Landmark £1m Canary Wharf deal fires up Smoke Control Services

A leading South Wales fire safety specialist is to provide its sophisticated smoke control systems to a prestigious Canary Wharf residential development after securing a £1m contract from international construction firm Ballymore.

Tredomen-based Smoke Control Services has been appointed as preferred supplier to the Crossharbour development of 700 apartments, which is currently being constructed on the former site of the London Docklands Arena.

The lucrative contract comes hot on the heels of the firm being named ‘Fire Safety Specialist of the Year’ in the national Construction Specialist Awards, and will be a major boost to the firm’s strategy of doubling its turnover to £15m by 2010.

Smoke Control Services supplies leading blue-chip contractors with one-stop-shop smoke control and ventilation solutions for multi-storey residential, commercial and retail developments across the UK.
There are over 50,000 fires in dwellings in the UK every year and more than 300 fatalities, the majority of which are caused by the effects of smoke. Smoke control systems protect common escape routes to enable people to exit buildings safely in the event of a fire.
Managing Director Allan Meek said:
"We are delighted to have secured the contract for such a notable development in an iconic location. We will be installing mechanical smoke control systems into five apartment blocks and a smoke extract system into the car park for each block.
"We have worked on many interesting and varied projects across the UK including the London Transport Museum and White City, the new £1.6 billion shopping mall at Shepherd's Bush, set to become London’s biggest shopping centre when it opens its doors this year.
"Our systems have been installed in thousands of buildings nationwide yet the opportunity to work on such a prestigious development is a real coup for us.
"We have seen an exciting period of growth recently as we expand into new sectors and territories and have sought to exploit opportunities in existing markets. Our strategy going forward is to actively target large developments such so this could not come at a better time in terms of our development.”
Smoke Control Services has been selected by the appointed mechanical and electrical contractor for Crossharbour, the Essex Electrical Group PLC, following a lengthy tender process. Essex Electrical project leader Gary Dew said:
"The positive attitude Smoke Control Services showed throughout the tendering process on everything from commercial to tricky technical issues really impressed us. We have worked with the firm on smaller projects in the past and knew they would be perfect for such a large scale development due to their technical expertise and can-do approach.”
Installation of smoke control systems at Crossharbour will commence in early July with work due to last a year.

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