ORH

What ORH does

ORH (Operational Research in Health Limited) is a Reading, UK-based specialist consultancy founded in 1986 that supports emergency service and public sector organisations with evidence-based resource planning. The firm serves ambulance services, fire and rescue services, police services, control rooms, non-emergency transport providers, and national sports bodies (Sport England and sportscotland). The company is privately held, employee-owned, and operates from a single headquarters location.

ORH's offering combines management consulting with a portfolio of proprietary simulation and optimisation software tools. Core products include the Dynamic Cover Tool (DCT) for real-time coverage visualisation, AmbSim for ambulance service scenario simulation, OARS (launched October 2024) for fire service on-call workforce planning, the Facilities Planning Model (FPM) operated on behalf of Sport England and sportscotland, and FireDash (launched October 2025), a free benchmarking dashboard. Underlying technology relies on classical operational research methods — demand and capacity modelling, GIS-based spatial analysis, simulation, and mathematical optimisation — rather than AI/ML.

Revenue is generated through three streams: professional consulting services sold through tender and direct engagement, software licensing with training and support (DCT, AmbSim), and managed services for the FPM. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; contracts are multi-year and procured primarily by public sector buyers. ORH maintains ISO 9001, 14001, and 27001 certifications alongside Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation, supporting its positioning for government procurement. The firm has delivered projects in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, Sweden, Hong Kong, and the Middle East.

Name

ORH

Legal name

Operational Research in Health Limited

Website

https://orhltd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ORH is a UK-based, employee-owned consultancy that provides evidence-based resource planning, simulation software, and optimisation services to ambulance, fire, police, and public sector organisations across multiple countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emergency Services Planning and Resource Optimisation

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHAIAM

Instrumentation, Controls & Automation Engineering Consulting

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Engineering & Technical Consulting

SECONDARYBPABAHAJ

Fire & Life Safety Code Compliance Inspections & Consulting (AHJ Support)

Business & Public Services/Facilities Management & Building Services/Fire, Life Safety & Building Compliance Services

SECONDARYBPABAAAE

Security, Safety & Fire/Life Safety Management

Business & Public Services/Facilities Management & Building Services/Integrated Facilities Management (IFM)

Keywords

• Emergency service planning
• Resource optimisation consulting
• Simulation and modelling software
• Facility location analysis
• Workforce planning tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Reading

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Management Consultancy Services: Professional consulting services providing resource planning solutions to emergency services and public sector bodies. Includes demand and capacity reviews, strategic planning, workforce optimization, and operational assessments. Delivered by experienced consultants through direct client engagement.
2. Software Licensing (DCT, AmbSim): Licensing of proprietary software tools including the Dynamic Cover Tool and AmbSim simulation model. Clients receive software setup with appropriate inputs, training, and ongoing support for using the models independently.
3. Facilities Planning Model Operations: Operating and developing the FPM on behalf of Sport England and sportscotland. Includes scoping and reporting of national and local jobs, providing end-to-end service for local authorities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ORH provides evidence-based management consultancy combined with proprietary simulation and optimisation software for emergency service planning. The company helps ambulance, fire, police, and control room organisations optimise resource deployment, station locations, demand forecasting, and workforce planning. Core software products include the Dynamic Cover Tool (DCT), AmbSim, OARS, and the Facilities Planning Model (FPM), delivered alongside bespoke modelling and advisory engagements.

Product overview

ORH offers a suite of specialised software tools for emergency services and public sector planning. The core portfolio includes the Dynamic Cover Tool (DCT) for real-time resource deployment optimisation, AmbSim for ambulance service simulation, OARS for fire service on-call workforce planning, and the Facilities Planning Model (FPM) for sports facility provision. These tools are complemented by specialised modules including the Demand Coverage Model (DCM), OGRE optimisation model, Harm and Risk Tool, Coverage Profiler, and Aeromedical Simulation Model. The products integrate ORH's consulting expertise with proprietary modelling and simulation engines to deliver evidence-based planning solutions for ambulance, fire, police, control room, and sports facility management sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dynamic Cover Tool (DCT): Software tool for dynamic decision making enabling effective and efficient resource use in emergency services.
• AmbSim
• OARS
• Facilities Planning Model (FPM)

Products and services

• Dynamic Cover Tool (DCT) Real-time coverage visualisation and dynamic deployment optimisation tool enabling emergency service control rooms to make evidence-based decisions on resource deployment, standby moves, and retrospective analysis of resource deployment.
• AmbSim Ambulance simulation model enabling users to evaluate impacts of changes to demand, time at scene, conveyance rates, and shift configurations on ambulance service performance.
• OARS (On-call Availability, Resource and Skills) Workforce planning software for fire and rescue services that optimises on-call availability, recruitment, and skills utilisation through data-driven scenario testing, addressing driver shortages and recruitment challenges.
• Facilities Planning Model (FPM) Modelling tool for sports facility provision enabling local authorities and sports bodies to establish evidence-based requirements for facility locations, new facilities, and modernisation decisions. Operated by ORH on behalf of Sport England and sportscotland.
• FireDash Free cloud-based dashboard tool enabling fire services in England to compare their performance metrics against other fire services using Home Office data.
• Management Consultancy Services Bespoke consulting services providing resource planning solutions to emergency services and public sector bodies, including demand and capacity reviews, strategic planning, workforce optimisation, and operational assessments delivered by experienced consultants.

Quantifiable outcome

• Availability increase from 52.4% to 64.8% with successful qualification of two new recruits demonstrated through OARS scenario modelling
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• re-enkindlecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024ORH and re-enkindle co-developed OARS (On-call Availability, Recruitment and Skills) software, launched at the NFCC On-call Conference in October 2024. The partnership involved four years of research into factors impacting on-call fire engine availability. Re-enkindle brings expertise in understanding expected availability and incident demand patterns.
• Sport EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012ORH operates and develops the Facilities Planning Model (FPM) on behalf of Sport England since 2012. ORH manages the scoping and reporting of national and local FPM jobs, providing end-to-end service for local authorities. The partnership enables significant development of the FPM and its outputs.
• sportscotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012ORH operates and develops the Facilities Planning Model (FPM) on behalf of sportscotland. ORH supports the delivery of strategic modelling services including modelling sports facility provision for local authorities and nationally.
• AACEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerORH and AACE have formed a strategic partnership to provide end-to-end evaluation of systems, processes and practices across ambulance services. The partnership combines ORH's simulation and modelling expertise with AACE's operational assessment capabilities. Case studies show joint delivery of projects including Communications Centre reviews for Ambulance Tasmania appraising roles, staffing levels and processes.
• David Payne and Nick LockwoodminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIndependent consultants David Payne and Nick Lockwood support delivery of Sport England strategic modelling services, providing analysis and reporting of FPM outputs. David has 30+ years experience in needs assessments and facility strategies; Nick has 35 years experience in leisure industry including 20 years with Sport England.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mott MacDonald: Mott MacDonald advises transport, infrastructure and public sector clients including emergency services, with location optimization and demand modelling capabilities that overlap ORH's analytics offering.
• WSP: WSP is a global engineering consultancy with public sector and transport analytics practices that tackle location-based planning and demand forecasting for emergency and essential services clients.
• PA Consulting: PA Consulting operates a large public sector and infrastructure analytics practice that includes emergency services, transport and defence clients, competing with ORH for evidence-based transformation mandates but at much greater scale and scope.
• AtkinsRéalis: AtkinsRéalis (formerly Atkins / SNC-Lavalin) provides technical and management consulting across infrastructure, transport and public services, with adjacent capabilities in modelling, simulation and resource planning for emergency services.
• Capita: Capita delivers consulting and technology services to UK emergency services and wider public sector, including control room and policing work that overlaps with ORH's portfolio, though as part of a much broader services portfolio.

Direct peers

• Newton Europe: Newton Europe is a UK operations and performance consulting firm that engages on public sector operational improvement projects, with a methodology comparable to ORH's evidence-based, model-driven approach to emergency service efficiency.
• Process Evolution: Process Evolution is explicitly described as ORH's sister company, with multiple ORH staff (including senior consultants) having worked there. It provides operations and workforce consulting to policing and emergency services, directly competing for similar UK public sector mandates.

Others

• Cordence Worldwide: Cordence Worldwide is a network of boutique management consultancies providing strategy and operational advisory across multiple sectors including public services, with some members engaging on emergency services planning work.
• Esri UK: Esri UK supplies the GIS platforms and spatial analytics tooling that underpin much of ORH's mapping and location optimization work for emergency services, making it a key enabling technology partner rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Baringa Partners: Baringa Partners operates a growing public sector and energy analytics practice with operations research-style modelling capabilities, occasionally overlapping with ORH's evidence-based planning engagements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/orh

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 ORH