So... I thought it was time I had a go at this blogging lark, its been something I've been meaning to do for a while now, but not got round to it, but I've found some time so I thought I'd start by giving you a bit of the history of Fireprotect.
Going back to 1963 David Powell was born with a problem with his ankles, so his mum and dad, Jean and Ron powell had to take him for therapy at hospital once a month. There was a little girl who was always there at the children's unit at the same time who had been playing with matches and her clothes and toys had caught fire and she was badly burnt. Ron was so appalled that her toys and clothes were so combustible and he was so moved by her plight that he set about researching ways of preventing this from happening. Jean made some toys that were stuffed with a brand new product which was a revolutionary wool called ceramic fibre, it is non combustible and didn't have the same issues as was with asbestos. They took pictures of the toys and made a story book called Icky the Fire-bobby to try and promote their ideas and campaigned in national newspapers and on North west television to raise awareness about fire safety. Ron campaigned for mattresses to be made fire retardent as well as household furniture, but he was ahead of his time and manufactures in the 70's were only interested in how they could save money and his words fell on deaf ears. Although, this had caused a bit of a stir and thankfully legislation was eventually changed. This lead Ron & Jean to think about more industrial products and ended up with 8 international patents on various products ranging form paints, balistic panels and plumbers pads. Ron worked with the Aerospace industry, construction and many other industries campaigning and inventing solutions to fire protection and heat insulation problems.
As with all companies, some of our products are now obsolete and new products have come to the forefront with tapes being our biggest product line. We're still very proud that the company we have today was formed from compassion for a little girl and the need to protect others from being so badly injured.
As Ron & Jeans daughter I'm still very touched by this story and find it inspiring. Im proud that the company is still a very family orientated and caring place to work. Me and my husband Allan now run the business along with staff who are very focused on being a caring an ethical company. Ron and Jean are now in their 80's, have retired and enjoying life, but I'd love to find out what happened to that little girl.