Model, which defines how the new vehicle will utilise digital tools, technology, processes and people to support its operations.

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Similarly, as digital lead for the existing partnership's Transition and Exit Workstream (2020-2024), Aaron was a coauthor of the Transition Strategy, in particular the digital information, data and services that needed to transition back to Sellafield and thence to the new frameworks. Aaron moved from the existing partnership to the Sellafield Intelligent Client team to support the mobilisation and transition phases of the successor framework as Digital Lead.