Tie Ltd. (previously Transport Initiatives Edinburgh Ltd.) was a Scottish company which, from May 2002 to August 2011, project-managed large-scale transport projects on behalf of the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

in Edinburgh. It was brought in as part of a public-private partnership (PPP) to improve Scottish public transport infrastructure development. Following its management of the controversial

Edinburgh Trams Edinburgh Trams is a tramway in Edinburgh, Scotland, operated by Edinburgh Trams Ltd. It is a line between St Andrew Square in the New Town and Edinburgh Airport, with 15 stops. Construction began in June 2008, and after encountering delays ...

project, the company was closed down in 2011.

Transport for Edinburgh Transport for Edinburgh is the organisation that oversees public transport in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. It manages the city's public transport operations in a similar manner to Transport for London, but with many fewer powers. The organisation ...

took over the

functions from Tie.

Ownership

''Tie'' was a private limited company, wholly owned by the City of Edinburgh Council. It was a non-profit organisation. It was not connected with Transport Initiatives LLP, an English-based transport planning consultancy specialising in cycling, walking and travel planning.

Projects

''Tie'' was involved in several major transport projects in Scotland including:

Edinburgh Trams

Since construction started in 2008, the

project was criticised for delays to the infrastructural works, in particular the closure of Princes Street. ''Tie'' underwent some organisational change at this time; in November 2008 Willie Gallagher stepped down as executive chairman. David Mackay, then Chairman of Transport Edinburgh Limited, took over as interim chairman until he was replaced in May 2009 by Richard Jeffrey, who resigned from the post in 2011 after two years in the role. Shortly after Jeffrey's resignation, four non-executive directors and the communications director of ''tie'' also resigned, followed by the introduction of a voluntary redundancy scheme aimed at halving the headcount of the company. In August 2011, it was announced that further redundancies would be made, and an international consultancy,

Turner & Townsend Turner & Townsend (officially Turner & Townsend Partners LLP) is a multinational professional services company headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom specialising in programme management, project management, cost management and consulting across ...

, was appointed to support the project while ''tie'' was relieved of its responsibilities. Following the transfer of ''Tie'' responsibilities, the tramway contractor Bilfinger Berger spoke out about ''Tie'' management of the tram project and took the view that ''Tie'' had a poor risk management strategy and that it had failed to organise the necessary construction work to move the underground utilities prior to tramway construction.

Closure

Following the Edinburgh Trams controversy, Tie was heavily criticised for its handling of the project. In late 2011 Transport Initiatives Edinburgh was disbanded as a company. Tie initially chose not to reveal the

severance payment A severance package is pay and benefits that employees may be entitled to receive when they leave employment at a company unwillfully. In addition to their remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following: * Any additional payment base ...

awarded to its directors, but following a Freedom of Information application, it was revealed that the directors of Transport Initiatives Edinburgh received compensation totalling £406,635 after they stepped down from the company.

References

External links

Transport Initiatives Edinburgh
{{Authority control Light rail in the United Kingdom Public transport in Scotland Transport in Edinburgh Tram transport in Scotland 2002 establishments in Scotland Project management Companies owned by municipalities of Scotland Transport companies established in 2002 Defunct companies of Scotland Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Government agencies disestablished in 2011 Public–private partnership projects in the United Kingdom Defunct transport companies of the United Kingdom