HS2 Ltd

The government-owned company building High Speed 2, the new railway between London and Birmingham, with offices in London and Birmingham.

About HS2 Ltd

HS2 Ltd is the company building High Speed 2, a new high-speed railway between London and Birmingham. It is a non-departmental public body, which means it is funded by the government through the Department for Transport but runs as its own organisation. Its job is to bring together designers and contractors, buy land and property, and award contracts to the firms that do the building. The railway will include new stations at London Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street, together with depots, tunnels, viaducts, bridges, earthworks and the railway systems that make trains run. HS2 Ltd describes the line as a central part of Great British Railways.

The government says HS2 Ltd started operating in January 2009. In its own words, the aim is to create much needed new capacity between Britain's two biggest cities, and its wider vision is to drive growth across the country by linking major cities and economic centres, supporting a more balanced economy and creating jobs. It says safety is its priority, that it wants to build sustainably with respect for communities and wildlife, and that it wants to be open about costs, progress and challenges. Its stated plan is to complete civil engineering construction by 2029.

The company has two main offices: Two Snowhill in Birmingham and The Podium at Euston in London. Its headquarters is in Birmingham, where most of its roughly 1,500 staff work, according to the government's description of the organisation. Its work stretches along the whole route, through London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Solihull, Birmingham and Staffordshire, and the company publishes local updates for communities along the line.

On culture, the company describes itself as high-performing and innovative. The values it lists are delivering value for money with tight cost control, meeting delivery targets, engaging with stakeholders fairly and meaningfully, and running a safe, sustainable and reliable railway. Those are the company's own statements, and the project has also been the subject of public debate about its cost and timing, so it is worth reading widely about it.

A project of this size employs far more than engineers. HS2 Ltd needs civil, structural and railway systems engineers, project and programme managers, surveyors and land and property specialists, commercial and procurement teams who manage contracts, environment and community specialists, health and safety experts, and people in finance, legal, communications, data and digital roles. If you like maths and physics, enjoy solving practical problems, or are interested in how big public projects are planned and paid for, this is a good place to learn how it all fits together. The HS2 website has separate pages for jobs at HS2 Ltd and with its supply chain.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Managing the design and construction of the London to Birmingham high-speed line, stations, tunnels and viaducts.', 'title': 'Building the railway'}
• {'desc': 'Buying and managing the land and property needed along the route.', 'title': 'Land and property'}
• {'desc': 'Awarding and managing large contracts with designers and builders across the country.', 'title': 'Contracts and supply chain'}

Key facts

• Started operating in January 2009 as a government-funded company
• Offices at Two Snowhill, Birmingham and The Podium, Euston, London
• Roughly 1,500 staff, most based at the Birmingham headquarters (government description, dated)
• Stated plan to complete civil engineering construction by 2029

Website: www.hs2.org.uk