Occam's Razor Consulting Ltd

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Occam's Razor Consulting was established in 2008. It provides a range of services primarily to the parks and open spaces sector but also in to wholesaling and distribution businesses.

Our focus is on the collection, management and exploitation of data. We have contributed to several grounds maintenance contracts preparing tender documents, robust evaluation systems and calculating labour requirements. We are particularly interested in combining satellite based surveying techniques and geographic information systems to support decision making in land based industries.

We are also very interested in novel ways of delivering maps and associated data. Currently we are evaluating a product called GISCloud. To see a sample map go to the Downloads section of the site.

GNSS based data collection

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is the collective name for the several constellations of satellites which enable a wide range of services; from satellite navigation in cars and lorries, remote vehicle tracking and precision agriculture. We use highly sensitive survey equipment that allows us to establish our position on the earth's surface to an accurcy of a few centimetres. Although this degree of accuracy may seem to be overkill when dealing with areas measured in hundreds of square metres, it allows us to record features such as gateways very accurately. This allows users to check whether vehicles can use a particular entrance without having to visit the site.

The benefits of a comprehensive survey

We have conducted several comprehensive grounds surveys for a variety of clients. These are often commissioned to support a forthcoming grounds maintenance tender exercise, however we believe that there are many other benefits that can accrue from a comprehensive greenspace survey. One of our clients covered the cost of their survey by negotiating reduced insurance premiums, on the grounds that they could provide evidence of a regular inspection regime.

Our product range

We can collect, organize and present your data in a variety of ways. We use Filemaker Pro to create applications that allow you to view and update your data with customised reports. These can be installed on iOS, Macintosh or Windows machines. We have created an example database that you can download. It contains historical financial data for expenditure on open spaces by local authorities in England.

We can create web documents that are optimized for viewing on phones, tablets and desktop computers.

About our name

The name of our company is taken from a venerable idea in philosophy: Occam's Razor.

William of Occam lived from about 1287 until about 1347. His razor is a methodological principle that prefers the explanation with fewest assumptions or variables. There are many phrases that have been used to illustrate this idea, for example "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, think horses rather than zebras."

We haven't elevated this to a general rule, but it can be a useful way to evaluate our own work. For a fuller discussion consult Wikipedia.

Contact us

We can be contacted via info@orcl.co.uk or speak to David Brown on 07886 936148.