The Managing Director of Supply Plus has chosen the ‘best of British’ manufacturing for new fire extinguishers throughout its UK manufacturing facility.
Derek Gotts, Managing Director of Supply Plus, who is also Chair of the 950 members plus Fire Industry Association (FIA) and sits on several British Standards Institution (BSI) committees, has fitted Britannia Fire’s game-changing composite P50 across his Cambridgeshire factory, which makes and supplies equipment for UK’s and international fire and rescue services.
Derek said that buying made-in-Britain products should be the ‘go to’ for every UK business.
Service from Britannia Fire had been ‘seamless’, he said.
‘The government should consider promoting the buying of made-in-Britain products as it makes sense to buy from other British manufacturers.
‘When you buy from the UK you are investing in UK employers, UK jobs and PAYE and HMRC tax to reinvest into the British economy. It is a societal benefit to buy British!’
Supply Plus exports to more than 40 counties and turned over £8million last year.
It made ‘significant savings’ by replacing 49 metal CO2, powder, foam and water extinguishers for 32 P50 powder and foam models across the site at the Papworth Business Park, Papworth Everard, near Cambridge, where 65 people are employed.
Key to the decision was the P50’s USP – it is the only extinguisher that needs no external service contracts and can be checked in-house, where long-term savings can be reaped.
Karen Hull, Supply Plus Compliance director, said: ‘A big benefit is not having to have an engineer from an independent company come in to service the units – we can check them ourselves. I did Zoom training with a member of staff, who did the checks. On top of the savings, we have more space as fewer are fitted.’
The corrosion-resistant P50, made of Kevlar aramid thread wrapped around a multi-layer inner cylinder and cased in composite, is multi-use so eliminates any potential emergency ‘decision paralysis’ in the event of a fire.
Karen said: ‘It means no one has to make the decision between the blue, black and red extinguishers – it’s clear which one to use. We found Britannia Fire very efficient, installing the P50s, replacing all the stickers and taking away our old extinguishers, which was an important service to us. The engineer also plotted on our site map the location of each extinguisher.’
Britannia Fire, which exports to more than 25 countries, was featured by ITV4’s Made in Britain series as one of the ‘best of British’ manufacturers. At Christmas, viewers of BBC2’s The Factory watched fire extinguishers being hand-made at its Ashwellthorpe factory, filled with CO2 from Bulmers Cider production, where it is a by-product.
Andy Spence, Britannia Fire sales director, said: ‘To have Supply Plus choose the P50, a British-made innovation that changed the fire extinguisher industry by taking away the need for external servicing, is a huge compliment to Britannia Fire.’
The P50, invented in Norfolk by Britannia Fire’s founder, Roger Carr, was chosen by Heathrow Airport as its extinguisher of choice across all terminals because it fitted its Sustainability 2.0 strategy, for its lower carbon footprint and efficiency. It is also fitted across retail chains, NHS buildings, on ambulances and other emergency front-line vehicles, including fire and rescue services.
Innovation has been at the forefront of Britannia Fire the Norfolk range was launched in the 1960s, followed by the Britannia range, still popular today and protecting buildings and people all over the world.
What makes the multi-use P50 special – apart from its plastic construction with Kevlar aramid thread wrapped around a multi-layer inner cylinder and cased in composite – is that it can be maintained in-house by simple checks by trained staff.
For more information, go to www.britannia-fire.co.uk
