Equans UK & Ireland has acquired Mway Communications, a specialist highways technology and engineering business employing approximately 100 people and generating annual turnover of £26 million, with Mway's managing director Stephen Crawford and relationship director Lee Day joining Equans as part of the agreement.

Equans UK & Ireland is the British and Irish division of Equans Group, owned by Bouygues (EPA: EN), with €18.7 billion in group revenue in 2025 and 83,000 employees across 20 countries. Equans achieved a group margin from activities of 5.2% in H1 2026, up 1.2 percentage points year on year, with an order book of €27.6 billion at a record high. Mway Communications provides technology and engineering services to National Highways and Tier 1 contractors across the UK Strategic Road Network (SRN), covering technology deployment, electrical engineering, street lighting, traffic signals, inductive loop installation and highways civil works.

The structural driver is the UK Strategic Road Network's RIS3 investment programme committing £38.8 billion to the SRN from 2025 to 2030, the largest capital commitment to the UK road network in its history, generating sustained demand for connected infrastructure, operational technology and communications network capability alongside traditional civils and engineering. Mway's established position as a trusted delivery partner to National Highways and Tier 1 contractors gives Equans direct access to that programme without the years of framework qualification that entering the SRN market from scratch would require.

The acquisition adds the SRN as a distinct operational technology market to Equans UK's existing capabilities across digital infrastructure, energy systems and asset management, one requiring specialist knowledge of highway communications protocols, traffic management systems and real-time operational data networks not found in commercial or industrial electrical contracting.

For the sector, Equans' acquisition of Mway confirms that major multi-technical services groups are moving to own specialist SRN delivery capability rather than subcontract it, a structural shift that will accelerate as the RIS3 programme reaches peak delivery in 2027 and 2028.

Source: facilitatemagazine.com / highwaysmagazine.co.uk / equans.co.uk / equans.com