Distressed project turnaround on an industrial process plant
An EPC contractor delivering a food processing plant was 30% over budget with programme trajectory pointing to 40% over schedule. Ashforte led the recovery — commercial, contractual and delivery — over six months.
The situation
The project had drifted for 18 months. The senior PM had left. The commercial position was unclear — reported margin had swung from +6% to -12% across three consecutive quarters. Two prior internal recovery attempts had plateaued.
The Employer had issued LD warnings and was threatening step-in rights under the bespoke EPC form. Subcontractor relationships had deteriorated — three key packages were in dispute.
The contractor's board engaged Ashforte to lead recovery, with a defined mandate to stabilise the project, honestly quantify the true position, and set out a realistic path to close-out.
Ashforte's intervention
The engagement was structured around the following workstreams, delivered by a senior-led team operating to Ashforte's standardized delivery protocols.
Honest diagnosis
- Commercial position audit — true cost-to-complete established
- Programme trajectory audit — realistic end date established
- Contractual record audit — record base for pending claims quantified
- Stakeholder relationship audit across Employer, Engineer and subcontractors
Recovery planning
- Prioritised recovery plan with defined owners and timelines
- Commercial recovery targets — variation entitlement, LD defence, subcontractor claim defence
- Delivery recovery targets — programme milestones, resource loading, interface coordination
- Governance and reporting cadence reset
Execution over six months
- Interim senior PM deployed to the project
- Weekly recovery cadence with executive escalation triggers
- Live claim building and defence work across three concurrent workstreams
- Subcontractor dispute negotiation and back-to-back positioning
The result
The project stabilised. Programme slip contained at approximately 10% versus the projected 40%. Loss contained at approximately 6% versus the projected 12%.
Employer step-in threat withdrawn following commercial re-alignment and delivery visibility improvement. LD position defended and reduced through negotiated settlement.
Ashforte handed the project back to a permanent internal PM at the 8-month mark. The contractor engaged Ashforte on a Portfolio Retainer covering their two other live projects.
Lessons
The lessons from an engagement are usually more transferable than the specific results. What Ashforte's clients typically take away from case studies like this one:
Recovery is a discipline, not a slogan. Honest diagnosis was the hardest part — the initial internal view understated the position by a material margin, and confronting the true numbers was the precondition to any recovery.
The prior recovery attempts had plateaued because they didn't reset governance and reporting. Discipline that had been let slip cannot be restored while the same governance is running the project.
Some projects can't be fully recovered — 6% loss was a materially better outcome than 12%, but it was still a loss. Recovery consulting that promises full recovery is usually wrong.
This engagement sat within Project Management Support.
Senior contractor-side project support where teams are stretched or projects are drifting.
Explore Project ManagementInitial Commercial Risk Assessment
By invitation, Ashforte provides qualified contractors with an initial commercial risk assessment on one live project. A structured senior review of contract, claims and commercial-control exposure, delivered as a documented briefing with a 30-day action plan. Qualification is determined in the first conversation.
A structured review of one live project — offered by invitation, at no cost, to qualified contractors.
Request an initial assessment- 01Review of selected project documents (contract, correspondence, variations, programme)
- 02Identification of key contract and commercial risk exposures
- 03Short maturity assessment across notices, variations, claims and payment controls
- 04A practical 30-day action plan
- 05Findings call with the project or commercial lead
- Contractors with active commercial pressure on a live project
- Variation or claims exposure requiring senior review
- Payment or certification issues affecting cash
- Stretched commercial teams needing external senior view
- Final account or close-out situations