Cameras that give you usable footage.

Most CCTV disappoints for the same three reasons

People rarely regret installing cameras. They regret the footage being useless when they finally need it, and it’s almost always one of these.

• Cameras mounted too high. A camera under the eaves gives you a lovely view of the top of somebody’s head. Lower, and covering a choke point like a gate or a door, gives you a face.
• Too wide a view. One camera trying to cover a whole yard resolves nobody. Several narrower views beat one panorama.
• Nobody checked the night image. Plenty of systems look fine at 2pm and are unusable at 2am. Infrared reflecting off a nearby wall, or a bright light in frame, ruins the shot.

So the specification conversation is about where people have to walk and what the scene looks like in the dark — not megapixels.

What we install

• Wired systems for anything that matters. Reliable, no batteries, no dropped connections.
• Recording to an NVR on site, with enough storage for a sensible retention period.
• Remote viewing set up on your phone, with the alerts tuned so you’re not getting a notification every time a cat crosses the drive.
• Access control and intercoms where entry needs managing as well as recording.
• Security lighting alongside cameras — see lighting. Good lighting improves footage more than a better camera does.

Retention, and the legal bit

Cameras covering only your own property are outside data protection law. The moment they capture a public footpath, a shared drive or a neighbour’s garden, you take on responsibilities under UK GDPR — you become a data controller for that footage.

In practice that means putting up signage, keeping recordings only as long as you need them, being able to provide footage if someone requests images of themselves, and aiming cameras to minimise what they capture beyond your boundary. None of it is onerous, but it’s worth setting up correctly at installation rather than after a complaint.

Homes and businesses

Domestic installs are usually about the front and rear approaches, a gate or driveway, and a clear view of anyone who reaches the door. Commercial adds stock areas, tills, yards and delivery points, and often runs alongside maintenance so the system gets checked rather than quietly failing.