A telematics company that builds vehicle tracking devices, analytics and apps for insurers, fleet operators and stolen vehicle recovery services, based near Cambridge.
Redtail Telematics makes the small black boxes, the software behind them and the apps that let insurers, fleet managers, vehicle makers and stolen-vehicle recovery services understand what vehicles are doing. It describes itself as a full-stack telematics company, covering devices, analytics and apps, and says it has delivered more than seven million devices and processed over thirty billion miles of data. Its uses include stolen vehicle tracking, usage-based car insurance, which prices cover on how a person actually drives, and fleet management.
Redtail is proud of its hardware roots. Its chief executive at one point described its "unique DNA in sensors, signals and data". Its strapline on a regional business directory is "Built in Cambridge. Trusted worldwide." The company has worked with the Tracker stolen-vehicle network for about 25 years, as reported in 2018, and has supplied devices for usage-based insurance schemes at brands such as Direct Line, Privilege and Churchill, as well as the insurer Admiral. We did not find a longer published mission or values statement.
The company is based at the Plextek Building in Great Chesterford, on the Essex and Cambridgeshire border, and its address appears under a Cambridge postcode. A Sunday Times table lists it in Essex, and it is a member of the Cambridge Network and Cambridge Wireless, which shows its place in the area's technology cluster. It also has a presence across Europe, the Americas and Asia. In May 2026 it won a King's Award for Enterprise in International Trade, which the awards describe as the UK's highest official business honour, and it appeared in the Sunday Times 100 Tech 2026 list.
Several people are named in public coverage: Dr Colin Smithers, who was chief executive in 2018 and is now chairman, and Gerard Smith, the chief executive in 2026. Gerard Smith linked the King's Award to the company's global strategy and to its investment in scalable telematics platforms. The firm has a close link to Plextek, the Cambridgeshire electronics design consultancy, and the company says its technology draws on that engineering heritage. Further detail on its internal culture was not found.
A company like Redtail employs electronics and embedded engineers, who design the devices, software developers and data scientists, who build the analytics and apps, testing and quality staff, product and project managers, and customer support and account managers who work with insurers and fleets around the world. Because its customers span many countries, language skills and an interest in international business are useful, and its King's Award for international trade shows that selling abroad is a core part of what the company does.
Website: www.redtailtelematics.com
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