Hawkins

What Hawkins does

Hawkins is a UK-headquartered forensic investigation and root cause analysis firm serving insurance carriers, legal professionals (solicitors, barristers, insurers), and manufacturers. The company investigates fires, explosions, road traffic collisions, marine incidents, materials failures, personal injuries, power and energy losses, built environment defects, and cyber/digital evidence, producing CPR35/CPR30-compliant expert witness reports for litigation. It claims the largest UK road traffic collision investigation team and over 40 years of continuous operation.

The core deliverable rests on two assets: a bench of more than 150 impartial experts spanning over 70 specialisms, and in-house laboratories equipped with 5000x microscopy, SEM, XRF, FTIR, ICP-OES, 3D photogrammetry, and drone/laser scanning. Service delivery is tiered from a free initial consultation through desktop assessments, screening, preliminary appraisals, full investigations, and a phased approach for large complex cases, with rapid response (24/7, verbal reports on day of instruction, written preliminary appraisals within 72 hours) positioned as a key differentiator. The firm operates from offices in London (registered office), Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Belfast, with coverage into Italy, South Africa, and Australia, and holds ISO 9001 (across UK ex-Belfast, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore), Cyber Essentials Plus, and consecutive ROSPA Gold Medals for 2025 and 2026.

Commercially, Hawkins runs a professional services, quote-based, project-by-project model with no publicly disclosed pricing or revenue. Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven: direct engagement with enterprise insurance and legal buyers, a free-consultation funnel, and a recurring International Webinar Series and regional CPD events are the principal demand generation channels. Distribution is direct, without intermediaries. The company is privately held under the Hawkins Group of Companies structure, with Dr Andrew Prickett as Managing Director, and has no disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, or M&A activity in the available record.

Name

Hawkins

Legal name

Hawkins Forensic Investigation

Website

https://hawkins.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Hawkins is a UK-headquartered forensic investigation and root cause analysis firm, employing over 150 experts across 70+ specialisms to serve insurance carriers, legal professionals, and manufacturers with laboratory-backed investigations and expert witness reports across multiple international offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Forensic Investigation Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411), Investigation and Personal Background Check Services (561611)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Litigation Support & Civil Investigations (Witness/Asset/Skip Tracing) (BPAKAEAE)

Keywords

• Forensic investigation services
• Root cause analysis
• Expert witness testimony
• Fire investigation
• Materials failure analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Milton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Forensic Investigation Services: Professional services revenue from forensic investigation engagements for insurance, legal, and risk management clients. Services range from initial consultation through full investigation with expert witness reports. Revenue is project-based, one-time per engagement, with scope varying from simple domestic claims to major complex losses.
2. Tiered Investigation Services: Multi-tiered service model including Free Consultation, Forensic Desktop Service, Forensic Screening Service, Preliminary Appraisal, Full Investigation, and Phased Approach. Each tier represents a discrete service level with corresponding fee structure, from no-cost initial guidance through comprehensive court-compliant investigations.
3. Expert Witness Services: Independent technical advice and expert testimony to assist Counsel during litigation. Reports prepared in compliance with Civil Procedure Rules (CPR35/CPR30) for court proceedings.
4. Pre-loss Risk Management Consulting: Guidance on design, installation, and regulations for safety, compliance, and risk reduction prior to incidents occurring.
5. Post-loss Consultancy: Consultancy advice to reduce and mitigate risks and prevent similar events happening in the future after a loss has occurred.
6. Laboratory Testing Services: Material testing services supporting forensic investigations including microscopy, hardness testing, chemical testing, and mould identification.
7. Acoustics Consultancy: Broader consultancy services including acoustics consultancy offered as a separate service line.
8. Electrical Training: Training services for electrical safety and investigation techniques.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Hawkins is a forensic investigation firm that determines the root cause of fires, explosions, accidents, engineering failures, and other incidents for insurance, legal, and manufacturing clients. Services span site investigation, in-house laboratory material testing, and expert witness testimony, delivered across tiered service levels from free consultation to full court-compliant investigation reports.

Product overview

Hawkins is a forensic investigation firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of services primarily for the insurance, legal, and risk management professions. The core offering consists of forensic investigation and root cause analysis services, supported by in-house laboratory capabilities for material testing and scientific analysis. The service portfolio spans multiple specialized domains: Fire & Explosions, Marine, Materials Failures, Personal Injury, Road Traffic Collisions, Power & Energy, Built Environment, Cyber/Digital/Technology, Engineering, Chemistry & Contamination, Crime & Fraud, and Agriculture/Horticulture. Additional services include Acoustics Consultancy and Electrical Training. Service delivery is structured across multiple levels from free consultation through to full investigation and phased approaches for complex cases. Hawkins operates internationally from offices in Europe, MEA, and Asia with over 150 experts covering over 70 areas of specialism.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Forensic Investigation Services
• Forensic Laboratories
• Fire & Explosions Investigation
• Marine Investigation
• Materials Failures Investigation
• Personal Injury Investigation
• Road Traffic Collisions Investigation
• Power & Energy Investigation
• Built Environment Investigation
• Cyber, Digital & Technology Investigation
• Engineering Investigation
• Chemistry & Contamination Investigation
• Crime & Fraud Investigation
• Agriculture, Horticulture & Crop Failures Investigation
• Acoustics Consultancy
• Electrical Training

Quantifiable outcome

• Early verbal report from site typically day of or day after instruction
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• EFI Global (Sedgwick): Engineering, fire investigation and failure analysis firm now part of Sedgwick, serving insurance carriers and legal professionals. Directly comparable to Hawkins on insurance-led forensic investigation and loss-cause determination across fire, structural and mechanical failures.
• Burgoynes: UK-based independent forensic investigation firm specialising in fires, explosions, marine and engineering losses with expert witness services. Most direct UK-headquartered competitor to Hawkins in insurance-led forensic investigation.
• Rimkus Consulting Group: US-headquartered forensic engineering and consulting firm offering failure analysis, accident reconstruction, fire investigation and expert witness services across multiple industries. Highly comparable to Hawkins on service mix and target customer base (insurance and legal).
• Donan (Jensen Hughes): North American fire investigation and forensic engineering firm, now part of Jensen Hughes. Directly comparable to Hawkins' fire investigation, materials failures and expert witness practice; a clear sub-segment peer within the same global acquirer.
• ARCCA: US-based forensic engineering and accident reconstruction firm with deep capabilities in biomechanics, vehicle collision reconstruction and product liability. Closely comparable to Hawkins' RTC and personal injury investigation practice, though smaller and US-focused.
• Origin and Cause / 30 Forensic Engineering: Canadian forensic engineering firm providing fire investigation, accident reconstruction, materials failure analysis and expert testimony. Closely comparable to Hawkins on service mix and insurance/legal client base, but primarily Canadian in geographic coverage.

Broad incumbents

• J.S. Held: Global consulting firm built largely through M&A in forensic engineering, environmental and construction advisory. Directly comparable to Hawkins in forensic investigation, materials failures and expert witness services, but with a much broader footprint and deeper balance sheet.
• Exponent: US-based engineering and scientific consulting firm with a large failure analysis and accident reconstruction practice. Comparable to Hawkins on root cause analysis and expert testimony, though Exponent operates at significantly larger scale and broader industry coverage.
• Jensen Hughes: Global fire engineering and forensic consulting firm with deep expertise in fire investigation, security and risk. Overlaps significantly with Hawkins' fire, built environment and expert witness work, but operates at larger scale with broader service portfolio including code consulting.
• Sedgwick (Forensic Engineering Services): Global claims management and loss adjusting firm operating a forensic engineering services division alongside EFI Global. Comparable to Hawkins across loss-cause determination, fire investigation and expert witness services, embedded within a much larger loss-adjustment platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCj6EpS3smU4htM7WM6-2sng
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hawkins-and-associates-limited

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hawkins