The government-owned company that operates, maintains and improves England's motorways and major A roads, headquartered in Guildford.
National Highways is the government-owned company responsible for England's motorways and major A roads, known as the strategic road network. That network is about 4,000 miles long, roughly 2% of England's roads, yet it carries about a third of the country's motor traffic. The company's job is to operate, maintain and improve it. It describes its aim as making those roads more dependable, durable and, most importantly, safe. It also publishes the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, which sets design standards used across the UK.
The organisation began in 1994 as the Highways Agency, became a government-owned company called Highways England in 2015, and was renamed National Highways in August 2021. We did not find a formal mission or values statement on the pages we read, so we have not made one up. Its described purpose is simply to keep the roads running safely and to improve them, with the investment programme set by government in five-year periods. Its road strategy for 2025 to 2030 is published on its website.
National Highways has its headquarters at Bridge House in Guildford, Surrey, and Wikipedia gives about 6,000 employees in 2024. Its improvement work is organised into seven project regions: East, East Midlands, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and North East. Its operations are split into nine areas, and some roads are run under long-term contracts with private companies, such as the M25 and the A19 between Dishforth and the Tyne Tunnel. It is responsible for England only, because transport in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved.
We found little published about its internal culture in the pages we read. Its public messages focus on safety, for example its campaign on stopping on the left of motorways when a vehicle breaks down. It also employs traffic officers who respond to incidents on the network. As a public body it is open to scrutiny, and its smart motorway and concrete roads programmes have been publicly debated, so it helps to read both its own material and independent coverage.
The company employs a wide mix of people. Engineers design and manage road schemes, and project managers, planners and environmental specialists take them from idea to opening. Traffic officers and control room staff keep traffic moving day and night, and bridge, structures and maintenance teams care for what is already built. There are also roles in data and digital traffic information, safety, procurement, finance, communications and human resources. If you like maths, geography, engineering, or the idea of keeping millions of journeys moving, this is a place to see that applied. Its website has careers and supplier pages.
Website: nationalhighways.co.uk
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