Roads, rail, power, gas, water and ports are built and run by four very different kinds of company. This page covers who they are, how to check one before you sign, and how a UK firm actually gets onto public infrastructure work. Every firm we list is checked at Companies House. Nobody pays to appear.
Run an infrastructure firm? List or claim your firm free. Checking one? Search the infrastructure directory.
£718bn
across 734 projects in the UK Infrastructure Pipeline (GOV.UK, 9 March 2026)
£365bn
of that pipeline is energy, the largest sector (GOV.UK, 9 March 2026)
41 of 59
names we checked at Companies House could be listed (Whito, September 2026)
24 Feb 2025
from this date new public procurements publish notices on Find a Tender (GOV.UK)
Finding
Of 59 names linked to UK infrastructure that Whito checked against Companies House on 23 September 2026, 41 could be listed. The rest were parent companies, joint ventures with no registered company, public bodies, or firms held until a filing updates.
Source: Whito, whito.co.uk/infrastructure-companies/research/who-builds-what, September 2026. Free to quote with a link to that page.
Finding
Of 108 business names three AI engines gave for UK infrastructure on 24 September 2026, 31 were the name of an active company that does that work. Forty-one were a group or parent brand, 15 were joint venture names with no company on the register, and none of the 18 answers gave a company number.
Source: Whito, whito.co.uk/infrastructure-companies/research/ai-infrastructure-company-names-companies-house, September 2026. Free to quote with a link to that page.
Start, Build, Scale
The right order for a firm that wants public infrastructure work
Do the stages in order. A framework bid goes nowhere if a buyer cannot match your name to a clean Companies House record.
Start, Build, Scale for infrastructure suppliers: Start with a clean, findable legal record. Build a track record through supply chains and published opportunities. Scale into frameworks and direct contracts.
Start
- Legal name and company number on your website
- Accounts and confirmation statement filed on time
- One named job with a public page behind it
Build
- A saved search on Find a Tender for your trade and region
- Subcontract work through a main contractor’s supply chain
- A case study for every finished job
Scale
- Bid for frameworks once you have call-off evidence
- Count call-offs won, not framework ceilings
- Direct contracts with the buyer
The library
Every guide, research note and tool on infrastructure companies
3 guides · 5 research notes · 3 tools. Official sources only, dated, with the method and limits on every page.
Whito need-to-know
- “Infrastructure company” covers four different businesses: contractors who build, utilities who own regulated networks, operators who run a single asset, and advisers who design and check. We sort every firm by the work it has actually done.
- The name on the site hoarding is often a brand or a joint venture. The company that signs the contract is a registered company with its own number. Check that one.
- The UK Infrastructure Pipeline only includes projects that have been publicly announced. Schemes still in early planning are not in it.
- Utilities answer to regulators as well as Companies House. Ofgem licenses the energy networks and Ofwat regulates the water companies.
- We do not rank firms by size, turnover or contract wins. A national contractor and a regional specialist get the same fields.
- Whito does not sell introductions to National Highways, NISTA, the National Wealth Fund or anyone else. Every route into public work is free and public.
Why infrastructure firms are hard to check
The brand is not the company
Western Power Distribution became National Grid Electricity Distribution in September 2022. Tideway is Bazalgette Tunnel Limited. The old names still appear in older documents.
Joint ventures are not always companies
HS2’s main civil works are split between four joint ventures. We searched Companies House for each and found no registered company for any of them.
Headline values are ceilings
A framework value is the most the whole framework could spend, often shared between several suppliers. None of it has to be spent.
What actually works when you check a firm
Six free checks on the public record. The full walk-through is in our guide to checking an infrastructure contractor.
Get the legal name and number
In writing, and matching the contract, the invoice and the insurance certificate.
Read the filing history
The Companies House overview can lag behind what has been filed. Read both before you judge.
Check charges and ownership
See who holds security over the company and which group owns it. The subsidiary’s accounts are the ones that matter for your contract.
Search the HSE register
Improvement and prohibition notices go on the public register five weeks after they are served and stay for five years.
Check the regulator
For a utility, check Ofgem’s or Ofwat’s records as well as Companies House.
Ask for one named job
A public page that names the work beats any capability statement. Every firm in our directory has one, linked.
Quick wins you can do this week
Set up a Find a Tender search
Search for your trade and region and save the search. Registration is free and only needed when you bid.
Get your record ready
Registration asks for your Companies House details and the last two years of accounts. Have them to hand.
Look at your target contractor’s supply chain
For most smaller firms the first step is a subcontract under a main contractor, not a contract with the public body itself.
Common mistakes with infrastructure companies
Paying for access to tenders
Find a Tender is free to use. Government guidance says you should not pay to view public sector opportunities.
Adding up the big numbers
The £725bn in the 10 Year Strategy and the £718bn pipeline measure different things. Adding them gives a figure nobody published.
Calling your supplier in a power cut
Your supplier bills you. The network operator fixes the fault. Call 105. Who to call, and when.
Infrastructure directory
The numbers we cite, and who publishes them
- At least £725bn. Government funding for economic and social infrastructure over ten years, in UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year Strategy, HM Treasury and NISTA, 19 June 2025.
- £718bn across 734 projects. The second edition of the UK Infrastructure Pipeline, 9 March 2026, covering public and private investment over the next decade. The first edition, in July 2025, was £530bn.
- £365bn. The energy share of that pipeline, the largest of any sector.
- £27.8bn. The National Wealth Fund’s core capitalisation. Its stated mission is to drive more than £100bn of finance.
- Up to £36.6bn. The National Wealth Fund’s term loan to build Sizewell C, announced 22 July 2025.
- PwC forecasts £111 trillion (US$151.1 trillion) of infrastructure spending worldwide through 2050. It is not a UK figure, so we use it for nothing else.
The £725bn and £718bn measure different things and should not be added together. We cite the pipeline; we do not copy it. See UK infrastructure numbers, decoded.
The register that matters
Companies House, plus Ofgem or Ofwat for utilities
Infrastructure contracts are signed by registered companies, not brands or joint ventures. Check the company number first. For an energy network or water company, check the regulator’s record too. Running a local building firm instead? The builders directory is the right place, and our guide to main contractors and local builders explains where the line falls.
Method and limits
- Method. Figures on this page come only from official pages: GOV.UK, the NISTA delivery blog, the National Wealth Fund and National Highways, plus PwC’s own forecast for the global aside. Every figure was read on 23 September 2026. Listings are checked at Companies House on the date shown on each profile.
- Limits. The pipeline only includes projects that have been publicly announced. The pipeline pages we read gave no “data as at” date, and the NISTA pipeline web app would not load for us, so we used the official press release and blog. A Whito listing is not a recommendation, a rating or a prequalification. For regulated work, check the firm on the relevant register yourself.
Sources, each read on 23 September 2026: 10 Year Strategy, 19 Jun 2025 · Pipeline second edition, 9 Mar 2026 · Pipeline first edition, 17 Jul 2025 · NWF strategy · NWF Sizewell C, 22 Jul 2025 · PwC, 28 Apr 2026. Corrections: whito.co.uk/corrections/.
Run an infrastructure firm?
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