What OFR Consultants does

OFR Consultants is an independent UK fire engineering and risk consultancy founded in 2016 in Manchester by Simon Lay and Sam Liptrott, both formerly senior leaders at global multi-disciplinary firms. The company is dedicated solely to fire engineering, offering six core service lines: fire strategy (competition support through to implementation), construction-phase fire engineering (timber, modular, façade, passive and active systems), complex analyses (structural fire engineering, CFD smoke modelling, dynamic evacuation modelling, radiation modelling), research and standards development, portfolio fire safety (assessments, inspections, remediation), and expert witness services. It has a particular specialism in mass timber and CLT fire engineering, supported by a research team publishing in peer-reviewed journals and contributing to UK building standards committees.

The business operates on a project-based professional services model, with fees generated through design-and-build fire engineering contracts delivered as part of integrated design teams alongside architects, developers, contractors, and government bodies. Its client base spans enterprise and public sector - including Google, AELTC Wimbledon, the British Antarctic Survey, multiple NHS trusts, Museum of London, Royal Academy of Arts, and international developers (Waterfront Colombo, Canada Water) - with no pricing publicly disclosed and contracts scoped per project. Distribution is direct-enterprise via nine UK offices (Manchester HQ, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Bath, Oxford, Bristol) and a France office, supported by thought-leadership channels (insights blog, ResearchGate, conference speaking, university collaborations, the Fire Science Show podcast, and DEI/charity partnerships).

In 2025 OFR transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust while retaining its EMI scheme, distributing equity participation and a 10% profit-share bonus to all colleagues. The firm ended 2025 with 160+ employees (up from 100+ earlier in the cycle), ISO 9001/14001/45001 certifications, Constructionline Silver, Cyber Essentials, the 2025 Building Awards Engineering Consultant of the Year, and consecutive Best Companies 3-star World Class accreditations.

Name

OFR Consultants

Legal name

OFR Consultants Limited

Website

https://ofrconsultants.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OFR Consultants is an independent UK fire engineering and risk consultancy serving enterprise and public-sector clients across construction, healthcare, education, heritage, and international infrastructure, with particular specialism in mass-timber fire safety delivered through nine UK offices and a France office.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fire Engineering Consultancy

NAICS

Engineering Services (54133), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction Engineering & Constructability Consulting (BPAHAIAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fire & Life Safety Code Compliance Inspections & Consulting (AHJ Support) (BPABAHAJ), Risk, Compliance & Internal Controls Consulting (BPAHACAJ)

Keywords

• Fire engineering consulting
• Fire safety consultancy
• Building fire strategy
• Structural fire engineering
• Fire risk assessment

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fire Engineering Consultancy Services: Professional consultancy fees for fire strategy, fire risk assessments, fire engineering design, and expert witness services. Revenue is project-based, typically on design and construction projects.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

OFR Consultants provides dedicated fire engineering consultancy services for building and infrastructure projects across the UK and internationally. The firm develops fire strategies from concept through detailed design, performs advanced computational analyses (CFD smoke modelling, evacuation modelling, structural fire engineering), delivers construction-phase fire engineering advice including timber and modular construction, conducts portfolio fire risk assessments and remediation, and provides expert witness testimony. Services are sold directly to enterprise clients including architects, developers, contractors, NHS trusts, and government bodies.

Product overview

OFR Consultants operates as a fire engineering consultancy offering a comprehensive suite of services organized into six core practice areas: Fire Strategy Services (covering project lifecycle from concept to implementation), Construction Fire Engineering (timber, modular, façade, passive and active fire safety), Complex Analyses (structural fire engineering, CFD smoke modelling, evacuation modelling, radiation modelling), Research Services (technical research, standards development, university collaborations), Portfolio Fire Safety (assessments, inspections, surveys, remediation management), and Expert Witness Services (safety reviews, third-party reviews, legal testimony). The consultancy specializes heavily in mass timber and sustainable construction fire engineering, contributing to industry guidance development through partnerships with organizations such as the Structural Timber Association. Projects span sectors including residential, commercial, healthcare, education, heritage, and industrial facilities across the UK and internationally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fire Strategy Services Comprehensive fire strategy development for building projects covering competition support, concept design, detailed design, and implementation guidance. Includes performance-based fire safety design across the full project lifecycle for architects, developers, contractors and building owners.
• Construction Fire Engineering Specialist fire engineering advice during the construction phase covering timber construction, modular design, façade design, passive fire protection, and active fire safety system design. Targets contractors, designers and developers of complex building projects.
• Complex Analyses Advanced engineering analysis services including structural fire engineering (loadbearing capacity under fire), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) smoke modelling, dynamic evacuation modelling, and radiation modelling. Used for performance-based design on complex or innovative building projects where prescriptive codes are insufficient.
• Research Services Technical research, code and standards development, and collaborative research projects with universities (Sheffield, Manchester, Edinburgh, Canterbury NZ, Ghent) advancing fire safety science. Includes publication in international peer-reviewed journals and work on committees such as PD 7974 revision.
• Portfolio Fire Safety Retrospective fire strategy summaries, Fire Risk Assessments, visual inspections, detailed surveys, remediation project management, and fire safety management policy development for existing building portfolios. Serves building owners, facilities managers and duty-holders managing regulatory remediation (post-Grenfell).
• Expert Witness Services Building fire safety reviews and assessments, independent third-party reviews, and expert witness roles for legal proceedings. Supports solicitors, insurers, legal teams and tribunals on fire safety disputes.
• Timber & Mass Timber Fire Engineering Specialised fire engineering services for mass timber construction including cross-laminated timber (CLT) compartment fire-behaviour analysis, fire strategy development, bespoke fire risk grading (developed with Zurich Insurance) and performance-based design solutions for sustainable timber buildings. Includes industry-guidance leadership via the Structural Timber Association CLT special interest group.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ colleagues from over 20 countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RambollcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019OFR is working with Ramboll as part of the Technical Advisor team for the British Antarctic Survey on a 10-year single supplier framework for Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme. Bruce Wulff, Director and Ramboll Framework Manager, praised OFR's professional, personable approach and technical competence.
• Structural Timber Association (STA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOFR is the lead research partner for the STA special interest group on cross laminated timber (CLT) compartment fire behaviour. Published findings in Volume 6 of the STA's Fire Safety in Use Guidance. Co-authors Dr Danny Hopkin and Mike Spearpoint provided oversight and edited the second edition.
• Built by Nature FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuilt by Nature awarded €200,000 grant to UK consortium including OFR for development of Commercial Timber Guidebook to unlock barriers to structural timber in commercial buildings. OFR joined with Elliott Wood, Waugh Thistleton Architects, and Lignum Risk Partners.
• Elliott WoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerElliott Wood leads the Commercial Timber Guidebook consortium with OFR as fire engineering partner alongside Waugh Thistleton Architects and Lignum Risk Partners.
• Waugh Thistleton ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner in the Commercial Timber Guidebook consortium developing technical guidance for mass timber office buildings.
• Lignum Risk PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInsurance specialists joining the Commercial Timber Guidebook consortium to help address insurance barriers for timber construction.
• University of SheffieldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal and informal links maintained with University of Sheffield for research collaboration, thesis supervision, and knowledge sharing.
• University of ManchesterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with University of Manchester including thesis supervision and joint publications.
• University of EdinburghminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with University of Edinburgh including thesis supervision and Learn & Burn CPD events.
• University of Canterbury (New Zealand)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research collaboration with University of Canterbury for fire safety engineering research.
• University of Ghent (Belgium)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean research collaboration with University of Ghent for fire safety engineering.
• World Land TrustminorOthersCharitable partnership supporting environmental conservation. Activities helped fund water tanks in Mexico and removal of traps/snares in Vietnam.
• The Africa TrustminorOthersCharitable partnership through AquAid relationship, helping build Elephant Pumps for clean water in Africa.
• Forever ManchesterminorOthersCharitable partnership supporting local community initiatives in Manchester area.
• SheCanEngineerminorOthersSponsoring non-profit diversity, equity and inclusion initiative celebrating accomplishments of female engineers and achieving gender parity.
• Women in Fire SafetyminorOthersSponsoring annual awards and promoting brilliant work done by women in fire engineering.
• Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)minorOthersKate Swinburne serves as President of IFE Scotland Branch. OFR colleagues serve as interviewers/assessors for CEng chartership.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Buro Happold: International engineering consultancy with a dedicated fire engineering team serving built environment clients. Overlaps with OFR on performance-based design, complex modelling, and high-profile UK and international projects.
• Arup: Global multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy with a large fire engineering practice. Competes with OFR on landmark projects (e.g., Google campuses, hospitals, stadia) and can bundle fire engineering with broader M&E and structural services.
• WSP: Global professional services firm with substantial fire and life safety practice. Competes on large public and private sector mandates where fire engineering is part of a wider multi-disciplinary brief.
• AtkinsRéalis: International engineering services firm with fire and life safety consulting across buildings, infrastructure and defence. Competes for large public sector and complex built environment mandates in the UK and internationally.
• Mott MacDonald: Global engineering consultancy with fire engineering capability embedded within its buildings division. Competes with OFR on healthcare, transport and government infrastructure projects where integrated multi-disciplinary delivery is valued.

Direct peers

• Jensen Hughes: Global fire engineering and risk consultancy with strong UK presence offering fire strategy, CFD modelling, and code consulting. Closest comparable specialist competitor serving similar enterprise clients and complex built environment projects.
• Trenton Fire: UK independent fire engineering consultancy offering fire strategy, structural fire engineering, and CFD analysis. Closest pure-play UK specialist comparable to OFR in scope and target market.
• Hoare Lea: UK building services engineering consultancy with a specialist fire engineering group. Direct competitor for fire strategy, complex analysis, and design-phase consulting on commercial, healthcare and education projects.

Emerging players

• Design Fire Consultants: UK-based independent fire engineering consultancy providing fire strategies, risk assessments and design advice. Smaller specialist competitor with overlapping client base in commercial and residential development.
• BB7 Fire Safety: Independent UK fire safety consultancy offering fire engineering, fire risk assessment, and code consulting. Comparable specialist competitor at smaller scale, primarily serving UK commercial and residential clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights8 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OfrConsultants
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ofrconsultants
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ofr-consultants
• Instagraminstagram.com/ofrconsultants

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 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 OFR Consultants