An answer to this could literally be a book, and there are many out there on the topic. I would like to suggest a few brief answers for you, and invite further questions if you have them.
English (and later British) naval administration developed early, and was fairly consistent (in role if not in name) from the time of Samuel Pepys until well into the Napoleonic period, and after. The idea of having a naval administration that gathered under its wing at various points all the details of victualling, supplying ships, building and repairing ships, supplying ordnance, cordage, tackle, and stores, manning, and various other roles was important in naval development. (Note that this doesn't meant that the English/British government controlled all of this individually -- it still contracted with private individuals for many of these services.) Possibly the most important development related to this was having one single Admiralty budget, so that Parliament would have a good idea of the cost of a navy year-over-year.
A shipbuilding tradition that was quick to innovate. English/British shipbuilders were relatively quick to adopt technological changes from around the North Sea. The French, by contrast, probably had a better academic understanding of seamanship from their universities, and were ahead of their competitors in hydrography and related marine sciences. They did not, however, move as quickly as their English counterparts in adopting innovations such as the wheel (replacing the tiller for steering); my resource has escaped me for the moment, but if memory serves, the French did not install wheels on their ships for almost 100 years after the British had them.
An established infrastructure for repairing and storing ships over time. The dockyards at Deptford on the Thames were established by around 1500, with a basin being added to the drydock and dockyards in 1517. Deptford fell out of use as traffic increased on the Thames, but companion dockyards at Chatham, Sheerness, and eventually Portsmouth kept up the tradition of having sophisticated repair and building facilities that were ahead of England's and Britain's naval competitors.
A tradition of seamanship that developed concurrently, and later independently, of the military (army) tradition of the country. Although early English naval organization mirrored that around most of northern Europe, with a soldier as "captain" of a ship and a sailor as "master," the increasing specialization of the marine arts and the change from "land battle at sea" to actual naval warfare meant that the "tarpaulin" or seaman came to command ships, and, eventually, navies. (Compare this to the Spanish example, where the duke of Medina Sidona, the commander of the Armada, had rarely been to sea and suffered debilitating seasickness.) English and British officers went to sea as young boys, and got a practical education in seamanship that was lacking in other countries.
A store of manpower for ships that was larger as a percentage of population than most Continental countries -- as an island nation that depended on trade, England/Britain had a repository of seamen that could form the core of even large ship companies when they enlisted or were impressed.
An overall commitment to the Navy that was not present in much of Europe, where armies would be decisive. Britain could not survive as an independent nation without a navy, and has in fact been invaded from overseas several times -- that fact was not lost on Parliament during the wars of the 17th-19th centuries.