Just over a year ago, we announced our integral partnership with Simpro, the leading field service management software provider.
Our mission to solve the fragmented state of the fire and security sector – for businesses and their customers alike – has always been clear. And our aim to bring together leading businesses to share knowledge, insights and cross-selling opportunities is a big part of this. But achieving this is no easy task.
This is why our partnership with Simpro has been so integral to furthering this mission.
Early in our journey as Ranger, we worked to integrate Simpro’s software into our operations and equip our growing group of fire and security businesses with the latest technology to help them seamlessly collaborate, share specialist jobs and boost efficiency.
Fast forward twelve months – and the results have been transformational.
A fully connected Group
Today, eight out of ten Ranger businesses are live on our tailored build of Simpro, with the remaining two businesses already using Simpro, but due to onboard onto our Simpro multicompany build in the coming months. The adoption has unlocked real-time collaboration across the Group and delivered tangible improvement in how we manage, assign, and deliver work across the UK and Ireland – from reducing scheduling times to improving visibility of resource requirements nationally.
Utilising Simpro, our central head office team of just 12 people now works seamlessly with over 230 engineers and office staff across the Group. That’s the power of digitisation and unifying how businesses communicate and share information.
A new level of job sharing and transparency
The highly competitive but fragmented nature of the fire and security industry, means that many businesses focus on a few specialist areas and doing them to a high standard. At Ranger, we’re bringing these specialist businesses together to offer a fuller range of services for customers.
Our partnership with Simpro takes this approach to the next level. Teams can now pass work, specialist jobs, and leads to each other instantly. What once could take days of back and forth can now be set up in a fraction of the time, boosting efficiency and business opportunities.
From paper trails to the cloud
The move to Simpro has also meant a wholesale transition to cloud-based operations. Many of our acquired businesses were previously reliant on local servers and paper-based processes. By moving to the cloud, we’ve modernised ours and their data security, enhanced resilience and improved accessibility for teams across the Group.
As well as efficiency and security benefits, the move has also enabled us to become a greener operation. We estimate we’ve saved at least 200 reams of paper since migrating to Simpro and saved countless hours spent filling in, printing, and chasing paperwork – meaning our teams can focus on what really matters: delivering a best-in-class customer service.
Rapid rollout in just five weeks
When we first started, Simpro implementation normally took 12–16 weeks to get a Ranger business up and running. But as we’ve refined the process, we’ve now reduced this to just five weeks. That means businesses joining Ranger can be connected to the system and the rest of the Group in just over a month, meaning they can be ready to benefit from shared job opportunities, closer collaboration and growth from the get-go.
Built for all businesses, but tailored for Ranger
Unlike other generic tools and systems on the market, Ranger’s Simpro build is uniquely configured for the fire and security world and specifically for the way Ranger operates as a business of businesses. Each Ranger company now has its own Simpro setup while still being fully integrated into the wider Ranger build. This allows the teams to structure jobs and quote in a way that works across the Ranger Group, while still giving flexibility to meet their individual business needs.
What’s more, we’re able to create Ranger versions of customer-facing documentation like invoicing, so everything has a unified look and feel while still maintaining the individual business brand identity.
By building a connected platform tailored to our structure, we’ve eliminated the manual handover of jobs and any reliance on clunky third-party systems, allowing our local businesses to remain agile while benefiting from shared systems, insights, and cross-selling opportunities.
What’s next?
As we bring the remaining Ranger businesses onto the platform and continue to grow our Group through further strategic acquisitions, Simpro will now be at the heart of our operations, enabling us to scale, collaborate and cross-sell in a way that doesn’t compromise on our quality or specialist expertise.
One year on and we’re more connected, efficient and collaborative than ever – and we’re just getting started. If you like what you’ve read, then please drop us a line at acquisitions@rangerfs.com if you run or own a fire and security business and are keen to explore options for joining us on our journey. If you’re interested to explore your career options in our engineer force or support functions, you can reach us at careers@rangerfs.com
