A MESSAGE FROM HIGHWAYS ENGLAND

We want you to know that Highways England is supporting the event with the same enthusiasm and verve as in previous years. We will be “there” in force and are working closely with the organisers so that we can embrace the opportunities the on-line Highways UK brings.

We have already learnt a lot about communicating information, establishing dialogue and maintaining relationships using virtual technologies, while the opportunity for face to face contact remains so limited. And we are delighted that the reformatted Highways UK will be supporting both our popular one to one meetings and the dedicated Highways England content channel which will set out our latest delivery and investment plans and share the innovations coming through our brilliant supply chain collaborations.

We, along with Highways UK, are working flat out on transitioning the event to the virtual environment. Full details will be revealed shortly but do add 2-6 November to your diary.

Highways UK was launched in 2015 at the start of the Government’s first five-year road investment strategy (RIS), which committed £15bn between 2015-2020. This marked the end of decades of politically-driven stop-start funding.

Notwithstanding Covid-19, the sector this year embarked on the second five-year road investment strategy (RIS 2), with Government committing an unprecedented investment of £27bn into the strategic road network (SRN), which covers England’s motorways and major trunk roads, between 2020-2025.

It is no surprise that over the last five years, highways have consistently been the most buoyant and innovative sector within infrastructure and construction; and we are really only just at the start of the journey.

Highways UK’s success is built up bringing together at scale the influencers and decision makers across the sector to identify how to deliver the roads infrastructure the country needs while achieving positive outcomes for the economy, society and the environment. We’re also pretty good at creating spaces to network, learn and do business.

2020 marks a new chapter for Highways UK. Going virtual during the pandemic was unavoidable, but we are fully embracing the opportunities the new format creates. Necessity is the mother of invention.