A fire and rescue service has given the first service-free fire extinguisher its greatest “stamp of faith” – by signing exclusive rights to sell it.
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service is so impressed with the performance and cost-savings offered by the Norfolk invented and manufactured P50 it has signed a ground-breaking agreement with manufacturer Britannia Fire to be its exclusive distributor across five counties in the North East.
Money generated by the sales of the award-winning UK-manufactured extinguisher, made from the same material as bulletproof vests, will be injected back into the fire service to offset cuts.
County Durham and Darlington is the first fire and rescue service to sell the recyclable extinguisher that saves companies and organisations tens of thousands in annual service contracts. Invented and developed by Britannia Fire owner Roger Carr at his Norfolk factory, the Kevlar-wrapped extinguisher only requires three simple in- house steps.
The agreement to sell the P50 across Durham and Darlington, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland and Northumberland is the first commercial operation of the service’s new trading arm, Vital Fire Solutions (VFS) Ltd – a sister company to its Community Interest Company.
In return, Norfolk-based Britannia Fire will work closely with Durham to promote the service’s extensive portfolio of business and industrial safety training courses and its new multi-million pound state of the art training facility in Bowburn near Durham.
Britannia Fire General Manager Andy Spence said the agreement was a “massive endorsement of the P50” after a year of discussions.
“This is phenomenal for Britannia Fire and the endorsement we have worked towards. No fire service enters into an agreement like this lightly.
“For a fire service to recognise the value of the P50 as an efficient fire fighter and the cost savings it offers customers by eliminating the need for costly annual service contracts demonstrates the worth of the P50 in the market.”
“We are replacing metal extinguishers with the P50 across the UK and internationally via our growing list of distributors – in supermarkets, university campuses, the banking sector, police force buildings and other organisations.
“Our export market is across Europe and the Middle East, with discussions with potential distributors on other continents.
“Our factory is running at capacity now with new distributors in the UK and across the world joining every day.”
Tony Grufferty, Business Development Manager for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service’s Community Interest Company, said: “For a fire service to do this is a stamp of faith in the product.”
“The P50 is endorsed by the service as an innovative product that we believe can help businesses, organisations and individuals protect their premises and keep people safe.”
The P50 was launched in 2010 after years of development by Britannia Fire owner Roger Carr, who has 50 years’ experience in the fire extinguisher industry. The P50 is the world’s first corrosion-free fire extinguisher.
Smaller 4kg and 2kgs are due to be launched later this year for the domestic and car markets.
Produced and distributed by TMS Media.Rachel Moore – [email protected], 01493 662929