Essex Highways
Essex Highways is the statutory highways service of Essex County Council, managing and maintaining roads, bridges, street lighting, drainage, public rights of way, and winter gritting across Essex. It serves residents, contractors, utility companies, developers, and event organisers via an integrated digital portal and statutory permit scheme.
- Company typePublic
- Founded-
- HeadquartersChelmsford, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Essex Highways does
Essex Highways is the statutory highways service operated by Essex County Council, a local government authority in Essex, England. The service manages and maintains the county's publicly maintainable highway network, covering roads, pavements, bridges, street lighting, drainage, traffic signals, public rights of way, and winter gritting operations across 12 district, borough, and city council areas (excluding Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock, and London Boroughs, with motorway and trunk routes managed by National Highways). It serves Essex residents plus four secondary user segments: contractors and commercial organisations requiring skip, scaffolding, hoarding, crane, and cherry picker licences; utility companies coordinating street works via the Essex Permit Scheme and the DfT's Street Manager system; developers handling Section 38/278 agreements and road opening notices; and event organisers applying for temporary traffic regulation orders.
The service is delivered through an integrated digital portal at essexhighways.org comprising a citizen-facing issue reporting tool (Tell us), an enquiry tracking system (Track it), an applications portal for permits and licences, interactive mapping tools including the Highways Information Map and live traffic feeds, and the Highways Highlights newsletter. Core technology components include ArcGIS Experience Builder (powering the in-house EH Mapper), integration with one.network for roadworks coordination, what3words for citizen location reporting, and Street Manager for utility permit processing. The service has reached operational milestones including 100,000 LED street light conversions (April 2023) and 62,036 drains cleared (August 2025).
Essex Highways is funded through Essex County Council budgets and central government grants, including reallocated HS2 funding. It is not a commercial revenue-generating entity; fees are charged for specific licences and applications (e.g., landowner deposits £558-£1,167, variable permit scheme fees by reinstatement category) but on a cost-recovery basis. Recent capital commitments include a £25 million road network improvement boost (August 2024), a £7.5 million pothole repair campaign, £6 million of priority highway improvements over two years (June 2025), and a £15.2 million contract awarded to Jackson Civil Engineering for the St Botolph's Circus regeneration supporting the Chelmsford Garden Community development of 10,000 new homes.
Essex Highways firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Essex Highways
- Legal name
- Essex County Council
- Website
- https://essexhighways.org
- Company type
- Public
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Essex Highways is the statutory highways service of Essex County Council, managing and maintaining roads, bridges, street lighting, drainage, public rights of way, and winter gritting across Essex. It serves residents, contractors, utility companies, developers, and event organisers via an integrated digital portal and statutory permit scheme.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Essex Highways industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Highway Maintenance Services
- NAICS
- Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction (237310)
- SIC
- Transportation Services (4700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Road & Highway Authorities (Planning, Construction, Maintenance) (BPAIALAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Roadway Lighting, Power & Electrical Systems Maintenance (TLAJAAAH), Roadside Drainage, Stormwater & Erosion Control Maintenance (TLAJAAAE), Lane Closure, Detour & Diversion Operations (Detour Setup, Route Management, Access Management) (TLAJALAK)
Keywords
Where Essex Highways is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chelmsford
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Essex Highways business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Government Funding: Funded through Essex County Council budgets and government transportation grants
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Various highway and licence applications with associated fees |
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Essex Highways product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Essex Highways is the service delivery vehicle for highways functions across Essex, operating as a partnership between Essex County Council and Ringway Jacobs. It carries out routine and reactive highway maintenance, street lighting operation, drainage maintenance, winter gritting, traffic signal management, public rights of way maintenance, and administers permit and licensing schemes (Section 50, Section 171, skips, scaffolds, street works) for anyone working on the public highway.
Product overview
Essex Highways operates as a comprehensive digital service portal managed by Essex County Council for highway infrastructure management. The service comprises a unified website platform integrating multiple interconnected services: a core highways reporting and tracking system (Tell us and Track it), a full applications portal for permits and licences (Blue Badge, vehicle crossings, skips, scaffolding, road openings, traffic regulation orders), interactive mapping tools for roadworks and asset information, and the Essex Permit Scheme for coordinating utility works. Supporting services include highway maintenance scheduling, the Safer Greener Healthier active travel initiative, and the Highways Highlights newsletter. This is not a modular software platform but rather an integrated government service offering where citizens access diverse highway-related functions through a single web portal.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Companies that use Essex Highways
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Essex Highways technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Essex Highways partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Essex Highways competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Balfour Beatty: Major UK infrastructure contractor delivering highway construction and maintenance, including work for county councils and National Highways. Comparable activity to the capital works Essex Highways commissions, but delivered under contract rather than as the authority.
- Amey plc: One of the UK's largest highways services contractors, delivering maintenance, street lighting, and asset management on long-term contracts for multiple local authorities. Functions as a supplier counterpart to Essex Highways rather than a direct authority, but works on the same asset base.
- Skanska UK: Civil engineering contractor delivering road and public realm projects across the UK, including sustainability-focused schemes. Acts as a delivery partner for many of the same types of capital projects Essex Highways procures.
- one.network: Street works and roadworks coordination platform integrated with Essex Highways' website. Provides the technology layer that utility companies and contractors use to coordinate works with the authority — an enabling ecosystem participant.
Broad incumbents
- National Highways: Government-owned company operating England's strategic road network (motorways and major A-roads), including the A12, A120, M11, M25, and A130 within and adjacent to Essex. Overlaps with Essex Highways in network operations but covers a different statutory tier.
Regional players
- Transport for London: Statutory body responsible for most of London's roads, including some red routes bordering Essex. Operates a larger and more integrated network with strong digital services, providing a metropolitan benchmark for how Essex Highways' digital offering could evolve.
- Hampshire County Council (Hampshire Highways): Operates the highway network for Hampshire with parallel responsibilities in maintenance, permitting, public rights of way, and winter service delivery — a county-scale peer with a comparable scope of services.
- Hertfordshire County Council (Hertfordshire Highways): Statutory highways authority for Hertfordshire delivering road maintenance, street lighting, drainage, and a permit scheme through a council-operated model very similar to Essex Highways, serving an adjacent commuter-belt county.
- Surrey County Council (Surrey Highways): Runs highways services for Surrey under the same statutory framework, with comparable responsibilities in road maintenance, street lighting, drainage, permitting, and developer agreements — directly comparable in scope and delivery model.
- Kent County Council Highways: Operates as the statutory highways authority for Kent, a similarly large English county, providing road maintenance, permit coordination, street works, and winter services through a parallel council-operated model — the closest operational analogue to Essex Highways.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Essex Highways social profiles
Digital presenceEssex Highways financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Essex Highways leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Essex Highways funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Essex Highways M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Essex Highways
What does Essex Highways do?
Essex Highways is the service delivery vehicle for highways functions across Essex, operating as a partnership between Essex County Council and Ringway Jacobs. It carries out routine and reactive highway maintenance, street lighting operation, drainage maintenance, winter gritting, traffic signal management, public rights of way maintenance, and administers permit and licensing schemes (Section 50, Section 171, skips, scaffolds, street works) for anyone working on the public highway.
Is Essex Highways a public or private company?
Essex Highways is a public company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Essex Highways founded?
Essex Highways was founded in -1. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Essex Highways based?
Essex Highways is headquartered in Chelmsford, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Essex Highways make money?
One revenue line is on record: government Funding.
Who are Essex Highways's main competitors?
Others on record are Balfour Beatty, Amey plc, Skanska UK and one.network. National Highways is listed as a broad incumbent. Regional players are Transport for London, Hampshire County Council (Hampshire Highways), Hertfordshire County Council (Hertfordshire Highways), Surrey County Council (Surrey Highways) and Kent County Council Highways.
Does Essex Highways have an API?
No public API is recorded for Essex Highways.
What industry is Essex Highways in?
Essex Highways's product category is Highway Maintenance Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIALAA, Road & Highway Authorities (Planning, Construction, Maintenance), with a secondary code of TLAJAAAH, Roadway Lighting, Power & Electrical Systems Maintenance. Its NAICS code is 237310 and its SIC code is 4700.