The pandemic has caused widespread disruption across the industry, with materials often being in short supply and tradespeople unable to carry out their work. This was the situation with the UK’s leading funeral-related services provider when it found that the badly needed renovation of one of its largest premises was suddenly put on hold due to the unavailability of products and staff. ESP was able to come to the rescue to provide the fire protection and emergency lighting products required to complete the project.
ESP was initially called on to provide a quote for a range of products that had already been specified for the project. However, having looked at the plans and identifying some issues due to the nature of the concrete building, the ESP design team were able to work with the installer to come up with some alternative products and solutions that would work better. The MAGfire addressable 16-zone fire panels, smoke detectors, sounders and call points, as well as the Duceri emergency twin spots and bulkheads, were all recommended.
Whilst competitive pricing and speed of delivery were significant factors in helping ESP to secure the project, a key element was ESP’s ability to offer the requisite fire training. Unable to do this face to face due to lockdown restrictions, a fire training session was set up and conducted over Zoom. This allowed the contractor to access the key elements of the training that are normally conducted in person at ESP’s headquarters. The session covered the best practice method for installing, setting up and final commissioning of the MAGfire addressable range.
Karl Welch, from Bayliss Group Electrics, was responsible for overseeing the project and installing the products. He comments: “We have been working with ESP and the company’s products for around seven years, mainly on the security side with CCTV and ccess control. We haven’t used their fire protection range before, and this particular project was a much larger and more complex one than any we have worked on and required a lot of input from ESP’s design and training teams. From the plans we submitted they were able to turn around a design in just a few days – much quicker than any other suppliers we have worked with – providing us with direct contact with the design team along the way. Due to its complexity and size, the project required an addressable fire alarm system and having not previously worked with addressable systems, the training they offered via zoom was vital and really well delivered.
“The service from everyone at ESP was second to none. They are able to cover all aspects of the project from design, specification, training and technical support, and all at an extremely competitive price.”
It was the commitment from the ESP design and the training teams that not only secured this project but has subsequently led to ESP winning the business for another funeral home in the same national chain, working with the same contractor.