Waking watch case studies
Interim fire-safety cover on buildings with identified defects — what the building needed, how the watch was staffed, and what happened to the cost and the compliance position.
6 case studies
Ashridge Group publishes 20 case studies across three disciplines: waking watch and fire safety, security guarding, and facilities management. Each one records the brief, how the work was staffed and the measurable outcome, delivered by directly employed teams rather than a sub-contractor chain.
What the case studies show
Measured in outcomes, not adjectives.
Browse by discipline
Three case study categories.
Security case studies
Manned guarding, construction site security, mobile patrols and key holding — for utilities, infrastructure, education, heritage and corporate clients.
13 case studies
Facilities management case studies
Hard and soft services, cleaning, maintenance and grounds — delivered by directly-employed teams across multi-site estates.
1 case study
The work
20 engagements, each in the client’s own context.
Security
Manned guarding on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme
Ashridge Group took over 24/7 manned guarding on the £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme in June 2019, after the incumbent contractor failed. At the time the largest construction project in the UK, it involved 14 fixed and moveable compounds across 21 miles of…
Waking Watch
Waking watch during alarm decommissioning at Waterside Heights, Solihull
Centrick needed interim fire cover at Waterside Heights, a premium apartment building in Dickens Heath Village near Solihull, while its L5 fire alarm system was decommissioned. We staffed two officers on days and two on nights for the eight days the system was out of use.
Security
Compressor station security for Murphy Group and National Grid
We provided round-the-clock on-site security for Murphy Group across two compressor stations in Cambridgeshire, part of a £113 million National Grid contract. Our team stayed for seven years and delivered more than 240,000 hours of cover on a site where access points changed constantly.
Waking Watch
Ten-day waking watch during a fire alarm fault at Burlington Gate, Walsall
When faults developed in the fire alarm system at Burlington Gate in Walsall, Encore Group needed interim fire cover while they were put right. We provided one fire-trained waking watch officer on site 24 hours a day for ten days, standing down on 26 June 2026…
Security
Security consultancy and health and safety policy for Delapré Abbey
Cognitious, an Ashridge Group company, carried out a security survey and strategy for Delapré Abbey, a Grade II listed heritage site in Northamptonshire, then wrote a 150-page health and safety policy and procedures manual. The Abbey Trust has used the service on an ongoing basis for…
Security
Key holding and alarm response for NHS pharmacies and surgeries
Pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries across a number of NHS trusts needed alarm response cover for high-risk premises. Ashridge Group provided 24-hour key holding and mobile response, acting as the point of contact for emergency services and handling incidents overnight and at weekends without calling staff out.
Security
Campus security for Milton Keynes College
Milton Keynes College needed ongoing security for students, lecturers and staff, plus support for annual projects and events. Ashridge Group provides manned guarding, key holding and patrols during and outside term time, working alongside Thames Valley Police. The college has agreed to extend the relationship by…
Facilities Management
Soft services and security across 20 Engie sites
Ashridge Group delivers soft services across Engie’s corporate, railway and critical national infrastructure sites — manned guarding, receptionists, porters, facilities assistants and mail room services. Work has covered 20 separate Engie sites, including an emergency deployment protecting copper cable reels across five sites, mobilised within hours.
Security
Event security for a community football club weekend
Ashridge Group provided overnight and event-day security for a community football club event in Buckinghamshire, including cover of an on-site marquee, across a two-day event weekend in May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
We currently publish 15 case studies across three disciplines: waking watch and fire safety, security guarding, and facilities management. Each records the brief, how the work was staffed and the measurable outcome.
Most are. Where a client has agreed to be named we name them, and for waking watch we name the building as well. Some engagements stay anonymised at the client’s request, and those are described by sector instead.
Tell us the sector and site type and we will point you at the closest comparable engagement, including a reference where the client is happy to speak. Our published work covers utilities, national infrastructure, highways, rail, education, heritage, corporate and residential.
No. Officers, cleaners, maintenance operatives and managers are directly employed by Ashridge Group. That is the reason the same people stay on your site, and it is consistent across every engagement published here.
In their words
Here is a company which sees itself as ambassadors for its client’s business, not just a provider of services. I can’t recall a single instance where they haven’t been able to help us.
Gavin McGuiness, Subject Matter Expert for security, Engie Facilities Management Operations — read the Engie case study
Discuss a project
Have a brief? Send it over.
We’ll respond with a candid view on whether and how we can help, within one working day.
Need cover urgently?
Officers on site within hours.
At New Palace Place and Rotherhithe Street, waking watch officers were on site within four hours of instruction.