Berkshire

Fire Safety Compliance & Maintenance in Newbury

Fire risk assessments, fire extinguisher servicing, security system maintenance and alarm monitoring for Newbury offices, Greenham Business Park units, Thatcham industrial sites and town centre shops.

Newbury's commercial stock runs from a corporate campus on the edge of town to Cold War era buildings reused as workspace, haulage depots along the A4 and timber-framed shops on medieval plots.

We travel from our Hayes head office west along the M4 to junction 13 at Chieveley, three miles north of the town. IDS Global was established in 2011 and is a member of the IFSM and the FPA.

Businesses and buildings in Newbury

Vodafone is Newbury's largest employer, with more than 6,000 staff at the £129 million headquarters it moved to in 2003 on the outskirts of town. National Instruments, Stryker, EValue and Newbury Building Society also run UK headquarters here. South-east of the town, off the A339, Greenham Business Park occupies the former technical area of the Greenham Common airbase. The Greenham Common Trust bought the site in 1997 and has turned it into a mixed-use park that keeps many legacy airbase buildings alongside new ones. A West Berkshire Council Local Development Order adopted in December 2018 allows offices, research, light and general industry and up to 75,938 sq m of storage and distribution without individual planning applications.

Three miles east, Thatcham straddles the River Kennet, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the A4. At Colthrop, on the former paper mills site, industrial parks and haulage depots cluster near Thatcham station, alongside the Motor Insurers' Automotive Research Centre. Newbury Racecourse in Greenham holds 24,000 spectators and also runs as a conference and events venue. In the town centre, retail and food outlets line Northbrook Street, Bartholomew Street and Market Place, with flats above many ground-floor shops.

Fire Risk Assessments in Newbury

A former airbase building now let as workspace at Greenham may no longer match the layout its original drawings show, and a multi-occupied unit needs clear agreement on who manages alarms, escape routes and shared plant. A Northbrook Street shop with a flat above, a concealed timber frame and a rear courtyard reached by a narrow passage presents different questions again: separation between the commercial and residential parts, and whether the escape route still works after years of infill.

We carry out fire risk assessments under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 with a prioritised written action plan.

Fire risk assessments

Fire Extinguisher Servicing in Newbury

Warehouses and haulage yards at Colthrop, workshops at Greenham Business Park and kitchens in town centre pubs and coaching inns each call for different extinguisher types, and the wrong one can make a fire worse. Our engineers service portable extinguishers, check that each type suits the hazard it covers, replace discharged or condemned units and update the site record. Multi-let estates can be covered on one schedule.

Fire extinguisher servicing

CCTV and Intruder Alarm Maintenance in Newbury

Shoplifting is the most frequently recorded acquisitive crime in Newbury town centre (see the crime figures below), which puts pressure on the cameras and alarms retailers already have. We maintain existing CCTV, intruder alarm and access control systems: cleaning and adjusting cameras, confirming that recordings are usable and retained for the right period, testing detectors, sirens and standby batteries, and servicing door controllers and readers.

CCTV, intruder alarm and access control maintenance

Alarm Monitoring in Newbury

Some sites around Newbury sit empty for long periods: industrial units at Colthrop and Greenham overnight, event and hospitality space between race days, and rural commercial premises well away from neighbours who might hear a bell.

We connect existing fire and intruder alarms to 24/7 monitoring, so activations are passed to your keyholders or the emergency services straight away, and faults are flagged before they leave a building unprotected.

Alarm monitoring

Greenham Business Park: an airbase reused

The business park stands on the technical area of the former Greenham Common airbase, returned to the Ministry of Defence in 1992 and bought by the Greenham Common Trust in 1997 after the Trust raised £7 million. The remaining legacy buildings have been kept in use alongside new development. The December 2018 Local Development Order sets planning controls for 15 years, so new units and changes of use can go ahead without a full planning application. Tenants should therefore review their fire risk assessment whenever a unit's use or layout changes.

Newbury Town Centre Conservation Area

West Berkshire Council's December 2021 appraisal traces the conservation area to three areas first designated in March 1971, expanded in 1990 to take in the Kennet Centre, Cheap Street and Newbury Wharf. Burgage plots on Market Place and Cheap Street probably date from the 13th century. Many buildings were re-fronted in the 18th century, when Newbury was the main overnight coaching stop to Bath, and most timber frames are now hidden behind later, often Georgian, frontages. Narrow passages lead off Northbrook Street and Bartholomew Street to rear courtyards, many since extended or infilled. In March 2025 two timber-framed buildings at Saddlers Court were approved for conversion from salon use into bedsits.

HMOs and converted buildings in West Berkshire

Housing standards in West Berkshire are enforced by the Public Protection Partnership, a service shared with Bracknell Forest Council. Its 2024 to 2027 strategic assessment records 44 licensed HMOs in West Berkshire under the mandatory scheme, and 38 suspected unlicensed HMOs awaiting investigation, with more work on unlicensed HMOs expected. The Partnership also runs a Commercial to Residential Conversion Compliance Programme, which checks that offices and shops turned into homes are safe and hosts landlord forums with Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Crime in Newbury town centre

police.uk street-level data for a one mile radius of Newbury town centre records 3,159 crimes between August 2025 and July 2026, including 408 shoplifting offences, 250 of criminal damage and arson, 136 vehicle crimes and 92 burglaries. Vehicle crime peaked at 43 offences in December 2025.

Services available in Newbury

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a new fire risk assessment after moving into a unit at Greenham Business Park?

You should review it. An assessment written for the previous occupier will not reflect your processes, stock, staff numbers or any changes to the layout. The park's Local Development Order lets many changes of use go ahead without a planning application, so the fire risk assessment is often the main point where these changes get checked.

Does my Newbury HMO need a licence?

Mandatory licensing applies to HMOs that meet the legal criteria, generally five or more people forming two or more households. West Berkshire had 44 licensed HMOs in the Public Protection Partnership's 2024 to 2027 assessment. Sources we checked do not show additional or selective licensing in West Berkshire, but confirm with the council before letting. Shared areas of any HMO still need a fire risk assessment.

We run a listed shop in the town centre. Can a fire risk assessment take the building's history into account?

Yes. Many town centre buildings hide a timber frame behind a later front and sit on narrow medieval plots with rear courts. Our assessment records the actual construction, escape routes and separation from any flats above, and gives recommendations you can discuss with the council's conservation officers before any work.

Is alarm monitoring worth it for a Thatcham or Colthrop industrial unit?

For sites that stand empty overnight or at weekends, usually yes. An alarm that only sounds locally depends on someone nearby noticing and acting. Monitoring passes every activation to a receiving centre, which contacts keyholders or the emergency services. Faults and low batteries are reported too.

Which fire station covers Newbury?

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service runs a wholetime station on Hawthorn Road, RG14, which has served the town since December 1956. Its two fire engines respond to property fires, industrial accidents, road traffic collisions, flooding and rescues from water, mud and ice.