Highway Traffic Management Ltd (HTM), a leading provider in temporary traffic management and known for its strong commitment to safety, innovation and people-first culture, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Soother, the workplace mental wellbeing platform, to deliver opt-out therapy to HTM’s management team.

This initiative builds on HTM’s recent shift in focus – from simply addressing “mental health” to holistically supporting “wellbeing” across the business.

A Strategic Move Towards Wellbeing

At HTM, people have always been at the heart of the business. But recognising the evolving understanding of employee health, the company recently updated its core value from “Mental Health” to “Wellbeing,” reflecting a broader, more proactive commitment to supporting staff welfare.

Through the partnership with Soother, HTM aims to empower its management team to take ownership of their psychological wellbeing – not just in times of crisis, but as an ongoing, accessible resource for support.

Matt Higgs, HSEQ Director, shared some insight into the partnership:

“With our recent shift in our company values, this feels like the first natural step to empowering our people to access support, without the need to be in a crisis situation or feel like they are already at breaking point. It takes out so many barriers in accessing support in the first place, which can often stop people who have tried to ask for help or access support.

“By encouraging our management team to utilise Soother and access free therapy, we hope that it will help them to understand themselves better, and perhaps understand their own ways of working and tools to help them with their own situations.”

What This Partnership Means

• Opt-out therapy: All members of HTM’s management team will automatically have access to confidential, high-quality therapy via Soother, unless they choose to opt out – removing the barriers of stigma, referral, or self-initiation.
  
  
• Proactive support: Employees can access therapy straight away, rather than waiting to ‘qualify’ for therapy. They do not need to be struggling or in any sort of crises in order to access these services. They are readily available, putting employee wellbeing on the front.
  
  
• Three-stage roll-out: The program began with HTM’s Directors, Marcus Casey and Matt Higgs, who trialled the service. Following a successful pilot, the scheme is now being extended to all management staff across the business, rolled-out in three stages.
  
  
• Accessible, easy-to-use service: With Soother’s platform, sessions can be booked online, therapist matching is flexible, and therapy can be accessed remotely – offering convenience and privacy. Employees have the choice to choose their therapist or get matched with the most suitable.

Why It Matters

Working in traffic management industry can be stressful, as it is an industry where sites are often high-risk, and the pressure to deliver safe and timely solutions under demanding conditions.

As Managing Director Greg Baldwin notes:

“Our management team have the focus of safety, delivery and compliance, while also leading and supporting their teams. Providing opt-out therapy via Soother is not just about reactive support; it’s about giving people the means to look after their wellbeing proactively, so stress doesn’t build until something breaks.”

“By integrating therapy into its employee support offering, HTM is aiming to help individuals maintain their wellbeing = rather than waiting until a crisis or breakdown triggers the need for help.”

About the Partnership

Soother is a workplace-focused therapy provider that offers organisations and their employees easy access to qualified, vetted therapists – without the usual obstacles of self-referral, cost or stigma. Therapy through Soother is described as “just a conversation,” giving people a confidential, human space to speak and reflect.

As Soother founder George Stevens says:

“As well as often being quite difficult to access, therapy can feel like something to be feared. We’re trying to gently reframe that – therapy is just a conversation with someone highly trained in having conversations.

“By making this support a normal, routine part of life at HTM for the management team, they can check in with themselves early, even before their mental wellbeing might start to dip, which we hope will reduce or even prevent unnecessary difficulty.

“We think offering easy access to great therapists, that the management team can either select themselves or be matched with based on their requirements, is the best way of going about that.”

For HTM, success isn’t just measured in contracts completed or roads safely managed – it’s also about the wellbeing, resilience, and long-term sustainability of the people behind the hi-vis vests.

This partnership with Soother signals HTM’s belief that wellbeing isn’t a perk – it’s a foundational part of a healthy, effective, and forward-moving organisation.

About Soother: Soother is a workplace mental wellbeing platform delivering accessible, high-quality therapy to employees. Through a network of qualified, verified therapists, Soother provides flexible, confidential, and easy-to-use therapy services – helping employers foster healthy, supported and resilient workplaces.