Our Chairman, Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE, was delighted to address the Fire Buyer Live 2022 Conference on “How Does the New Planning Gateway One and Other British Standards Play a Wider Role for Fire Safety Globally in Relation to the Integrated Review?”
Coltraco Ultrasonics is the global leader in our fields of contents monitoring of gaseous fire extinguishing systems and watertight/airtight integrity monitoring, both of which are integral to the success of any fire suppression system. The ability for our technologies to measure the level of liquified and non-liquified fire suppression systems to +/-1.5mm accuracy, and detect leak sites as small as 0.06mm with a tolerance of 0.02mm, has never been achieved before.
Carl situated these accomplishments within the fire industry, both at sea, and on land. Sinking and fire remain the two principle reasons for loss of ship at sea, whilst the value of high-hazard, critical sites such as data centres, power stations, and electricity substations are increasing rapidly on land. Across all, Coltraco Ultrasonics’ technologies monitor and measure an array of specialised environments to “see the sounds that others cannot hear” and “measure the hitherto unmeasurable”, delivering the Safeship™ at sea and the Safesite™ on land.
For instance, where it would previously have taken a 2-man team 15 minutes to dismantle, weigh, and reinstall one 45kg CO2 fire extinguishing gas cylinder on a large ship, that may have up to 600, Coltraco Ultrasonics’ science-led technologies, founded on fundamental physical principles as to variations in the behaviour of ultrasound in different mediums, allow one person to monitor the contents of that cylinder in the gas fire suppression system in 15 seconds.Through this invention and innovation, Coltraco joins a long history of British leadership in the fire safety industry. Coltraco has been a part of the Working Group on British and International Standards Organisation (ISO) Standards Safety Engineering since 2016, and British Standards generate global ISO standards to contribute to the rules-based international order that has generated the greatest level of global prosperity since 1945. Indeed British Standards for the regulation of gaseous extinguishing systems, BS 14520, have now been adopted by the International Standards Organisation, as BS ISO 14520.
Carl highlighted that British leadership in the fire industry is now being mirrored in Government policy at a national and international level. The 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy sets Britain’s single national aim overseas today to be a global “force for good”.
Through placing Trade & Finance at the heart of British foreign policy, the Integrated Review recognises the vital place of the Prosperity Agenda and Continuum therein, whereby greater national prosperity enables greater societal cohesion and domestic stability, financing our collective security to generate global security and global stability, which are the prerequisites to global prosperity. Global prosperity is therefore a UK national aim.
Reshaping the government-business relationship is a fundamental instrument of national success, in line with the wider whole of government and whole of society approach to national success. Within this restructuring, exporting represents a great opportunity for fire industry engagement with global markets. Coltraco Ultrasonics exports 89% of its output to over 120 countries, and is one of only 8.8% of UK companies that export, winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for 6 years continuous export growth in 2019.
This is despite exporting companies being 20% more effective and profitable than non-exporters, and exports making up 30% of Britain’s GDP, with the 2021 Export Strategy aim for this to rise to 35% by the mid-2030s. The fire industry has its opportunity to play its strategic part by developing and exporting.
