VISAV LTD.

What VISAV LTD. does

VISAV Limited is a Nottingham-based private UK software company, incorporated in 2002, that builds and operates community-facing web and messaging platforms primarily for UK public-sector and institutional buyers. Its flagship product, Neighbourhood Alert, is a proprietary community messaging system licenced to 42+ police forces, local authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners, and Neighbourhood Watch organisations across England and Wales, serving over 840,000 registered members and delivering more than 10 million emails per month (peaking at 11.2 million during the March 2020 Coronavirus surge). The underlying technology is a proprietary CMS (originally developed in 2000 by the predecessor entity Robin Hood Limited) that allows non-technical users to update websites without HTML, FTP, or database knowledge, extended over time into vertical-specific offerings.

The company also operates Meal Selector, an online school meal ordering platform for parents used by selected schools across five UK regions (Dorset, North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, and Wiltshire & Swindon) in partnership with Chartwells, alongside an email hosting service for over 150 private clients and bespoke CMS website build/hosting services. Revenue is predominantly subscription-based and recurring across these streams, with supplementary project-based revenue from custom CMS builds and on-site/online IT support. The company is owner-operated, has approximately 16 staff, has never raised external funding, and is run from Sherwood Business Centre in Nottingham, with no disclosed financial metrics.

Name

VISAV LTD.

Legal name

VISAV Limited

Website

https://visav.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

VISAV Limited is a Nottingham-based UK software company that operates Neighbourhood Alert, a community messaging platform for 42+ police forces, local authorities, and Neighbourhood Watch organisations, alongside Meal Selector school meal ordering, email hosting, and proprietary CMS website services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Messaging and Public Safety Software

SIC

Communications Services, Nec (4899)

akta.pro primary industry

Risk Intelligence, Alerts & Traveler Tracking Solutions (THAKANAF)

Keywords

• Community messaging platform
• Email hosting services
• School meal ordering
• Content management system
• Public safety alerts

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Web Design, Development and Hosting: Professional CMS builds where VISAV designs website look-and-feel and structure, enabling customers to update content with minimal technical knowledge. Includes ongoing web hosting services.
2. Neighbourhood Alert: Community messaging platform licensed to police forces, local authorities, and Neighbourhood Watch organizations. Generates recurring revenue from 42+ partner organisations across England & Wales.
3. Meal Selector: School meal ordering platform serving schools across multiple UK regions. Provides subscription-style service to educational institutions.
4. Email Hosting: Personalized email address hosting on company domains. Also includes domain purchasing and renewal services. Serves over 150 private clients.
5. IT Support Services: On-site and online IT support for customers, providing ongoing technical assistance alongside their core product offerings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

VISAV develops and operates a suite of proprietary web-based platforms and services. Its flagship Neighbourhood Alert is an advanced community messaging system licensed to UK police forces, local authorities, and Neighbourhood Watch organisations. The company also operates Meal Selector (an online school meal ordering platform for parents), provides encrypted email hosting for over 150 private clients, and delivers CMS-based web design, development, and hosting services.

Product overview

VISAV LTD. offers a suite of web services built around a proprietary CMS platform. The core portfolio consists of four main offerings: Neighbourhood Alert (community messaging and safety alert system for police, local authorities and Neighbourhood Watch), Meal Selector (online school meal ordering for parents), Email Hosting (personalised business email services), and CMS Website Builder (web design, development and hosting). These products operate as integrated services delivered from their Nottingham base, with Neighbourhood Alert being their flagship enterprise solution serving 42+ partner organisations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Neighbourhood Alert: An advanced community messaging system solution for police forces, local authorities and Neighbourhood Watch, delivering millions of safety alerts nationwide
• Meal Selector
• Email Hosting

Products and services

• Neighbourhood Alert Advanced community messaging and safety alert platform for UK police forces, local authorities, and Neighbourhood Watch organisations. Delivers millions of safety alerts nationwide, averaging over 10 million emails per month, with 840,000+ registered members and 42+ partner organisations across England and Wales.
• Meal Selector Online school meal ordering platform enabling parents to order children's school meals with ease. Currently serving selected schools in Dorset, North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, and Wiltshire & Swindon, in partnership with Chartwells.
• Email Hosting Fast, encrypted personalised business email hosting service on company domains. Provides secure email services for over 150 private clients with millions of emails sent monthly.
• CMS Website Builder Proprietary Content Management System (VISAV CMS) enabling businesses and organisations to design, develop, and host websites that can be updated with little technical knowledge. Includes web design consultation, development, and ongoing hosting services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 840,000+ registered members receive safety alerts
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Alison Cope (Knife Crime Awareness)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2024VISAV funds knife crime awareness talks delivered by Alison Cope in Nottinghamshire schools. Alison lost her son to knife crime in 2013 and now educates young people about the consequences of carrying knives. VISAV funds these sessions at no cost to schools, reaching students in Years 8-11. To date, sessions have been delivered across six schools.
• The Marcellus Baz Foundation (Switch Up Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVISAV works in partnership with The Marcellus Baz Foundation supporting the Switch Up programme, which provides mentorship to young people at risk of involvement in crime. VISAV provides monthly financial contributions and attended the Uniting Nottz forum alongside government, police, NHS, and social services representatives. VISAV also hosted Marcellus Baz at their National Community Engagement Conference.
• Mesopotamia Food BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVISAV provides long-term financial commitment to Mesopotamia food bank, enabling the charity to feed approximately 320 individuals in need each week. VISAV contributes monthly financing for 800kg of food, plus administrative and technical support, and hundreds of hours of volunteer time. VISAV also funded the construction of a storage facility for the charity.
• NottsWatch (Nottinghamshire Neighbourhood Watch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMike Douglas, VISAV Product Director, is a trustee of NottsWatch. VISAV coordinates with NottsWatch on community safety initiatives and has match-funded local councillor support for Mesopotamia charity projects. NottsWatch and VISAV collaborate on community engagement activities.
• United Service Lodge of NottinghamshireminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMike Douglas is a member of the United Service Lodge of Nottinghamshire, which provides practical support and funding in conjunction with VISAV's charitable activities, including support for Mesopotamia food bank.
• Sherwood Business CentrecoreOthersVISAV is located within Sherwood Business Centre, a serviced office complex in Nottingham. The business centre embraces the local community and supports various community projects. VISAV has partnered with the centre on initiatives including the Sherwood Food Exchange and Sherwood Tree of Knowledge mosaic project.
• Amazon RingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAmazon Ring donated video doorbells to VISAV, which were then distributed to vulnerable residents in the community through local PCSO Nathan Duffus.
• Switch Up (Award-winning Mentorship Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVISAV supports Switch Up, the award-winning programme run by The Marcellus Baz Foundation, through monthly contributions that support dedicated mentors helping young people at risk of involvement in crime.
• Nottingham Forest (Football Club)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerVISAV sponsors Nottingham Forest forward Keinan Davis as part of community involvement, considering the club's community work in addition to the player sponsorship.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Citizen: Mobile-first public safety app delivering real-time alerts about incidents and emergencies to nearby users. Comparable end-user value proposition to Neighbourhood Alert but optimised for mobile push rather than email and primarily focused on US cities.
• RapidSOS: Emergency response data platform connecting connected devices, apps, and telematics data to first responders. Comparable in being a public-safety technology vendor serving UK and US emergency services, but focused on incident data rather than mass alerting.
• Nextdoor: Neighbourhood-based social platform connecting residents with local information, increasingly used by police forces for community engagement. Partial functional overlap with Neighbourhood Alert's neighbourhood-level messaging, though Nextdoor is consumer-led rather than institution-led.

Direct peers

• Everbridge: Critical event management and mass notification platform used by government agencies, police forces, and enterprises globally. Directly comparable to Neighbourhood Alert as a SaaS alerting/messaging platform for public safety and emergency notification use cases, though at much larger scale and across multiple geographies.
• IRIS ParentMail (now SchoolGateway): UK school communication and payments platform widely used by primary and secondary schools. Directly comparable to Meal Selector's meal ordering and parent communication functionality within the UK schools market.
• GOV.UK Notify: UK Government Digital Service free notification platform that lets UK public-sector organisations send emails, SMS, and letters to citizens. The most direct UK public-sector competitor to Neighbourhood Alert, differentiated by being free rather than subscription-priced.
• Regroup Mass Notification: Mass notification and emergency communication platform with strong public-sector and higher-education customer base. Comparable in functionality to Neighbourhood Alert's alert distribution and emergency messaging capabilities.
• ParentPay: UK market-leading school payments and meal ordering platform, dominant across UK primary and secondary schools. Direct competitor to VISAV's Meal Selector product and a much larger incumbent in the UK schools payments category.
• Tucasi: UK school payments and cashless catering provider serving schools and local authorities. Directly competes with Meal Selector for school meal payment and ordering business, particularly in UK local authority contracted deployments.
• AlertMedia: Mass notification and emergency communication software used by enterprises, schools, and government agencies. Directly comparable to Neighbourhood Alert's core functionality of mass messaging/alerts at scale, with overlap in public-sector and education buyers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sherwood-business-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 VISAV LTD.