Date posted: 2nd Sep 2025
A Darlington-based IT provider has rescued a national fire safety specialist from spiralling tech issues, restoring performance, confidence and peace of mind.
Radius Tech Solutions, part of the Clive Owen LLP Group of Companies and headquartered in Darlington, has helped Richmond Fire Engineers Ltd, one of the UK’s leading fire safety consultancies, overhaul its entire IT infrastructure following years of frustrations with a previous supplier.
Richmond Fire, based in Richmond, North Yorkshire, has provided fire sprinkler system design, installation and emergency support for more than 30 years, with regional design hubs in Huddersfield and satellite teams nationwide.
But while the company continued to deliver essential services to industrial, commercial and residential clients, it was increasingly being let down by a fragmented and underperforming IT setup.
“We were basically project managing their work for them,” said Lee Smith, Director of Richmond Fire Engineers Ltd. “It got to the point where we didn’t believe what they were telling us.”
The team faced a revolving door of account managers, unreliable support, and an ongoing push to upsell rather than solve problems. Critical systems, especially in Huddersfield, were hit by painfully slow VPN connections, broken file access and regular performance failures.
“They quoted us to fix problems they created,” Lee added. “Everything felt like an upsell.”
After testing the market for alternatives, Richmond Fire turned to long-time adviser Lee Huck, Managing Director of Radius Tech Solutions.
“Lee had been giving us reassurance in the background,” Lee Smith explained. “He assured us it could be done differently, and more smoothly.”
Radius Tech Solutions began with a deep-dive consultation, identifying pain points and mapping out a transformation. One of the main concerns was whether a cloud-based setup could cope with the huge CAD files central to Richmond Fire’s work.
“Radius set up a test environment first,” said Chris Ryde, Director at Richmond Fire. “It was plain to see that it could work. Since the move, it’s been a breath of fresh air.”
The improvements were immediate. Engineers working from the Huddersfield office reported up to four times faster system performance. Even Alexa radios, once prone to crashing during large file transfers, have remained faultless.
“We’re all on laptops now. People take them home, bring them back. It just works,” said Lee Smith.
The transition included a full hardware refresh, new HP docking stations for flexible hot-desking and a vastly improved security posture.
Most importantly, says the leadership team, trust has returned. “We’ve had hardly any need to contact support since the switch,” Chris added. “That was a weekly thing with the old provider.”
“Radius isn’t some massive, faceless company,” he added. “They’re the right size, with the right expertise. They don’t just sell to you, they advise you.”
Lee Huck, Managing Director or Radius Tech Solutions, said: “From the outset, our goal was to take the pressure off Richmond Fire and give its team the stability, speed and confidence they’d been missing.
“We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all IT. It’s about listening, understanding how a business really operates, and tailoring a solution that just works, now and for the future.”
