Hawkins
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1980
- HeadquartersMilton, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
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.
Hawkins firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Hawkins industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Hawkins is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Milton
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices5 records
Markets served
Hawkins business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Pre-loss Risk Management Consulting: Guidance on design, installation, and regulations for safety, compliance, and risk reduction prior to incidents occurring.
- Post-loss Consultancy: Consultancy advice to reduce and mitigate risks and prevent similar events happening in the future after a loss has occurred.
- Laboratory Testing Services: Material testing services supporting forensic investigations including microscopy, hardness testing, chemical testing, and mould identification.
- Acoustics Consultancy: Broader consultancy services including acoustics consultancy offered as a separate service line.
- Electrical Training: Training services for electrical safety and investigation techniques.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Free initial consultation with no commitment |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Desktop or laboratory assessment to determine if detailed investigation is commercially worthwhile |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Site visit plus brief assessment to determine commercial value of further investigation |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Initial investigation with readily-available information and site visit |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Comprehensive in-depth investigation with detailed court-compliant report |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Phased approach for large, complex cases where scope is difficult to define |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels10 records
Hawkins product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Hawkins
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Hawkins technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature10 records
Hawkins partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Hawkins competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Hawkins social profiles
Digital presenceHawkins compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Hawkins financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hawkins leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Hawkins funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hawkins M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hawkins
What does Hawkins do?
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.
Is Hawkins a public or private company?
Hawkins is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Hawkins founded?
Hawkins was founded in 1980. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Hawkins based?
Hawkins is headquartered in Milton, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Hawkins make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. Forensic Investigation Services are the primary driver. The others are tiered Investigation Services, expert Witness Services, pre-loss Risk Management Consulting, post-loss Consultancy, laboratory Testing Services, acoustics Consultancy and electrical Training.
Who are Hawkins's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are EFI Global (Sedgwick), Burgoynes, Rimkus Consulting Group, Donan (Jensen Hughes), ARCCA and Origin and Cause / 30 Forensic Engineering. Broad incumbents are J.S. Held, Exponent, Jensen Hughes and Sedgwick (Forensic Engineering Services).
Does Hawkins have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hawkins.
What industry is Hawkins in?
Hawkins's product category is Forensic Investigation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHALAG, Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services, with a secondary code of BPAKAEAE, Litigation Support & Civil Investigations (Witness/Asset/Skip Tracing). Its NAICS code is 5411 and its SIC code is 8734.