INDUSTRY NEWS
FIA EXPORT UPDATE W
ith FIRESA now fully integrated into the FIA, the Export Council has enjoyed a significant influx of new members
from the firefighting sector, taking our total membership up to 52 and representing an increase of 70% since November 2012. This gives us a fantastic opportunity to expand our field of experience and our work on behalf of the firefighting sector as well as being able to present ourselves as a much more strongly-populated and, therefore, influential organisation than ever before. It holds no small challenge also as we evolve from a body comprising primarily fire protection exporters to one in which over a third of members are providers of equipment to the Fire and Rescue sector. Several of our current projects are in progress, initiated and with a defined trajectory but far from complete. In this category falls production of a promotional DVD which, after UKTI funding difficulties, is now being redeveloped in a lower cost format; input into what will eventually be Gulf Standards where we now have a much clearer view on what we need to do to demonstrate BS/EN equivalence to the dominant UL Standards; and an extension of last year’s membership survey to capture the profiles and priorities of our new influx of members.
Recent activities have included our Vice-Chair, Michelle
Agius’ presentation at the FIRESA FIA Reception Day in May; a 12 day display slot at the UKTI/BIS headquarters in central London which yielded considerable exposure; our presence as presenters at IFSEC South Africa and; not least, our presence at Firex International in Birmingham. On the latter, although there was no formal Meet the Buyers event this year, there was, as ever, a significant contingent of UKTI Commercial Officers who we invited over and were available for discussions at the show. I would take this opportunity to thank all those who took part in the FIA Export Council Pub Quiz. I’m delighted to report that over £800 was raised for the Worshipful Company of Firefighters and the FIA team won the Pub Quiz trophy for the first time! At the time of writing, we are about to present on the FIA
Export Council and our industry’s fire safety export capabilities to the revamped UKTI Defence and Security Organisation, a vital opportunity given the recent changes of personnel and structure within that department. Also related to our external educative programme, we have a new promotional brochure
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that is specifically aimed at overseas buyers and are making progress on a suite of presentations that are also intended to inform potential customers, in this case with topics including the history of UK fire safety and the value of British and European Standards and Third Party Certification. We continue our challenge, therefore, to assist our ever-
growing membership in what clearly remain difficult market conditions and where we are subject to significant changes in the way in which UKTI supports our sector. It is encouraging that there are indeed some mature markets that are maintaining demand for fire safety products while estimates suggest that around 70% of world growth over the next few years will come from emerging markets and that their purchasing power parity will further augment market opportunities in those countries. It’s increasingly a question of promoting the FIA Export Council and its members out there in the market and of gaining intelligence on the markets of interest to our members and it is for that reason that our inward and outward educative processes are the cornerstones of our strategy this year. David Smith, Export Council Secretary
Above: Martin Duggan and Graham Simons holding the Export Council Pub Quiz trophy.
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