Smart building firm toasts a decade in business

Smart building firm Scenariio has said it is “just getting started” after celebrating 10 years in business.

The Derby IT infrastructure and smart building technology firm, which aims to make workplaces more efficient and comfortable by unlocking the power of data, has marked its first 10 years in business.

Scenariio recently held a celebration, attended by staff, friends and family, at the Chocolate Factory, home of Bustler Market, next door to its premises in Siddals Road.

The company, which was founded by its current managing director, Rob Pritchard, alongside Mark Palmer, who is now retired, installs data cabling, IT networks and devices such as smart lighting, security systems, wireless networks and building sensors into workplaces across the country.

They started the company after the firm they were working for got into financial trouble before stopping trading completely.

Hugo Beresford, associate director at Salloway, said: “I’m delighted that I was able to secure a high-quality occupier for my client and at the same time line up the tenant with the space that they needed to enable their impressive growth plans.

They bought out the old infrastructure division of the company and went into business together, naming their new firm Scenariio – the ‘double I’ stands for Intelligent Infrastructure.

They set about building a company which would help firms run their buildings better, smarter, safer and more cost-efficiently and by the time Mark retired in February 2020, Scenariio had transitioned from focussing primarily on cabling infrastructures to delivering sensors, lighting systems and the smart devices that run over its systems.

It was one of the first companies in the UK to install Power over Ethernet smart lighting systems, introduced the first smart human-centric lighting systems and won a host of local business awards.

It also completed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Nottingham Trent University to develop its own software platform called Insiight, which brings data from sensors measuring metrics such as occupancy, CO2 levels, air temperature and energy usage, together and presents them on a custom-built dashboard.

This gives the operators a snapshot of how energy efficient their building is, which parts of the workplace is used more than others and how comfortable and healthy the environment is for staff – all at the touch of a button.

Scenariio now has a £2.5 million turnover and employs nine full-time staff and more than 20 engineers and sub-contractors, while its clients include Mondelez, Severn Trent Water and Tarmac.

Closer to home it has also worked with Derby College, Bustler Market street food venues in Derby and Nottingham and in 2023 was heavily involved in the BBC’s DIY SOS project at Treetops Hospice.

Rob said: “We started out fitting IT infrastructures and it’s been the cornerstone for the past 10 years and still is, but we knew data and the Internet of Things were going to be key to the future of buildings and soon began planning and installing these intelligent devices.

“Our work is starting to give data to companies and it’s helping them to make a difference. We feel the UK is still slightly behind other countries when it comes to installing this technology but we’re slowly catching up and companies see the importance of data cabling to their business and considering it as the fourth utility, alongside gas, electricity and water.

“10 years ago, I was happily employed and working my way towards retirement, and I didn’t expect to be running my own company, but when that is suddenly taken away from you, a quick decision had to be made.

“Becoming an entrepreneur was an unexpected direction for me, but to still be here 10 years later is something I’m very proud of and in many ways, I feel we’re just getting started.”