North-West London

Fire Safety & Security Services in Northwood

Fire alarm systems, fire risk assessments, CCTV and intruder alarms for shop owners, care providers, schools and managing agents in Northwood and Northwood Hills.

Northwood grew up around its Metropolitan line station, which opened in 1887, and the A404 still runs through the town between Harrow and Rickmansworth. Most of the town lies in the London Borough of Hillingdon, while much of its northern part falls in Hertfordshire.

IDS Global works from a single office at 27-37 Station Road, Hayes, has traded since 2011 and holds IFSM and FPA membership.

Businesses and buildings in Northwood

Hillingdon's Local Plan classes Green Lane as one of the borough's five district centres, alongside Hayes, Ruislip, Eastcote and Yiewsley-West Drayton, with Northwood Hills a minor centre. The council's 2019 conservation appraisal describes Green Lane as mostly three-storey parades with shops and restaurants at street level and offices and flats on the first and second floors. Several former banks now trade as restaurants or a betting shop, the old post office is a pizza restaurant and a Waitrose opened in 1987. In Northwood Hills, Harry Neal developed the Joel Street shopping parade in the 1930s, when Belton Estates put up much of the surrounding private housing.

Care homes and schools also shape the building stock. The CQC lists Northwood Nursing Home on Eastbury Avenue and Seymour House on Chester Road, which cares for people living with dementia. Denville Hall on Ducks Hill Road, a locally listed Victorian Gothic house built around a 16th-century core, has been a retirement home for actors and theatre workers since 1926. St Helen's School on Eastbury Road teaches 1,097 girls aged 3 to 18, and Northwood College for Girls occupies the southern end of Maxwell Road.

Fire Alarm Installation in Northwood

In August 2024 an electrical fault started a fire in a first-floor flat above a shop on Northwood High Street. Four engines and about 25 firefighters attended, and no one was hurt. Where a shop, restaurant or office shares a building with flats, a fault on one floor can put residents on another at risk.

We design and install alarm systems to BS 5839 for mixed-use parades, care homes and school buildings, with detection zoned so staff can find the source quickly. For care settings, we plan sounders and visual alarms around residents who may not respond to a standard bell.

Fire alarm installation

Fire Risk Assessments in Northwood

The 2019 appraisal notes that some houses on Murray Road have been split into flats and others replaced with apartment blocks, while Green Lane stacks offices and homes above commercial units. Buildings that have changed use in stages can end up with escape routes and compartment lines that no longer match how the building is used.

Our assessors walk every floor, check doors, detection and escape routes against current occupancy, and give you a prioritised action plan.

Fire risk assessments

CCTV Installation in Northwood

Shoplifting is concentrated around the Green Lane district centre. Police.uk records for August 2025 to July 2026 show about 158 shoplifting offences in the Northwood neighbourhood, more than double the 68 recorded in Northwood Hills.

For independent shops, restaurants and the offices above them, we position cameras to cover doors, tills and rear service yards, and set up recording that staff can search and export for the police without specialist help.

CCTV installation

Intruder Alarm Installation in Northwood

Over the same twelve months, police.uk records about 64 burglaries in Northwood and 62 in Northwood Hills, with 86 and 61 vehicle crimes respectively.

We install graded intruder alarms for shops, offices and school outbuildings, with remote signalling and keyholder response options. In conservation areas we choose bell box positions and cable routes with the building's frontage in mind.

Intruder alarm installation

Green Lane conservation area and the Copse Wood Estate

Hillingdon designated the Northwood Town Centre, Green Lane conservation area on 2 December 2009. It joins two older conservation areas, Northwood Frithwood (1989) and The Glen (2007). Its only grade II listed building is the former police station at the corner of Murray Road and Maxwell Road, designed in 1910. The appraisal names the replacement of original windows, doors and shop fronts with uPVC as the greatest harm to the area.

Around the centre, the Copsewood Estate, Gatehill Farm Estate, Dene Road and Hillside are Areas of Special Local Character. The Local Plan expects alterations there to respect original materials, and most trees on the Copse Wood Estate carry Tree Preservation Orders. We agree positions for cameras, detectors and cable runs before starting, so fixings on historic frontages stay discreet.

Recorded crime in Northwood and Northwood Hills

We counted police.uk street-level crimes inside each Metropolitan Police neighbourhood boundary for August 2025 to July 2026. The figures are approximate because police.uk anonymises locations. Northwood recorded about 778 crimes, including 158 shoplifting offences, 86 vehicle crimes, 64 burglaries and 16 robberies. Northwood Hills recorded about 851, including 270 violent crimes, 68 shoplifting offences, 62 burglaries and 61 vehicle crimes.

The pattern favours till and entrance cameras on Green Lane and intruder alarms across both areas.

Fire cover for HA6

There is no fire station in Northwood itself. London Fire Brigade runs four stations in Hillingdon, at Hayes, Heathrow, Hillingdon and Ruislip. When fire broke out above a High Street shop in August 2024, the crews that attended came from Stanmore, Harrow and Northolt, and the fire was under control about 70 minutes after the first call.

Early detection and a clear evacuation plan matter most in the first minutes, before crews arrive. That applies especially to care homes and to flats above shops, where occupants may need help or have only one way out.

Northwood Hills parade after the 2014 improvements

In 2014 the GLA and Hillingdon Council funded a scheme for the Northwood Hills centre. It added a tree-lined boulevard, new paving, lighting and a Metroland mural by the station, and offered 36 shop front grants to independent shops.

Where shopkeepers have invested in new frontages, we can fit CCTV and alarm equipment without spoiling them, using compact camera housings and internal cable routes where the structure allows.

Services available in Northwood

Frequently asked questions

Will London Fire Brigade attend an automatic alarm at a Northwood care home during the day?

Yes. The Brigade's automatic fire alarm policy lists residential care homes, nursing homes and hospices among the premises it still attends between 7am and 8.30pm without a confirmed fire. Each false alarm therefore still sends crews to the building. We can review detector types, positions and alarm filtering in your home to cut unwanted activations while keeping detection reliable.

Does the same apply to schools and nurseries in Northwood?

The Brigade's published exempt list includes schools, nurseries and residential boarding schools, as well as grade I, II and II* listed buildings. Northwood has large school sites such as St Helen's, with 1,097 pupils on the government register. We carry out fire risk assessments, alarm servicing and fire marshal training for education and care staff, and can help reduce false alarms from kitchens and science rooms.

Can IDS Global fit CCTV to a shop in the Green Lane conservation area?

Yes. Green Lane has been a conservation area since December 2009, and the council's appraisal places weight on original shop fronts and architectural detail. We survey the frontage first, choose small camera housings and route cables internally where possible. If the building is listed, or your works need consent, check with Hillingdon Council before anything is fixed to the outside.

We run a shop with flats above on Green Lane. Where should we start?

Begin with a fire risk assessment that covers the whole building, including the shared stair and the route out from the upper floors. The 2024 fire above a High Street shop started with an electrical fault. We can then specify detection that links the commercial unit and the flats where the assessment calls for it.