Berkshire

Fire Safety & Security Services in Slough

Fire alarm installation, CCTV, access control and fire risk assessments for occupiers, landlords and agents in Slough, from Slough Trading Estate and the town centre to Langley and Colnbrook.

Slough sits on the M4 at junctions 5, 6 and 7, a short run west from our head office at 27-37 Station Road, Hayes. IDS Global has worked in fire safety and security since 2011 and is a member of the IFSM and the FPA.

Businesses and buildings in Slough

Slough Trading Estate, run by SEGRO, is described by its owner as the largest privately-owned business park under single ownership in Europe. It grew out of a First World War army motor repair depot and opened as an estate in 1920, with Citroen arriving in 1926 and Mars in 1932. It now holds more than 30 data centres and SEGRO calls it Europe's largest data centre cluster. Over a third of its warehouse space was built in the last ten years, and 2025 lettings ranged from freight forwarding to aerospace engineering. A Simplified Planning Zone agreed with Slough Borough Council covers the estate.

The 2021 Census counted 143,184 people in the town. Around the station, Berkeley is converting the former Horlicks factory into apartments as part of a scheme of up to 1,300 homes at Horlicks Quarter. Berkeley also bought the Queensmere and Observatory shopping centres in July 2024. Queensmere closed in January 2026 ahead of demolition and a plan for up to 1,600 homes over about 14 years, while the Observatory stays open for retail.

Fire Alarm Installation in Slough

Recent speculative units on the trading estate range from 2,000 to 45,000 sq ft, and occupiers fit them out for uses as different as freight forwarding and furniture making. Each fit-out changes the fire strategy, so detection and sounders need to follow the actual layout and occupancy rather than the shell specification.

Because Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service no longer sends an engine automatically to alarm activations at offices and shops, a system in a Slough unit has to raise the alarm reliably and give staff enough information to decide whether to call 999. We design and install BS 5839 systems with zoning and detector types chosen to limit unwanted activations.

Fire alarm installation

CCTV Installation in Slough

Street-level police.uk data for August 2025 to July 2026 records around 442 vehicle crimes and 394 shoplifting offences in the Chalvey, Town Centre and Upton neighbourhood alone. Retail units, car parks and the yards of industrial premises all see this kind of offending.

We plan camera positions around entrances, tills, loading doors and parking, with recording retained long enough for an incident to be reported and reviewed.

CCTV installation

Fire Risk Assessments in Slough

Slough Borough Council predicts 2,024 HMOs in the borough and estimates that 22.3% of them have a serious hazard. Between 2020 and 2025, 153 of the 369 private rented sector enforcement notices it served related to predicted HMOs.

We carry out fire risk assessments for shared houses, converted flats, new apartment blocks, offices and industrial units, and give the responsible person a prioritised action plan covering detection, escape routes, fire doors and emergency lighting.

Fire risk assessments

Access Control in Slough

The trading estate combines data centres and their supply chain businesses with multi-let industrial units and offices, and Slough has one of the highest concentrations of company headquarters outside London.

We install card, fob and keypad access control and door entry systems, with release on fire alarm activation where escape doors are secured.

Access control

Slough property licensing: consultation closing September 2026

Only mandatory HMO licensing currently applies in Slough. The council's earlier borough-wide additional scheme and its selective scheme for Chalvey and Slough Central ran from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024, licensing 149 and 3,635 properties respectively.

A consultation that ran from 15 July to 23 September 2026 proposed a new borough-wide additional scheme for HMOs with three or four tenants sharing facilities, plus selective licensing in Chalvey and Slough Central, with licences lasting up to five years. Around 17,000 privately rented properties could be covered. The council says the results will go to Cabinet before any final scheme is agreed, so landlords should check the outcome before assuming a licence is needed.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service alarm response

Slough is covered by two wholetime RBFRS stations: Slough on Tuns Lane, opened in 1956 with two fire engines, and Langley on London Road, opened in 1963, which also covers Colnbrook, Poyle and stretches of the M4 and M25.

From 20 September 2024 the service stopped automatically attending automatic fire alarm signals from shops, offices, leisure centres, sports grounds, libraries and health centres, citing 99% of such calls as false alarms. Schools, higher-risk buildings and premises where people sleep, including hotels, care homes, houses and flats, still get an automatic attendance. Confirmed fires and 999 calls are always answered, so a business must be able to investigate an activation and call quickly.

Conservation areas in Slough

Slough Borough Council has designated five conservation areas: Colnbrook, St Bernard's School, St Mary's Church in Langley, Sussex Place and Clifton Road, and Upton Park and Upton Village. Upton also contains St Laurence's Church, one of the town's four Grade I listed buildings. The council assesses planning applications in these areas more rigorously for their effect on character and appearance.

For premises in these areas we keep external cameras, detectors and cabling to the minimum needed and agree positions with you before fixing anything to a facade.

Recorded crime across Slough neighbourhoods

We summed police.uk street-level records for August 2025 to July 2026 within each Thames Valley Police neighbourhood boundary, so the counts below are approximate. Chalvey, Town Centre and Upton had the most: about 164 burglaries and 116 robberies as well as its vehicle and shoplifting totals. Farnham, Baylis and Stoke recorded roughly 289 shoplifting offences and 280 vehicle crimes. Colnbrook, Poyle and Foxborough, close to the M4 and M25, logged about 214 vehicle crimes and 177 criminal damage or arson offences.

Those patterns favour CCTV at shopfronts and car parks, and intruder alarms with perimeter detection on industrial sites.

Services available in Slough

Frequently asked questions

Will RBFRS send a fire engine if our Slough Trading Estate unit alarm activates?

Not automatically if the unit is an office, shop or similar workplace. Since 20 September 2024 Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service only responds to those alarm signals when someone calls 999 or a fire is confirmed. Your fire risk assessment and procedures should name who checks the cause and makes the call. Premises where people sleep, schools and higher-risk buildings still receive an automatic attendance.

Do I need an HMO licence for a shared house in Slough right now?

Only if it falls under mandatory HMO licensing, because the council's additional and selective schemes ended on 30 June 2024. A new additional scheme covering HMOs with three or four tenants was out to consultation until 23 September 2026, and Cabinet will decide on it later.

Can you work on buildings in the Upton or Langley conservation areas?

Yes. Upton Park and Upton Village, and St Mary's Church in Langley, are two of Slough's five conservation areas, where the council looks closely at changes to a building's appearance. We plan equipment positions to keep external fixtures discreet, and we advise checking with the council first if the building is listed or the work needs planning permission.

How far is Slough from your office?

Our only office is at 27-37 Station Road in Hayes. Slough is reached by heading west on the M4, which serves the town at junctions 5, 6 and 7. We cover SL1, SL2 and SL3 for surveys, installation and planned maintenance.

Do you cover new apartment blocks such as those at Horlicks Quarter?

Yes. Managing agents and management companies for new blocks around Slough town centre can use us for fire risk assessments of common parts, fire door inspections, fire alarm servicing, and door entry, access control and CCTV. Blocks of flats are sleeping-risk premises, so RBFRS still sends an automatic attendance to their alarm signals.