LIGHTINGSpecialist consultancyHDS Lighting
Our lighting design heritage began with Harttron in 1994. HDS Lighting was established in 2024 to focus that accumulated experience on specialist consultancy.
Harttron began trading with lighting design and engineering at the heart of the business. The company joined the then Institution of Lighting Engineers — now the Institution of Lighting Professionals — beginning a professional association with the lighting industry that continues today.
Harttron worked with Tim Bosher, Bruce Jordan and Paul Wokes on the initial development of the Lighting Reality lighting design software. Our contribution included work on the DXF drawing input interface, helping designers bring CAD-based project information directly into the lighting calculation environment.
The business secured a major commission as a lighting design consultancy to Birmingham City Council ahead of its later PFI programme. The appointment strengthened our public-sector experience and established the team as a trusted provider of highway lighting design support.
Building on our involvement in the software's development, Harttron established and delivered the Lighting Reality lighting design training course. Once the course programme was successfully established, its delivery was transferred to others in 2005.
Continued growth led to expanded offices and a broader service offering. Alongside design, the team began managing installation works, allowing technical designs to be supported through procurement, construction and completion.
Harttron expanded into a dedicated depot with teams of designers, engineers and field operatives delivering lighting schemes across the UK. This period created a practical understanding of how lighting designs perform during installation, commissioning, maintenance and long-term operation.
A formal quality management system was introduced and independently audited through UKAS-accredited certification. Quality assurance became embedded in project delivery, document control, technical review and continual improvement — principles that remain central to HDS Lighting.
Across successive programmes, the team surveyed complete lighting inventories for more than 40 local authorities. Asset locations, photographs, condition data, electrical information and energy records were collected and prepared for integration into critical asset management systems.
The business contributed to lighting software and electronic design involving 868 MHz wireless mesh communications linked to DALI-controlled lighting equipment. The work included remote monitoring, control and energy-data processes, with systems progressing through relevant ELEXON and CE approval requirements.
Experience expanded across strategic highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, industrial environments, energy facilities, defence sites, architectural lighting and complex electrical infrastructure. The design team increasingly supported clients from feasibility through detailed design, construction and handover.
Harttron's established design and consultancy team transitioned into HDS Lighting Ltd — Harttron Design Services. The business was created to concentrate entirely on professional lighting consultancy, retaining the experience, technical knowledge and project records developed over the preceding three decades.
HDS expanded its product repertoire with lower-impact lighting solutions intended to help clients deliver environmentally sensitive projects. The range includes products designed to support lighting strategies developed in line with the Institution of Lighting Professionals' GN08 guidance, including warm-colour, controlled-output and responsive lighting options for areas used by bats and other nocturnal wildlife.
HDS Lighting now provides independent lighting design, assessment, surveying, reporting and technical support to local authorities, highway organisations, developers, contractors, architects and infrastructure clients throughout the UK.
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