Midlands Air Ambulance Charity
Background
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC) has been at the forefront of emergency medical care since 1991, completing more than 84,000 lifesaving missions across six Midlands counties. Operating three air ambulances and a fleet of critical care cars, the charity runs a 24/7 service that depends on fast, reliable communication between clinical teams, operational staff, and the wider organisation.
Over more than a decade, Fusion Communications has grown from a mobile phone supplier into a strategic partner, adapting alongside the charity as its clinical services and operational footprint have evolved.
The Challenge
As MAAC expanded significantly in recent years, including the transition to a fully 24/7 service, the complexity of managing its mobile communications in-house became unworkable. Multiple contracts had been set up at different times for staff joining across different locations and on different networks. Tracking costs, ensuring the right connectivity, and resolving issues quickly was increasingly beyond what an internal team could manage effectively.
Emma Gray, Chief Operating Officer, describes the situation plainly: managing contracts for staff joining at different times and in different locations was a growing challenge, and it was no longer feasible to do it internally. What the charity needed was not just a better contract. It needed a partner that could take ownership of the whole mobile estate and ensure every member of staff had the right device, on the right network, for the work they were doing.
Why Mobile Communication Matters at MAAC
In a life-saving organisation operating around the clock, mobile phones are not a convenience. They are a critical operational tool.
The requirement extends beyond basic connectivity. Different teams across MAAC have different needs; the marketing team, for example, requires higher-specification handsets to capture and share content across the charity’s social media channels. Working with Fusion as a true partner means those individual requirements are understood and met, rather than accommodated through a one-size-fits-all contract.
The Fusion Partnership
Working with Fusion gives MAAC the economies of scale and operational oversight that internal management could not provide. The Fusion portal has become a central part of how the team runs the mobile estate day to day. Charlie Burke, Innovation and Development Manager, uses it to monitor data usage by user, track device locations in real time, and access broken-down invoicing that gives the finance team the insight it needs. When something needs attention, the response is fast: in Charlie’s experience, an e-mail to Fusion will be answered within the hour.
For Emma, that responsiveness is what makes the relationship work in practice. As a 24-hour service, MAAC cannot absorb delays when a device or connection has an issue. The Fusion team’s understanding of the charity’s work, and the urgency that comes with it, means problems are resolved quickly rather than queued.
A Strategic Partnership,
Not Just a Contract
For Hanna Sebright, Chief Executive of MAAC since 2009, the relationship with Fusion now operates at a strategic level rather than a transactional one. Over more than ten years, Fusion has grown alongside the charity, adapting to changes in clinical service, staff structure, and technology requirements as they have happened.
That longevity matters in particular because MAAC is a charity. Every pound committed to communications infrastructure has to be justified in terms of what it delivers for the organisation and ultimately for the people it serves. The combination of value for money, responsiveness, and a provider that has taken the time to understand how MAAC actually operates is what has kept the partnership in place for over a decade.
Support that keeps pace with a 24-hour operation
For Emma, Fusion’s understanding of the vital, life-saving nature of the charity’s work means troubleshooting is handled immediately; critical for a service that cannot afford to wait. It’s not a nice to have, it’s part of what makes the partnership work.
What we delivered, check out
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