Construction technology provider Causeway Technologies has acquired Buchanan Computing, the leading provider of permanent traffic engineering and highways management solutions, including ParkMap which is currently used by over 90 UK local authorities to efficiently manage the complete lifecycle of traffic regulation orders (TROs).
The acquisition of Buchanan Computing builds upon Causeway’s vision of digitalising construction, maintenance, and traffic management processes by connecting Causeway one.network with Buchanan’s ParkMap, to create the UK’s first unified platform for Digital Traffic Regulation Orders (D-TROs).
This integration will benefit traffic authorities who will gain a crucial way to digitise all their permanent and temporary traffic regulation orders in a single platform, improving public consultation, reducing duplication and error, and boosting efficiency with a unified view.
ParkMap digitises everything from initial scheme design and public engagement, through to the generation of legal documentation and sharing real-time data about permanent TROs; such as parking places, waiting and loading bays, and bus lanes.
Buchanan Computing have worked closely with the UK Government to inform the roll out of digitised traffic orders, with ParkMap customers such as Kent, Essex, Lancashire, and Transport for West Midlands, using the system to participate in the Department for Transport’s D-TRO private beta test. The new legislation will require Highways Authorities to provide digital versions of all new traffic regulation orders – both temporary and permanent – during 2025.
The acquisition will also see Buchanan’s industry leading products SignPlot and SignLoad come into the Causeway suite of solutions. SignLoad, for the design of sign structures, will integrate with Causeway’s Professional Design Suite (PDS) to create a single solution that will transform infrastructure design productivity for local authorities, consultants and sign manufacturers, helping to minimise costs while ensuring that traffic sign and sign structure designs are correct and accurate.
SignPlot and SignLoad are the genesis and life-long work of Simon Morgan, chair of Buchanan Computing, and chair of the Traffic Signs Panel for the Institute of Highway Engineers, who will continue to support the integration with Causeway, alongside Buchanan Chief Executive Alex Smith.
AccsMap, Buchanan’s third product stream, is a system widely used by local authorities and police forces to help make the roads safer by analysing collision data and trends. Like other Buchanan products it enables data to be shared, enabling authorities to work effectively.
This transaction represents the fifth strategic acquisition by Causeway since Five Arrows made a significant investment in Causeway in 2021.
"The acquisition of Buchanan Computing reinforces our commitment to delivering a fully integrated, end-to-end solution for Highways Authorities and Contractors, enabling them to seamlessly plan, monitor, and communicate the management and maintenance of their infrastructure assets while ensuring full compliance with legislation. By bringing our vision to life, we empower local authorities to operate more efficiently, maximising their limited budget and resources. This not only improves the level of service, but also benefits the public with better-maintained infrastructure and more timely, accurate information about the road network, reducing congestion, journey times, and carbon emissions.”
Phil Brown, Chief Executive of Causeway
"For several years we have worked closely with Causeway, providing added value to mutual clients by providing links and integrations between our respective products. It therefore makes total sense to combine our resources in this way and to work more closely with the teams we have got to know at Causeway. Combining our highly complementary portfolios will bring huge value to our local authority customers, delivering all road data and design capability in a single asset management environment. I am very proud to have founded Buchanan Computing and taken it to this point where it has a wide user base and is massively respected. I am confident that Causeway is a great home in which to continue to advance the ethos of providing market leading, time-saving products, together with excellent support, training, and consultancy services."
Simon Morgan, Chairman of Buchanan Computing
"Being with Buchanan Computing for over 20 years has been an enjoyable and productive journey and I’m delighted to have been instrumental in its enormous growth and success over that time. With changes and opportunities ahead, such as next year’s legislation around D-TROs, now was the time to take stock and see whether we could serve our clients even better by combining with a company in the same field. This will enable us to continue to help authorities to break down application and data silos, by providing an integrated service needed to efficiently plan and manage their highway network.”
Alex Smith, Chief Executive of Buchanan Computing
About Causeway Technologies
Causeway Technologies was founded in 1999 by chief executive, Phil Brown. Headquartered in Buckinghamshire in the UK, it now serves over 3,000 customers globally with over 500 employees dedicated to providing enterprise and cloud software solutions to support the digitalisation of the construction and infrastructure maintenance industries, serving consultants, contractors, suppliers, and their clients on an international scale.
About Five Arrows
Five Arrows is the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co and has €27 billion of AuM with offices in Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Luxembourg. With over €10 billion of assets under management, the corporate private equity business of Five Arrows is focused on investing in companies with highly defensible market positions; strong management teams; business models with high visibility of organic unit volume growth and strong unit economics; and multiple operational levers that can be used to unlock latent value. Sectors are limited to data and software technology-enabled business services and healthcare.
www.rothschildandco.com/en/merchant-banking/corporate-private-equity/
About Buchanan Computing
Buchanan Computing was formed in 1997. It is named after the celebrated transport planner, Prof. Sir Colin Buchanan, author of ‘Traffic in Towns’, and is led by chairman Simon Morgan who chairs the Traffic Signs Panel at the Institute of Highways Engineers (IHE), and Traffic Sign Standards at BSI, and thus represents UK on European committees. He advises national governments on traffic signing, regulation and road safety, and is a well-known speaker on these subjects. Based in Hammersmith, London, the company specialises in software for traffic engineering and highway management in the UK, and in web mapping, cloud computing, and training. It is the foremost supplier to UK highway authorities of computer mapping (GIS) and software for the design and management of traffic regulation orders and traffic signs, and is prominent in road safety and collision analysis. It is the parent of Buchanan Consultants (previously BOM), which provides consultancy and data input services relating to traffic orders, highway inventory and civil moving traffic enforcement.
