Digitalisation of planning key to government growth agenda, TPX Impact says – UKTN

Digitalising the operations of the planning system will become a key contributor to the government’s growth agenda, the boss of digital transformation firm TPX Impact has said.

Björn Conway, who earlier this month signed a £19m contract with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said improved service and efficiency were needed within the ministry and the planning system.

“It’s the kind of enabling that allows the manifesto pledge and the mission around growth to be carried out,” he told UKTN.

“Land Registry is still a file-based organisation, where you submit a paper application.

“We’ve worked with Land Registry to be able to give people a digital update on where that’s going through, which reduces the number of inbound calls they get so they can become more efficient.”

It comes as TPX warned on a slowdown in spending by central government, its biggest client, as it reported a fall in revenue and predicted a “negative short-term impact” to its cost base due to rising National Insurance Contributions rates.

Turnover for the six months to the end of September fell 9% to £37.8m, while pre-tax losses were more than halved to £4.1m over the period.

“The well-publicised £22-40bn “Black Hole” in Government finances led to delays in the client decision-making process, both in terms of the award of new contracts and delaying spend on existing commitments,” TPX said.

The firm said it had seen a recent uplift in new contract wins, but that it expected flat revenue growth for the year and Adjusted EBITDA in the range of £7-£8m.

TPX Impact shares fell 6.9% to 37p in early trade in London. The stock is down by 12.4% since the start of the year.

In July the UK government laid out a series of proposals to speed up the planning process and achieve its target of building 1.5m new homes.

“The Government has made clear that sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people…nowhere is decisive reform needed more urgently than in our planning system,” the government said.

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