Exeter firm celebrates Heathrow contract success

Trinity Fire & Security Systems is increasing its presence at Heathrow Airport with two contracts covering maintenance and a replacement installation, worth in excess of £15 million.

The fire, life safety and security systems specialist, whose head office is in Clyst St Mary near Exeter, is to provide a maintenance contract for Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) over the next five years.

This is a renewal of a previous five-year contract to provide maintenance of fire and life safety systems for five HAL business units; Terminal 1, Terminal 3, landside properties, airside properties and HEX. In addition, Trinity will also now be providing maintenance for Terminal 4.

Part of the success of this bid can be attributed to Trinity’s response to Heathrow’s sustainability drive through a commitment to using electric vehicles within its business fleet.

While the initial contract supported fire alarms, public address voice alarm (PAVA) systems, fire extinguishers, hose reels, gas detection and suppression systems, smoke ventilation and stair pressurisation systems, the new contract includes maintenance of sprinklers, dry and wet risers, fire dampers, foam suppression systems and water mist suppression systems.

To meet the additional demands of the contracts, Trinity has recruited 22 extra team members with the required skills, and, as part of ongoing training and development, existing engineers were upskilled in time for the start of the contract in January 2016.

The second of the contracts saw Trinity awarded a £6.5 million contract for the replacement of the fire and PAVA systems at Terminal 3.

Trinity Director, Adam Davies, who leads the Heathrow team from its dedicated office at the airport, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded these contracts, which enable us to build on the success of our first five years at Heathrow. During this time, we have shown our commitment to the highest level of service; safety issues can potentially affect people’s lives and it’s crucial that we achieve the right solution and standard every time.

“Although Trinity at Heathrow has grown to be a sizeable division of the company, we work hard to retain the feel of a small business which gives a personal service and is able to make decisions instantly,” he added.

Trinity Fire & Security Systems instigated a presence at Heathrow in 2011 with one member of staff. This has now grown to 32, and this number is expected to increase to 40 by April 2016 to encompass office-based staff and 30 engineers and installers.