Case Study: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) achieves self-service GIS for targeted risk reduction and cost savings with Cadcorp

GMFRS - Customer Case Study

GMFRS, the largest Fire and Rescue Service outside London covering roughly 500 square miles and 2.5 million people, faced funding cuts and an overwhelming number of ad hoc mapping requests that left its small GIS team overburdened. To extend access to spatial information and reduce costs, GMFRS selected Cadcorp’s Spatial Information System (Cadcorp SIS) and its Web Map Viewer to deliver a corporate, browser-based self-service GIS so staff could create maps and queries without specialist mediation.

Cadcorp implemented a lean deployment — six desktop licences with Web Map Viewer on the GMFRS intranet — and integrated it with the Incident Recording System, Motorola ProCAD dispatch data and Agresso hydrant management. GMFRS trained more than 150 users in 18 months, freed the GIS team for strategic work, and now maps 22 KPIs, identifies hotspots, supports incident mapping and vehicle tracking (30s refresh). GMFRS reports improved targeting of prevention and operational activities, and broader service improvements alongside longer‑term outcomes such as a 32% drop in primary fires, 42% fewer deliberate fires and 29% fewer casualties over seven years. Cadcorp’s solution is credited with enabling that self-service, analytics and system integration.

GMFRS

Mike Baines

Systems Administrator