The BAFE Fire Safety Register has announced a series of senior appointments, marking the start of the next phase of its development and sector leadership.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the former MP for Poplar and Canning Town, has been appointed as the Chair of BAFE Holdings. With over 20 years’ firefighting experience with the London Fire Brigade and having served in a number of Ministerial positions including Fire Minister , Jim brings a wealth of experience from the political and fire safety worlds to BAFE.
In addition, Howard Passey has been appointed Chair of BAFE Limited. With over three decades’ experience at the Fire Protection Association in a variety of senior roles – most recently as Deputy Managing Director – Howard brings a huge amount of technical expertise in fire safety and is widely recognised and respected across the sector. He has been an independent Director on the BAFE board since 2023.
Finally, Douglas Barnett – a longstanding Chair and Director at BAFE – has been appointed as Chair of FireQual, BAFE’s awarding organisation. With over 40 years’ experience in insurance, including 25 years’ leading AXA Insurance’s risk management programmes, Douglas’ appointment ensures continuity in leadership across the organisation. Douglas takes over from Lewis Ramsay who has been appointed as Group Chief Operating Officer for BAFE Holdings.
Commenting on the appointments, Dr Justin Maltby-Smith, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted that Jim, Howard and Douglas have agreed to bring more than 100 years’ of collective fire safety and risk experience to BAFE.
“At a time when significant legislative change is on the horizon, the need for technical and commercial excellence has never been more acute. These appointments give BAFE the leadership needed to provide the sector with the clarity, standards and practical support required to meet rising regulatory expectations.
“These appointments act as a clear signal of BAFE’s ambitions for the future of the register and the wider fire safety sector. We are delighted to have secured this level of expertise for our members.”
For more information please visit: https://www.bafe.org.uk/
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BAFE Fire Safety Register
The BAFE Fire Safety Register is the trusted independent register of quality fire safety organisations for the UK since 1984.
All BAFE registered organisations have been independently assessed to determine quality evidence of their competency to confidently deliver specific fire safety services.
BAFE develops schemes (based on defined quality standards and industry best practice) for fire safety organisations to achieve third-party certification. This provides independent evidence of their competency to offer specific fire safety services. BAFE has dedicated Scheme Technical Committees (Monitoring Groups) for each scheme which meet regularly to ensure they continue to support quality standards which represent the highest levels of competency and best practice within the industry.
