Case Study: High Speed Two (HS2) Limited achieves £112M in 2021 savings and a scalable innovation pipeline with Planview IdeaPlace

HS2 Harnesses Untapped Ingenuity to Deliver UK’s Largest Ever Infrastructure Project

HS2 Ltd is the UK government’s program to design, build and operate a new high‑speed rail network linking major cities—a 345‑mile, multi‑phase project involving thousands of suppliers and workers. Faced with unprecedented scale and complexity, HS2 needed a way to capture, evaluate and implement ideas from across its vast supply chain and wider community to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance safety.

Using Planview Spigit™ and Projectplace™, HS2 launched an Innovation Hub that centralized ideation, vetted concepts through feasibility, and created collaborative workspaces for suppliers to develop and roll out solutions. The program grew to ~7,000 users, ran 100+ challenges, generated 3,000+ ideas and over 100 active projects; with £7m invested, it delivered £112m in savings in 2021 and is projected to save £800m by the end of Phase One and £2bn across all phases, while embedding a culture of innovation across the program.

High Speed Two (HS2) Limited

Robert Cairns

Innovation Manager