Take advantage of cutting edge drone technology in your business to save time and money
Learn More About Commercial Drones
What are Commercial Drones? Why Should You Start Using Drones How Drones save Time and Money How Drones Increase Safety heliguy™ Financing Options The Billion Dollar Drone Industry Commercial Drone Training Scale Up Your Drone Programme Drone Leasing with heliguy™ Fullstack Drone Rental Drone Repairs, Maintenance and Development for EnterpriseWatch how Balfour Beatty use heliguy™
How do you get started with commercial drones?
There is not a set definition for what makes a drone 'commercial' - simply that they're better suited to use in enterprise or commercial environments.
Some drones that have been aimed at consumers have found their way into commercial use, simply because a use has been found for them!
However - commercial drones generally differ from "hobbyist" or consumer drones in a number of ways:
All of these improvements generally make these drones better for use by businesses and enterprises.
Commercial drones are used in a wide array of enterprise environments to improve productivity, revenue and levels of safety.
Just scratching the surface of business drone use-cases we can say that drones are used for:
DJI have been pioneers in the commercial drone industry, putting reasonably priced drones to work all around the world.
That's why heliguy™ are a DJI Gold partner.
If you're unsure about what drone you need - or what software would best improve efficiency in your drone business, simply click the "Book a Consultation" button below to talk to the team.
Commercial drones are generally more expensive than their consumer-facing counterparts.
If you'd like to start a drone programme for your business, the lower-end commercial drones, such as the Mavic 2 Enterprise can be purchased from as little as £1,700, $2,500 or €2,300.
However, the range of drones, cameras, sensors, controllers and software available makes it difficult to give an exact answer on how much a commercial drone will cost - especially if it's part of a wider drone programme.
For expert advice on the equipment and software you'll need to make your drone business a success, use the buttons below to contact heliguy™.
Different nations around the world have different definitions of commercial drone use.
However, it's widely defined as any professional work undertaken using a drone.
For the purposes of the content on this page, we're defining commercial drone use as anything that's used by a commercial organisation to make money, save time or increase efficiency.
Taking aerial shots of your family party, or documenting your personal travels using a drone are examples of "personal" drone use.
Please ensure that you're flying within the rules and regulations applicable to the country, state or region you're flying your drone in at all times, whether you're operating commercially or not.
All of these improvements generally make these drones better for use by businesses.
Depending on the size of the drone in question, the configuration of cameras it's flying with and its intended use-case, commercial drones can fly up to 51 miles per hour!
Depending on the use-case, commercial drones can reach up to 170 cm wide and 73 cm tall in the DJI range.
As the drone industry advances however, drones are getting smaller and smaller.
DJI's latest flagship drone, the Matrice 300 RTK, is only 81 cm wide and 43 cm tall, but can carry three payloads at one time.
Some of the drones in the DJI Enterprise range have an incredible 15km range- making them the best in the industry.
Of course - heliguy™ advise you to fly within the legal range of the jurisdiction you're flying within.
As high as 7km.
Again - heliguy™ advise you to fly within the legal limits of the jurisdiction you're flying within.
Flight times of commercial drones is highly dependent on the configuration used.
The more advanced the sensors on the drone, the heavier it tends to become, reducing flight time.
However, the latest commercial drones in the DJI range have a huge flight time of 55 minutes. Nearly an hour in the air!
Harness the power of drones.
Real-time drone data yielded 75% cost savings for Chasco Constructors on a $29m project.
Drones have transformed the way that businesses work, increasing efficiencies and aiding rapid and accurate data capture.
Drones can complete a task far quicker than manual methods and are less labour intensive.
A White Paper produced by Measure stated that a drone can inspect one wind turbine in 15 to 30 minutes - reducing man-hours and turbine downtime for maintenance checks by over 75%.
Meanwhile, Michael Lambert, VDC Manager at Chasco Constructors, said that real-time drone data yielded 75% cost savings, taking two hours on a job which would have taken surveyors about eight hours using traditional methods.
If you are looking for a competitive advantage, then drones should be a critical tool in your toolbelt.
Drones do the dangerous work for you
Drones are a key tool to keeping your team safe and transforming workplace safety.
No longer do you need to climb over stockpiles to gather quantities or climb ladders to access rooftops, because drones do this for you.
Thermal cameras can see through smoke and detect hot spots. This real-time awareness helps an effective response and keeps crews safe.
Drones make scrambling over stockpiles or walking across dangerous job sites a thing of the past.
Forget climbing up ladders or scaling roof tops - a drone can collect key data for you, all while you are safe on the ground.
Drone use is on the rise around the world.
Thanks to the huge benefits which drones bring, unmanned aircraft are becoming an increasingly familiar tool around the world.
Indeed, the rising use of drones in business and public services is already delivering significant benefits for the economy and society.
But this is just the start. The potential is huge.
A recent PwC report into the impact of drones showed that by 2030, in the UK, there could be:
According to the Drone Market Report 2020-2025, compiled by German-based market research and analytics company Drone Industry Insights, the global drone market will grow from $22.5 billion in 2020 to more than $42.8 billion in 2025 - at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 13.8%.
These figures show that both the current and future demand for drones is huge and the report predicts that commercial drone sales will double over the next five years.
The predictions are particularly encouraging as the study was conducted after the coronavirus outbreak and takes into account all the different market dynamic shifts that the global health crisis triggered.
The data shows that Asia is leading the way; worth $8.62 billion and climbing to $17.89 billion by 2025. North America is next ($6.89 billion in 2020, rising to $11.82 billion by 2025), followed by Europe ($5.19 billion in 2020, climbing to $9.86 billion by 2025).
Other key findings in the report show:
Obtain the qualifications you need.
One of the most important aspects of building a commercial drone programme is having the correct training and accreditations in place to ensure you are flying legally and safely.
During the lifecycle of your commercial drone programme, it is crucial that your pilots are flying to a high standard and in strict accordance with the rules and regulations.
To ensure optimum performance, heliguy™ runs a specialist CPD (Continuing Professional Development) drone course to enhance pilot expertise and covering advanced flight training, exemptions and legislation updates.
CPD is widely regarded as a mandatory activity in the continuation of any professional enterprise, helping to maintain an optimal level of safety and service provision.
Our expert instructors will travel to a venue of your choice and the one-day training sessions can be delivered over consecutive days to ensure a larger number of personnel can be trained.
heliguy™ Head of Training, Ben Shirley, said: “We created the CPD programme to enhance a remote pilot’s expertise and develop an advanced competence; thus maximising their operational effectiveness.
“The conduct of such drone-specific training is of vital importance in the safeguarding of the public, remote pilots and organisation reputation, ensuring sustainability in the employment of drones.”
More flying, less typing.
One of the most important aspects of running a commercial drone programme is having an Operations Manual.
It is crucial that this document is completed correctly and is properly updated.
Formulating an Operations Manual has always been a daunting and time-consuming process - until now! heliguy™ has a tried and tested approach to help you build the document, with comprehensive support and in super-quick time.
Our new streamlined system will shave many hours off the once-complex process, meaning more time flying and less time typing, and ensuring your organisation has a legitimate Operations Manual tailored to meet your needs.
heliguy™ also offers a renewal service (charges apply) to help you update your Operations Manual annually - automatically refreshing your documentation for you with all of the relevant legislation and regulations, giving you peace of mind that you are flying legally and allowing you to focus on your drone missions.
Scale up your drone programme on-demand with heliguy™
So you’ve started your drone programme and the number of jobs are increasing. Now it is time to scale your fleet!
heliguy™ offers a number of packages to help you dynamically alter to the size of your fleet, quickly, easily, and at a surprisingly low price.
Full Stack is an industry-leading solution providing companies with a comprehensive package of care and support, including access to upgrades, rapid repairs, and half-price rental.
Following a similar model to a mobile phone contract, Full Stack allows you to bolster your fleet with equipment from DJI and other industry-leading brands through a cost-effective, pay-monthly, rolling one-year agreement.
This enables you to have up-to-date kit in the sky – giving you a competitive edge and helping you stay at the forefront of the enterprise drone scene – and ensures that you are not left behind with aged or surplus equipment, reducing your risk in the process.
heliguy™, the UK’s largest one-stop-shop drone provider, is perfectly placed to offer Full Stack, thanks to our years of experience, dedicated account managers, renowned training team, expert technicians and cutting-edge in-house research and development consultancy.
Take Advantage of Full Stack Now
Sometimes, you’ll need to expand your fleet for a specific job. Heliguy’s large inventory of rental stock gives you access to kit for those one-off jobs.
With Heliguy's Drone Hire, all you need to get the project set in motion is your PfCO and valid insurance to cover yourself and the equipment when out on the job.
The benefits of renting with heliguy™ include:
Couple this with Heliguy’s expert advice and consultancy, then DJI Gold Partner heliguy™ is perfectly placed to support your long or short-term rental needs for commercial missions.
click to hire a drone today
Yes - to ensure the safety of the pilot hiring the equipment, heliguy™ require proof that you personally, or your business, hold a current, valid PfCO.
No - You will need to provide your own valid insurance policy that covers hired in goods and specifies drones. Providers like Coverdrone can offer you this kind of cover on an annual or ad-hoc basis.
You also need to factor loss of hire costs in the event that heliguy™ is unable to hire out the equipment to other clients as a result of damage caused.
Yes - If you hire a drone with heliguy™ then decide that you'd like to purchase one for your own use, then we'll offer a discount on the full purchase price of a new unit.
Delivery and collection is £25 + VAT and will be added to your rental quote.
Of course! Heliguy's drone rental programme allow you to hire extra equipment for commercial operations, from a single Phantom 4 Pro for a specific shot, to a complex Inspire 2 bundle for a month-long shoot.
This depends on your own insurance policy - a typical excess for a commercial drone policy from Coverdrone is £250 for equipment claims.
Yes - our terms and conditions of hire state that you must have valid aviation insurance to comply with EC Regulation 785/2004, together with such other insurance as we may from time to time consider reasonably necessary and advise to you.
heliguy™ can ship items out up to 2pm Monday to Friday for next day delivery.
However, we advise checking well in advance to ensure that the equipment required is available.
First time renters will need to complete and application form and undergo a background check - this can take up to 2 working days.
You will need a copy of your insurance, a utility bill for the address the equipment is being shipped to and a photo ID.
In exceptional cases we may also require professional references.
Optimise your missions.
Sophisticated drone fleet and pilot management software helps you optimise your missions, giving more implementation control and data security assurances.
Conduct automated flights, manage flight data on the cloud, and collaborate across projects to run your drone programme efficiently, with a higher level of reliability and accuracy, optimising workflows in the process.
Easily visible data can be shared with your project team, improving communication, and pilots and drones can be managed through the creation of teams, making missions more coordinated.
Drone pilot and fleet management software is an essential tool, helping to streamline missions and enabling enterprise orgnaisations to scale and manage their commercial drone programmes, while laying the technical foundations for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and nighttime operations.
As one of the world's leading drone suppliers, heliguy™ can help you integrate software packages into your operations.
Manage your entire drone operation using DJI FlightHub, including the Enterprise edition.
If you're operating multiple drones and pilots, while juggling multiple operations, DJI FlightHub will give you a live, complete picture of your entire drone programme.
Some of the key features of FlightHub include:
Enhance your drone operations with DJI Ground Station Pro (DJI GS Pro), an iPad app.
GS Pro allows you to conduct automated flight missions, manage flight data on the cloud, and collaborate across projects to efficiently run your drone programme.
Some of the key features of GS Pro include:
There are a range of software packages available to transform your drone missions. Here are some of the best:
DJI Terra:
DJI Terra is a 3D modelling software, letting you plan missions,
centralise data, create maps and analyse data within a single platform. Key Features:
DroneDeploy:
DroneDeploy is a comprehensive mapping tool. Key Features:
Pix4D:
Another great tool for enterprise customers is Pix4D – enabling
optimal 3D mapping and 3D modelling data. Key Features:
Use the heliguy™ tech team - trained by DJI™ - to maintain your drone fleet.
When you've scaled up your drone programme, with Heliguy's help of course, you'll need to make sure that all of your equipment is kept in tip-top shape.
Thankfully - heliguy™ have a DJI trained technical team on hand to help maintain your drones, batteries, gimbals and more.
Using our maintenance plans will mean potentially huge gains in profitability and efficiency by stopping unnecessary downtime.
So what do our maintenance plans include?
For more than a decade, we have been recognised as a supplier who cares about our customers and we’re proud of that. Over the years, our product lines have changed considerably, however our support has stayed the same. First class.
We can offer you a range of different maintenance plans depending on your requirements, the size of your fleet and the nature of your operations.
Here is an overview of the four tiers of maintenance packages heliguy™ currently offer.
Up to 2 Drones
Up to 5 Drones
Up to 10 Drones
Unlimited Drones
Our maintenance plans are designed for use by organisations with multi-drone fleets who need to keep their aerial capability running at all times.
Yes - drones, sensors and batteries are all covered by your repair, fast-track and service maintenance package, giving you total peace of mind.
Yes - please contact us prior to submitting your equipment and we will clarify that we can ensure your specific request.
The technical account manager assigned to your maintenance plan will be a single point of contact for all technical related queries, from booking in services to providing tailored telephone support while you're on operations.
Here are a selection of the calibre of clients heliguy™ work with.
We've got you covered.
Running a commercial drone programme can be demanding and unpredictable - sometimes you need that vital piece of equipment at short notice and up in the air as quickly as possible.
Heliguy's vast inventory of hardware is housed in warehouses in the United Kingdom and the United States, ensuring we can fulfil your request efficiently and dynamically- tackling any logistical nightmares and solving drone supply issues your business might face.
heliguy™ is IATA-certified and has a track record of delivering across the world, enabling commercial drone programmes to flourish.
And no matter where you are in the world, our experienced and dedicated enterprise team is only a phone call, video conference, or email away to offer invaluable consultancy and support.
As one of the world's leading drone suppliers, heliguy™ has a base on each side of the Atlantic to cater for deliveries across the globe.
Our UK headquarters, with in-house technical and R&D lab, is located on the edges of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, while our large US base is housed in Dallas, Texas.
Heliguy's strategically-positioned warehouses help to streamline drone delivery, ensuring fast and effective supply, wherever you may be.
Being located on each side of the world allows heliguy™ to connect USA with Europe, enabling our team to cross-pollinate skills and expertise, sharing solutions, ideas, and best practices to benefit our customers and optimise their drone programmes.
"The support from heliguy™ has been unquestionable. The importance and the difference we have
found with heliguy™ is the level of service. When it comes to stock, heliguy™ can fulfil the
short-notice demand. Every time, heliguy™ has understood the urgency of our request and even
though we are a stretch of water away, heliguy™ can still guarantee next-day delivery and that
makes such a difference to us, knowing what we can get as soon as we need it. It is the
difference between us doing a very good job and us doing an even better job. The bottom line
really is that degree of service, and every time heliguy™ has come up trumps."
Phil Crothers, Pivotal
heliguy™ has IATA certified training which allows us to globally ship high power drone batteries by air.
This important certification is essential for logistics, helping you receive your crucial
equipment in the fastest way possible.
High-capacity batteries are of paramount importance
to a commercial drone programme - extending flight times to increase efficiency and reduce downtime.
Uncompromising support on multi-million-pound contracts
heliguy™ has successfully secured a place on multi-million-pound tender deals, thanks to our
standing in the drone industry and the trust that major companies have in us.
We have
repaid that faith by offering uncompromising support, enabling the growth of enterprise drone programmes
across the industry, from critical infrastructure to public safety - having won a place on a major
nationwide contract, worth up to £2.6m, with Network Rail, and a spot on an £8m agreement with YPO, in
conjunction with the Home Office, to assist public sector organisations, primarily blue light clients
and the emergency services.
As a one-stop-shop drone company, heliguy™ has been chosen to
deliver a vast range of services as part of these contracts, including consultancy; supply; delivery;
servicing, repair, and maintenance; associated services - such as hire/lease, and bespoke package
bundles - and drone-pilot training.
Our experience of fulfilling these tender obligations,
coupled with our renowned support of enterprise drone programmes around the world, ensures that we are
best placed to support any tender requirement.
0% interest on drones, gimbals, and other commercial accessories.
heliguy™ also have a partnership with a number of credit brokers that we can introduce our clients to for the purposes of asset finance.
0% finance and pay-in-three available from Klarna.
Spread the cost through monthly direct debit payments with GoCardless.
We create custom solutions to ensure you maximise the efficiency of every job.
Sometimes bespoke jobs need a bespoke set up - and this is where heliguy™ can help you.
Our in-house technical and research and development team have the expertise and experience to create custom solutions to ensure you maximise the efficiency of every job.
The team at HECTIC has helped various companies overcome issues with sensors being mounted incorrectly, interfering with other sensors and creating unique power or firing solutions to help use different sensors while in the air.
Some of these integrations have been completed in as little as five days for urgent applications.
The heliguy™ R&D lab has also built a bespoke flight cage for the Mavic 2 Series. This lightweight and collision-proof frame enhances flight safety and is ideal for operating in confined or hostile spaces, and accessing hard-to-reach areas.
It is an affordable entry to the market, offering a more cost-effective solution compared to other caged drones.
World-renowned engineering and design company Atkins is benefiting from a Sony RX1R II sensor and a DJI M600 Pro - integrated by Heliguy’s R&D team.
We created a solution which involved a custom cable to trigger the camera and power the Sony device from the gimbal’s power supply.
Global drone services provider CG Labs turned to heliguy™ for a custom drone build for a challenging mapping mission in the Middle Eastern desert.
see how cg labs are taking advantage of fullstackHeliguy’s in-house technical team integrated the DJI M600 Pro with a Canon EOS 5DS DSLR, as well as built a GPS module on top of the aircraft to allow full GPS tagging.
Enhance flight safety with heliguy™ and ParaZero.
To enhance flight safety, a number of DJI’s commercial drone range can be integrated with ParaZero SafeAir parachutes.
If a critical failure occurs during flight, the parachute will automatically deploy, preventing the drone from crashing back to the ground if there is an error during flight.
Cases of drones falling from the sky are very rare, but the parachute is a simple mitigation and provides reassurance if an unexpected emergency does occur, especially on missions which involve flying over people or property.
The deployment system has been extensively tested by both ParaZero and third party organisations to give drone operators real peace of mind.
ParaZero SafeAir parachutes are available for:
The lightweight recovery system independently monitors key flight parameters of the drone’s avionic systems. The drone flight profile is collected and monitored for anomalies.
When critical failures are identified the mechanical flight termination system automatically cuts power to the drone’s rotors, preventing entanglement with the rotors and mitigating the risk of laceration injuries in the process. The batteries are disconnected once an unexpected descent begins, but remain with the drone.
The patented parachute deployment mechanism then opens the chute to full canopy in a fraction of a second. This controls the descent, enabling safe flight over people, even at low altitudes, and a safe landing of the drone. An audible alarm also sounds on the Matrice (M200 Series/M600 Pro) parachutes to draw attention for those on the ground.
Yes you can. Collected data is stored in a black box and can be used for post-deployment analysis.
Deploying a parachute in the event of flight failure has numerous benefits. A slower descent helps to minimise damage to property and reduces the risk to members of the public. It also gives greater time to react to an unexpected drone failure.
This is particularly useful and reassuring for the emergency services, who can acquire special exemptions to fly over buildings and people.
A slower, more cushioned landing also means less damage to the drone itself – reducing the cost of subsequent repairs.
The ParaZero SafeAir parachutes work at both low and high altitude, ensuring a safe descent whatever the operation.
The system can be integrated with your drone in about 10 to 15 minutes.
No matter how good a pilot you are, sometimes things go wrong, and sometimes accidents happen
Drone specialist heliguy™ offers an in-house DJI-approved UK drone repair centre.
For additional cover, take advantage of Heliguy’s Repair Refresh drone crash cover. Our annual policy, available on a range of DJI drones, is cheaper than using DJI’s Care Refresh.
For our commercial drone clients we also offer 72-hour fast track repairs for a small extra fee.
This express turnaround means that your operations take much less of a hit, resulting in better results for your business - and happier clients!
Speak to our team to start your drone business today.
OSC Consultancy
Josh
