A UK-founded engineering, design and advice firm, owned in trust for its staff, with 17 UK offices and more than 6,000 people working on buildings, transport, energy and cities.
Arup is a firm of engineers, designers and advisers who work on the built environment: the buildings, bridges, railways, power networks and public spaces people use every day. On its UK page it says it "guides, plans and designs" the future of the built environment, and its UK team of more than 6,000 people covers over 90 technical specialisations. Its UK projects include the Elizabeth Line, High Speed 1, the Great Grid Upgrade, the Mansfield flood resilience programme, St Fagans National Museum of History in Wales and the Firoz Lalji Global Hub at the London School of Economics. Overseas it is known for working on the Sydney Opera House and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
The company says it works with clients on projects that "help to shape a better world". That idea goes back to the founder, Ove Arup, who was born in Newcastle upon Tyne to Danish parents, studied philosophy before training as an engineer, and founded the firm in 1946. He wanted engineers and architects to work closely together, an idea he called "total design". In 1971 he gave his Key Speech, which set out the firm's aims and six principles for making decisions, and the firm says those principles still guide it. In 1977 ownership passed from a group of partners to a trust that works for the benefit of employees, so the firm has no outside shareholders.
In the UK, Arup lists 17 offices: Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Stockton, Whitehaven, Winchester and York. That spread means the firm works on local schemes, such as a flood programme or a street upgrade in Derry, as well as national ones. Worldwide the firm describes about 18,000 designers, advisers and experts in around 140 countries, so UK teams often work with colleagues overseas. We could not confirm the headquarters address from the pages we read.
On culture, the firm says it aims to build a community of creative, ambitious people who can help to tackle large global problems, and that it values sharing expertise across cultures, design with a social purpose, and more recently sustainable development and climate resilience. Its UK page says it was named Britain's Most Admired Company in its sector in 2024 and appeared in Glassdoor's Top 10 Places to Work in 2023. These are the company's own statements and third-party listings, and we have not checked them independently.
A firm with 90 or more specialisations employs many kinds of people. There are structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers, specialists in transport planning, energy, water, acoustics, fire safety, lighting and sustainability, digital and data specialists, and project managers. Support roles such as finance, legal, communications and people teams are part of any firm of this size. If you enjoy maths, physics, design or solving practical problems that affect many people, the range of work here is wide.
Website: www.arup.com
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