Hawthorne Systems

Hawthorne Systems Commercial CCTV, fire alarms, intruder alarms, access control and 24/7 monitoring across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. SSAIB certified, ISO 9001 & 14001.

Designed, installed and maintained properly, by people who answer the phone. We offer a complete security service from CCTV, Alarm Response, and Mobile Patrols, to Fire Alarm Installation and much more. We aim to find you cost-effective solutions that use the latest technology. This ensures you have the highest standard of cover for your premises. We work closely with police forces throughout the country and pursue a non-stop process in terms of reviewing and introducing up-to-date technology. We can service both small domestic installations and large industrial installations in the fire protection and security sectors. Our expert team can offer the most comprehensive plans to meet our client’s individual needs. We have planned and delivered security from single mobile patrols to large music festivals.

The clocks go back on Sunday.Which means, from Monday, most people will be leaving work in the dark, and most car parks,...
23/10/2026

The clocks go back on Sunday.

Which means, from Monday, most people will be leaving work in the dark, and most car parks, yards and side entrances will be in the dark too.

Three things worth ten minutes this week:

1. Check the night footage. Not the daytime footage. Walk the site after dark and see what the cameras actually see. If it's grey blobs, that's the moment to know, not after an incident.
2. Check the external lighting. Cameras need light, or they need to be the kind that doesn't. Dead bulbs and dark corners are where problems start.
3. Check the alarm set times. If staff are leaving later than the system expects, you'll get false alarms and grumpy phone calls.

Winter is when systems earn their keep. It's also when neglected ones get found out.

If you'd like us to do the after-dark walk with you, that's a normal request. We do a lot of them this time of year.

📞 01603 425100

Emergency lighting. The one system in your building you only notice when it's not working.1. It's a legal requirement in...
21/10/2026

Emergency lighting. The one system in your building you only notice when it's not working.

1. It's a legal requirement in most non-domestic buildings. It's what gets people out when the power fails and the smoke comes in.
2. It usually needs to run for three hours on battery alone.
3. It needs a monthly function test and an annual three-hour drain test. That annual test is the one that finds the dead batteries.
4. The green running man was designed in Japan in the late 1970s by Yukio Ota, and adopted worldwide because nobody needs to read him.
5. A light glowing green on the wall isn't proof the battery will last three hours. Only the test proves that.

Good maintenance is rarely noticed until it matters.

📞 01603 425100

19/10/2026

Meet Eve. The engineers call her Steve. Nobody knows why 👀

We thought it was time you put some faces to the voices on the end of the phone.

Eve looks after admin, accounts and a fair bit of operations. If something needs sorting, she’s already on it. Whatever name she’s going by that day.

Simon is our client support and sales coordinator. He’s usually the first person you’ll speak to when you call, whether you need a quote, some technical advice or just a second opinion.

CCTV, fire alarms and access control only work as well as the people looking after them. These two are a big part of that.

Proud to support businesses across the heart of East Anglia.

We’re only ever a phone call away.
📞 01603 425100

Five facts about intruder alarms. One of them involves spiders. 👀1. The first electromagnetic burglar alarm was patented...
16/10/2026

Five facts about intruder alarms. One of them involves spiders. 👀

1. The first electromagnetic burglar alarm was patented in 1853. Door opens, circuit closes, bell rings. Every alarm since is a variation on the theme.
2. Spiders genuinely cause false alarms. One wandering across a motion detector at 3am looks a lot like an intruder to the sensor. It's why we clean detectors at every service.
3. Police response isn't automatic. It needs a monitored system, an approved installer and police registration. A loud bell alone doesn't qualify.
4. Alarms are graded 1 to 4. Homes are usually Grade 2, commercial sites usually Grade 3. Your insurer may have a view.
5. A bell-only alarm relies on a neighbour caring. A monitored one relies on a signalling unit and a 24-hour centre. Only one of those is a plan.

If you can't remember your last service, or what grade you've got, we're happy to have a look.

📞 01603 425100

Five facts about locks, doors and who gets in.1. The oldest known lock is around 4,000 years old. Wooden, pin-based, and...
15/10/2026

Five facts about locks, doors and who gets in.

1. The oldest known lock is around 4,000 years old. Wooden, pin-based, and surprisingly close in principle to what's on your front door.
2. The modern pin tumbler lock was patented by Linus Yale Jr. in the 1860s. Still everywhere.
3. The most common PIN in the world is 1234. One analysis of millions of leaked codes found roughly one in ten people use it. Please don't be one in ten.
4. The plastic hotel keycard dates from the 1970s, invented by a Norwegian locksmith.
5. The most common way access control gets beaten isn't hacking. It's holding the door for a stranger because it felt rude not to.

Good access control is half technology, half habits. We can sort the first and help with the second.

📞 01603 425100

"Trust, but verify."Russian proverbMade famous during the Cold War. Weirdly, it's the whole philosophy of access control...
14/10/2026

"Trust, but verify."
Russian proverb

Made famous during the Cold War. Weirdly, it's the whole philosophy of access control.

You trust your team. Of course you do. But trust isn't a security system.

Verify means: the door knows who opened it and when. A lost fob can be cancelled in seconds rather than the locks being changed. Leavers stop being able to get in the day they leave, not when someone remembers.

None of that is about suspicion. It's about having answers when something goes missing, instead of a room full of people looking at each other.

Trust the people. Verify the doors.

📞 01603 425100

Mission: Impossible. Ethan Hunt dangles from the ceiling of a vault that's protected by temperature sensors, sound senso...
13/10/2026

Mission: Impossible. Ethan Hunt dangles from the ceiling of a vault that's protected by temperature sensors, sound sensors and a pressure-sensitive floor.

One drop of sweat from disaster.

In our experience, intruders are rarely that committed. They come through the fire exit someone propped open for a cigarette. They walk in behind a member of staff who held the door. They try the back gate that "sticks" and has done for a year.

Systems don't usually get beaten by athletes. They get beaten by habits.

The good news is habits are cheaper to fix than vaults. A site survey spots most of them in an afternoon.

📞 01603 425100

Here's something most people with an automated gate don't realise.In law, it's not a gate. It's a machine. The same regu...
09/10/2026

Here's something most people with an automated gate don't realise.

In law, it's not a gate. It's a machine. The same regulations that cover factory equipment cover the thing at the end of your drive or the entrance to your yard.

That matters because a gate can weigh several hundred kilos and moves on its own. If it can't detect someone in the way and stop, it's dangerous. There have been serious accidents in the UK, including fatalities, and the law tightened as a result.

What a safe gate has:

1. Safety edges that stop and reverse it on contact.
2. Photocells that stop it if something crosses its path.
3. Force testing at installation and at every service, so it never closes harder than it should.
4. A manual release that actually works when the power's off.

If your gate was installed years ago and hasn't been serviced or force-tested since, it's worth a check. If it only opens after a firm shove and some swearing… that's not automation, that's a warning sign.

📞 01603 425100

We see it everywhere. Offices, retail, warehouses, kitchens. The door's heavy, it's hot, people are carrying things. So ...
02/10/2026

We see it everywhere. Offices, retail, warehouses, kitchens. The door's heavy, it's hot, people are carrying things. So it gets wedged.

The problem? A fire door only works when it's shut. It's designed to hold back fire and smoke for 30 or 60 minutes, buying people time to get out. Wedged open, it's just a door.

The fix isn't a sternly worded sign. It's a hold-open device linked to the fire alarm: the door stays open all day, and the moment the alarm activates, it closes itself.

Everyone's happy. The door does its job. The extinguisher goes back to doing its.

📞 01603 425100

Alarm quotes love a grade. "Grade 2 system." "Grade 3 compliant." Very few people know what it means, and even fewer fee...
30/09/2026

Alarm quotes love a grade. "Grade 2 system." "Grade 3 compliant." Very few people know what it means, and even fewer feel able to ask.

So, briefly:

Intruder alarms are graded 1 to 4 under a European standard, based on how determined and skilled the intruder is expected to be.

Grade 1: Very low risk. Opportunist with little planning. Rarely installed.
Grade 2: Low to medium risk. Some knowledge and basic tools. Most homes and small commercial premises.
Grade 3: Medium to high risk. Skilled intruder with proper tools and knowledge of alarms. Most commercial and industrial sites, and often what insurers ask for.
Grade 4: Highest risk. Banks, data centres, places you'd expect a plan and a van.

Why it matters: your insurer may specify a grade. Fit the wrong one and a claim can get complicated.

If a quote mentions a grade and you're not sure it's the right one for your site or your policy, ask. We'll tell you straight, even if the answer is "you need less than you've been sold."

📞 01603 425100

Address

Unit 8 Alston Road, Hellesdon Business Park
Norwich
NR65DS

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+441603361777

Website

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