Portland Highway Consultants Ltd was formed, and is owned, by John B. Mather I.Eng, DipASM, MCIHT, MSoRSA who is also the Company Director.

John has twenty-nine years of experience in the field of highways and transportation and for the past eighteen years has specialised in the field of road safety engineering. John started work in the public sector at a local highway authority and has also worked in the private sector for a large national consultancy firm and a company contracted by Highways England (HE) to manage the Area 12 (Yorkshire & Humberside) area of the Motorway & Trunk Road Network.

John is an Incorporated Engineer, registered with the Engineering Council, Member of the Chartered Institute of Highways & Transportation (CIHT), Member of the Society of Road Safety Auditors (MSoRSA), holds the HE approved Road Safety Audit Certificate of Competence (Article 1-3 EU Directive 2008/96/EC) required to undertake Road Safety Audits on the HE and Trans European Road Network, and is a Holder of the CSCS Professional Qualified Persons Card which is legally required to access highway works sites. He is well respected within the field of road safety engineering/audit as a highly competent practitioner who has wide experience of working on the motorway, trunk road and local road network. John has undertaken projects in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

His key individual skills are as follows:

- Identifying road safety problems: this requires skill in collision investigation considering all road users, i.e. awareness of issues that lead to collisions; recognition of the difference between perceived and actual risk and understanding the issues that affect collision severity;

- Road safety engineering: excellent highway and traffic engineering knowledge to make recommendations that are proportionate and viable and will help address the road safety problems;

- A fully qualified Road Safety Auditor who has undertaken approximately 1,950 Road Safety Audits for improvement schemes located on the motorway, trunk and local road network and has also delivered presentations and produced technical documents in respect of Road Safety Audit;

- A highly competent report writer with the ability to both present to, and train, other practitioners particularly in the field of road safety audit; and

- The ability to innovate and to provide a quality service working within agreed deadlines.

John will be the principal lead engineer for projects undertaken by Portland Highway Consultants Ltd, will be the main point of contact for the Client and is responsible for the daily operation of the Company.