Max Curzon-Hope

Max is the Managing Partner of Curshaw Commercial, a consultancy established to address the toughest and most complex PPP/PFI infrastructure problems across the whole commercial lifecycle - from inception, through in-flight reviews, to handback and eventual transition to a new operating and ownership model. 

Working at the commercial intersection between public and private clients across the PPP industry, Max’s reputation is based on engineering efficient, effective and equitable commercial outcomes that deliver value for all parties to the contract. 

Max is an acknowledged leading expert in Private Finance Initiatives and associated real estate supply chain transformation. He is a founding advisor to the Association of Infrastructure Investors in PPPs (AIIP) whose members account for approximately half of the UK PFI market. He has been personally involved in the preparation for handback of 54 PFI projects to date, has driven programmes of substantial operational improvement for many of the leading portfolio investors and was one of two senior civil servants responsible for DWP’s successful exit of the very first PFI expiry - PRIME, a 20-year £13.3bn contract. 

Max’s Curshaw team specialise in undertaking complex contract reviews, data assurance and audits and in developing pragmatic commercial strategies. He is pioneering the use of technology to sustainably and efficiently address the many challenges currently faced in the PFI market. 

Prior to founding Curshaw, Max was Head of Real Estate Service Delivery at the Department of Work and Pensions where he was responsible for operational and strategic management of a 1.5m sqm property portfolio across 850 sites and contract and budget owner of a £200m p.a. property supply chain with an annual lifecycle budget of £45m. As an accredited member of the Government Commercial Function with 10 years’ experience at the centre of government, he has delivered major complex commercial change and commercial transactions with a history of holding strategic suppliers to account. Max was responsible for uncovering the G4S and Serco tagging scandal that led to the repayment of approximately £180m to the Ministry of Justice. His unique experience and perspective underpins Curshaw’s market reputation for insightful, independent and practical commercial solutions on some of the UK’s largest infrastructure contracts.