Central London

Fire Safety & Security Services in City of London

Fire alarm, access control, CCTV and fire risk assessment work for offices, multi-let buildings and tenant fit-outs across the Square Mile, EC1 to EC4.

Our engineers reach the City from Hayes along the A40, which runs from Western Avenue past Marble Arch and along High Holborn to its eastern end at London Wall. IDS Global has worked from 27-37 Station Road, Hayes since 2011 and is a member of the IFSM and the FPA.

Businesses and buildings in City of London

The City is, first of all, an office district. Development monitoring data quoted by the City of London Corporation puts its office stock at roughly 9.38 million square metres (GIA) in 2024. The draft City Plan 2040 sets a minimum of 1.2 million square metres of additional office floorspace by 2040, concentrated in two tall building areas: the eastern City Cluster, where the height contour peaks at about 300 metres around 1 Undershaft, and a Fleet Street and Holborn area capped at 90 metres. Its "retrofit first" approach favours refurbishing existing buildings over demolition.

The Corporation reported more than 500,000 square metres of office space granted permission in 2025, about half already under construction. Towards the west, Smithfield is changing use: London Museum opens in the restored 1883 General Market on 28 November 2026, the Poultry Market follows in 2028, and the meat traders stay until at least 2028 while the markets prepare to move to a preferred site at Albert Island in the Royal Docks. Farringdon, the only station served by both Thameslink and the Elizabeth line, anchors that quarter.

Fire Alarm Installation in the City of London

Tall, multi-let office buildings usually have a landlord's base system on each floor and a tenant who wants to change the layout. When a floor goes from Cat A shell to Cat B fit-out, meeting rooms, comms rooms, kitchens and raised floors all change where detection and sounders need to go. We design the tenant's extension to BS 5839-1, agree the interface with the landlord's panel and managing agent, and hand over cause and effect records that match the finished floor rather than the original shell. In taller buildings we also test the links to lifts, door holders and smoke control before occupation.

Fire alarm installation

Access Control in the City of London

City offices typically need several layers of control: the landlord's turnstiles and reception, a tenant's own floor doors, then comms rooms, post rooms and cash or document stores. We install card, fob and mobile credential systems that fit alongside the base building's platform, with audit trails for compliance teams.

Every controlled door on an escape route is linked to the fire alarm so it releases on activation, and we check that door hardware in listed or conservation area buildings is chosen with the Corporation's heritage controls in mind.

Access control

CCTV Installation in the City of London

The police.uk data below shows that theft, not break-ins, is the main recorded problem in the Square Mile. We cover reception desks, post rooms, cycle stores, loading bays and shop tills, and set retention periods and export formats that City of London Police can use as evidence.

Cameras on building frontages need care in the 28 conservation areas, so we select compact housings and route cabling internally wherever possible.

CCTV installation

Fire Risk Assessments in the City of London

In a multi-let building the landlord and each tenant are responsible persons for their own parts, and their assessments need to agree on escape routes, evacuation strategy and who calls the fire brigade. We assess tenant floors after every fit-out, check that new partitions have not blocked travel distances or undermined compartmentation, and review how the evacuation plan works with shared cores and the landlord's arrangements.

Fire risk assessments

City Plan 2040 and the tall building pipeline

The City of London Corporation is the planning authority for the Square Mile, and City Plan 2040 will replace its 2015 Local Plan once adopted. The Corporation's explanatory note on offices records 71,993 square metres completed since 2021/22 and a further 682,891 square metres that could be delivered by 2032. Adoption has been delayed: on 29 June 2026 the Corporation said a direction from the Minister of State for Housing and Planning required further examination of tall buildings and their effect on the Tower of London World Heritage Site.

Conservation areas and listed buildings in the Square Mile

The Corporation lists 28 conservation areas, more than 600 listed buildings and structures, 48 scheduled ancient monuments and four historic parks and gardens. Conservation areas include Bank, Bishopsgate, Bow Lane, Chancery Lane, Charterhouse Square and the newly designated Creechurch, and special planning controls apply to development inside them. Alterations to listed buildings may need Listed Building Consent. For fire and security work this affects where sounders, detectors, cameras and door hardware can go, and when cabling has to be concealed rather than surface-run.

Dowgate fire station and daytime alarm calls in dense office blocks

The London Fire Brigade covers the City from Dowgate fire station at 94-95 Upper Thames Street, EC4R. In January 2024 crews from Dowgate and four other stations attended a fire in a ninth floor plant room of a Lower Thames Street office block, caused by an electrical fault in a distribution board. In a district with this much office floorspace, the Brigade's workplace policy matters: it no longer sends crews to automatic alarm signals from most commercial premises between 7am and 8.30pm unless a fire is confirmed, so each floor's fire wardens need clear instructions on checking the panel and calling 999.

City of London Police crime data and the Ring of Steel

The Square Mile has its own force, City of London Police, rather than the Metropolitan Police. We totalled police.uk street-level records for August 2025 to July 2026 across its six neighbourhoods (Bank, Barbican, Fenchurch Street, Fleet, Liverpool Street and Monument); figures are approximate. They show around 9,830 crimes, including 2,394 other thefts, 1,659 shoplifting offences, 1,274 thefts from the person, 477 burglaries and 361 bicycle thefts. Since 1993 the City has also operated the Traffic and Environmental Zone, known as the Ring of Steel, with checkpoints, road barriers and number plate recognition cameras at its entry points.

Services available in City of London

Frequently asked questions

Who is responsible for the fire alarm on our tenant floor in a multi-let City building?

Usually both parties. The landlord owns the base system and its panel, while the tenant is responsible for any devices added or moved during their fit-out and for their own fire risk assessment. We work with the managing agent so tenant changes are tested, recorded and reflected in the landlord's cause and effect.

Can we fit cameras or an alarm sounder on a building in the Bank conservation area?

Often yes, but it needs planning. Bank is one of 28 City conservation areas where special planning controls apply, and many buildings nearby are among the more than 600 listed in the Square Mile, where consent may be needed. We propose discreet equipment positions and internal cable routes, and recommend checking with the City of London Corporation's planning team before external work starts.

Does the new London Museum at Smithfield change security needs around Farringdon?

It is likely to bring more people into the area. The museum opens in the General Market on 28 November 2026, and the Corporation expects the wider Smithfield site to attract 1.4 million visitors a year once the markets leave. Shops, restaurants and offices nearby may want to review CCTV coverage of entrances and access control on side and rear doors.

Which police force do we report crime to in EC2 or EC3?

Inside the Square Mile it is City of London Police, not the Metropolitan Police. That matters when you share CCTV footage or report a break-in, because evidence requests will come from the City force. We set up recording and export so footage can be handed over quickly in a common format.

Is there any free business continuity help for City firms?

Yes. The City of London Corporation's Contingency Planning team offers information on major incident arrangements, business continuity presentations for staff and managers, and support with internal exercises, at no charge for businesses inside the City boundary. It also publishes a ten minute self assessment.