Where the blue-light community meets
The Emergency Services Show — the UK's leading event for the blue-light sector — returns to the NEC Birmingham on 16–17 September 2026, marking its 20th year. Bringing together more than 16,000 professionals and over 500 exhibitors from across police, fire & rescue, ambulance, search & rescue and the voluntary sector, ESS is where the people, equipment and ideas shaping frontline response come together. Co-located with The Emergency Tech Show, the 2026 edition puts communications, data and digital systems at the heart of the conversation.
For emergency services in the UK, that conversation increasingly turns on one thing: the move from proven narrowband TETRA to 3GPP LTE/5G mission-critical broadband through the Home Office's Emergency Services Network (ESN). The transition is no longer on the horizon — it is underway, and it lands squarely on the operational teams who will live with it.
Critical Insights will be attending both days. If you're planning for — or affected by — the transition to mission-critical broadband, we'd genuinely like to meet you.
Who we'd like to meet
Emergency services and end-user organisations. Preparing for the move to ESN and broadband MCX is a programme in its own right. We help user organisations get ready — applying lessons learnt from the original Airwave rollout and re-launch, insight gained consulting on the ESN programme between 2017 and 2022, and experience of MCX solution delivery in Europe, including the French Réseau Radio du Futur (RRF) programme delivered by ACMOSS, gained while consulting with Airbus Public Safety & Security. Our focus is the frontline user: making sure broadband delivers the reliable, near-instant group voice that operations depend on.
ESN delivery suppliers. Organisations contracted to the Home Office ESN programme carry demanding delivery obligations. We offer independent, technically grounded support for meeting them — from MCX solution expertise and user assurance to operational readiness, drawing on first-hand experience inside the programme.
MCX device, accessory and control room suppliers. Bringing devices and control room solutions into the ESN ecosystem means navigating ESN Device Certification and ESN Control Room Interface integration. If you're a device maker, accessories supplier or control room vendor looking at the UK market, we can help you understand the requirements, plan the route through, and avoid the expensive surprises.
What we'll be exploring at the show
- ESN transition readiness for frontline emergency-services organisations
- MCX group-call scalability: closing the gap with TETRA's mass-event performance
- The maturing MCX eco-system — infrastructure, control rooms, devices, accessories and applications
- Securing operationally sensitive digital media across the whole data lifecycle
- Transition strategies that protect business-as-usual operations with zero downtime
Book a meeting with our CEO
Andrew Fleet will be at the NEC both days. Grab a slot for a face-to-face conversation — no obligation, just a useful discussion with someone who has seen this transition from every side.
Why Critical Insights
We are one of very few consultancies with experience continuity across the whole journey: championing frontline users through the first metropolitan Airwave migration, co-developing the "Real World" coverage and performance testing methodology behind the 2002 Airwave re-launch, senior advisory and assurance roles on ESN, and MCX solution delivery across Europe. UK Government Security Cleared (NSV), independent, and grounded in operational reality.
Explore our services, or get in touch before the show.