A 90-Day Window: What Mayer Brown’s Analysis of the CMA’s Infrastructure Reset Means for Irish Procurement

A legal analysis by global law firm Mayer Brown has set out the full strategic implications of the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s landmark civil engineering market study. Published on 28 May 2026, the briefing by Daniel Vowden and Sarah Wilks examines all 19 CMA recommendations made to the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments and the Northern Ireland Executive. The study found fragmented procurement across hundreds of bodies, short-term funding cycles and capability gaps are driving up costs in a market spending approximately £19 billion annually, excluding HS2. For Ireland, facing structurally identical challenges across its €275 billion NDP and £30 billion All-Island Strategic Rail Review, the analysis offers a useful strategic template.

The CMA identifies efficiency savings of 10% to 25%, amounting to £2 billion to £5 billion per year. Mayer Brown frames the six thematic areas as a coherent reform package: HM Treasury to take strategic ownership; a strategic civil engineering sector plan; multi-year capital budgets of at least three years; mandatory Construction Playbook compliance; strengthened procurement capability and joint procurement; and simplified regulatory processes reducing barriers for smaller firms. The UK Government has committed to responding within 90 days, a critical window for stakeholders to shape implementation.

Two aspects of the analysis deserve particular attention from Irish procurement leaders. First, the 90-day response window will produce a policy framework directly informing best practice across these islands. Ireland’s OGP, developing its first National Procurement Strategy, should treat the UK response as live comparative policy intelligence. Second, the CMA has confirmed its recommendations could provide lessons for other sectors, a signal the framework is designed to travel beyond road and rail.

The King’s Speech of 13 May 2026 reinforced the same direction, placing infrastructure at the centre of the UK Government’s legislative programme and signalling the Highways (Financing) Bill and the Regulating for Growth Bill. This political context means implementation momentum is stronger than for previous reform proposals, a fact Irish suppliers active in UK infrastructure markets should factor into commercial planning.

Three actions follow for Irish procurement leaders. Contracting authorities should review the six thematic areas against their own frameworks, using them as an independent diagnostic of structural weaknesses. Procurement teams should engage with the OGP’s National Procurement Strategy consultation to advocate for multi-year infrastructure framework arrangements, citing the CMA’s minimum three-year budget recommendation as evidence-based justification. Irish firms with UK infrastructure exposure should monitor the 90-day government response and engage with trade bodies during this window.

The Mayer Brown briefing’s message is clear: the moment for infrastructure procurement reform has arrived, backed by regulatory analysis, legislative intent and political will. For Ireland, the opportunity to learn from this reset rather than repeat its preconditions is one that procurement leaders should not allow to pass.

(The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of BusinessRiver.)