Checkmate Fire Solutions News

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) is delighted to announce two new appointments. Jo O'Neill has been appointed to the newly created role of Academy Manager and Adam Shipstone joins as the fourth Technical Officer in the Association’s technical and training team.   Jo O’Neill Jo O’Neill will be responsible for the smooth running of the ASFP’s training Academy and further developing Academy services. Tasked with managing all the operational...

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap III (“IK SC III”) Fund has signed an agreement to acquire Checkmate Fire (“Checkmate” or “the Company”), the UK’s largest passive fire protection specialist, from YFM Equity Partners (“YFM”). IK is making its first UK investment from the Fund’s dedicated pool of Development Capital. The existing management team will be reinvesting alongside IK. Financial terms...

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection announced the winners for its 2023 Passive Fire Protection (PFP) Awards on 23 November at the Association’s Awards Dinner at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London. ASFP Managing Director Mike Ward was joined by guest speaker, and comedian Hal Cruttenden, to present the awards to each worthy winner. The winners are:  ASFP Installation of the Year: Coopers Fire for its work in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Mataf Tunnels, installing a series of...

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection has announced the shortlist for its 2023 Passive Fire Protection Awards, with the winners due to be announced on 23 November at the Association’s Awards Dinner at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London. As well as showcasing the award winners, the event will feature a special guest speaker, comedian Hal Crutten.  Each award recognizes excellence within the passive fire protection industry, at the company and individual levels. Shortlisted co...

At Checkmate Fire Solutions, protecting lives, buildings and communities is at the heart of everything they do. With social housing as one of their key sectors, they are delighted to announce that they have been appointed as passive fire contractor on four of the Hyde Fire Safety Framework Lots. Achieving second place on all national fire door remediation works, encompassing the North, Midlands, Wales, Southwest, South, and East, Checkmate Fire Solutions also hold prominent positions for fire s...

Checkmate Fire Solutions, based strategically across the United Kingdom (UK), has fought off stiff international competition to scoop a prestigious RoSPA Award, demonstrating huge commitment to health and safety excellence. Checkmate is delighted to have won a Silver Award in the Industry Sector category, demonstrating its dedication to ensuring its staff, clients and contractors get home safely at the end of every working day. RoSPA Health and Safety Awards RoSPA Health and Safety Awards is...

It’s National Apprenticeship Week 2023, with the theme this year focusing on developing ‘skills for life’ – and at Checkmate, that’s exactly what they want to do. Celebrating the thirst that apprentices adopt to forge a career for themselves, coupled with new regulations supporting the growth of the fire safety industry, Checkmate thinks this area of construction is exactly where new trainees should want to be. Compliance to new Fire Safety (England) Regulations...

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) will once again be hosting the ASFP Pavilion on stand FI1224 at FIREX International 2022, at London Excel from 17 May - 19 May, 2022. It will feature a Learning Zone, the ASFP Pavilion aims to help visitors to gain a greater understanding of the essential role of passive fire protection within the current built environment.  ASFP will be showcasing its range of training courses, guidance documents, and membership services and offering a...

Checkmate is ‘dedicated to changing the stereotypes that women face when it comes to careers by giving them new opportunities’ although heavily male-dominated, the construction industry has many places where women can advance and build a career for themselves. Following both ‘International Women’s Day’ and ‘Women in Construction Week’, Checkmate decided to catch up with 2 of their newest team-mates; Contracts Manager, Sarah Robertson, and Checkmate&rsqu...

Continuing to invest in the training and development of colleagues, Checkmate Fire Solutions (Checkmate Fire) is delighted to finish 2021 in style – with a veritable bouquet of new qualifications and accreditations! As an ongoing process, the company ensures that their people have the opportunity to further both their careers and their expertise within the business. Through additional training and qualifications, Checkmate Fire aim to have the most motivated and knowledgeable team possibl...

The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) announced the winners of the 2021 Passive Fire Protection Awards, at the Association’s Awards Lunch at the Edwardian Hotel in Manchester on 26 November 2021. Broadcaster, naturalist, and marine biologist Monty Hall presented awards to the winners in six categories, each recognizing excellence within the passive fire protection industry. ASFP Installation of the Year Award  The winner of the ASFP Installation of th...

Checkmate Fire Solutions announce that Kieran Carlisle has been shortlisted for the Individual Rising Star at the prestigious Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) Awards taking place on 26th November 2021. Joining Checkmate Fire in 2017, Kieran rose quickly from his initial role as Graduate Contract Manager to his current role as Senior Contract Manager. Kieran's experience  As a real self-starter, Kieran has fully taken advantage of all the training opportunities that have...

They are delighted to announce the addition of Rosse Systems Ltd into the Checkmate Fire Group. Together they are creating an unparalleled portfolio of solutions for the active and passive fire protection industry. Established in 1989, Checkmate Fire is the UK’s passive fire protection specialist, supplying a comprehensive range of third-party accredited survey, installation and compliance services to public and private sector organizations across the country. Life safety solutions With...

Dedicated to employee development, they’d like to say huge congratulations to Stephen Matthews for passing the Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) Foundation Course in Passive Fire Protection. Stephen is the first person to complete this course, using the half-day training entitlement available to all employees to support the investment in people. Employee engagement roadmap Rapidly following in his footsteps, all of the colleagues, across every business function (includin...

Checkmate Fire Solutions know that a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) is a process involving the systematic evaluation of a building or premises, and the factors that determine: the hazard from fire, the likelihood that there will be a fire, and the consequences if one were to occur. 4 types of FRA Type 1  This is the most basic of fire risk assessments that buildings will need to satisfy the Fire Safety Order. However, unless the user is anticipating moderate/severe deficiencies in the struct...

Huge congratulations to their Commercial Director, Craig M Bendall, for being promoted from a commercial manager within his first 4 months at Checkmate! With more than 33 years’ commercial experience in the construction industry, Craig began his career as a quantity surveyor in 1988 at Henry Summers Hamilton Ltd (Bristol) at the tender age of 15. Joining a small, family-run building business, he threw himself into everything the firm offered, from architecture to Z bars, alongside studyin...

Incorrectly, or non-installed, passive fire protection is often described as a building’s “hidden” risk. A hidden risk that doesn’t always present itself visually to building users, occupiers, and owners.  Indicators of these issues often only present themselves at the fire risk assessment stage, and even then, it is habitually the case that a more extensive compartmentation inspection or fire door inspection becomes necessary to fully understand the extent of the p...

Having worked at a senior level within the industry for over 25 years, Checkmate welcomes Alan Elliott to its team to head up their newly established ‘Social Housing & Compliance’ division across their UK-wide network. Alan's experience Alan served at a high level for several tiers one contractor, before bringing his experience to Checkmate With a plethora of qualifications under his belt, including an HNC in contract management, Alan began his career as an apprent...

Perpetuating a culture of sustainability, charitable works, and giving back to the community, Checkmate Fire is devoted to ethical, sustainable, and responsible working. Checkmate has been working hard to prove it, starting with the announcement of the latest ‘green scheme’. Way ahead of the government’s aim for all new vehicles to be electric by 2030, Checkmate is already on target to achieve a fully electric fleet by the end of this year, reducing the annual C02 footprint by...

Damien Ward has been in the passive fire protection industry for over 13 years now, and he has found that it’s one of those industries that someone is either in, or they have no real idea about – at least, not beyond the basics. A bit like the Freemasons, or the Illuminati, or the Order of the Phoenix (that does exist outside of Harry Potter, right?). Following the devastation of Grenfell, users probably know that there’s a cladding crisis in the country, and they definitely k...

Committed to innovation, along with the development of trainee engineers, Checkmate began the conversion of an unused mezzanine space into a training area in one of the stores recently.  Working together to utilize more space, a group of engineers and Checkmate’s technical compliance department teamed up to clear out the unwanted clutter and build a wall that runs across the top floor. As a result, Checkmate has been able to create a facility where the operatives can und...

Checkmate's CheckSafe initiative was seen in action when COO, David Woffendin, and Operations Director, Simon Kelly visited one of the South East based sites, where they were shown around by Supervisor, Deividas Jocys.  CheckSafe embeds a culture of working safely on-site and encourages that doing so is a collaborative effort. The question “Am I working Safely?” encourages building users to communicate easily with the business, and enables them to “correct and learn&rdq...

In line with Checkmate’s continued growth and development, a series of planned changes took place in the senior leadership team, beginning with the appointment of John Lewthwaite as Chief Executive Officer, and Peter Rudge as Chief Financial Officer. John Lewthwaite’s Knowledge And Achievements With former CEO, Mark Williams, transitioning into the role of executive director, John has over 3 decades of experience as a senior business leader within the construction industry. Demons...

Only a few short months after the opening of their Glasgow office, Checkmate Fire announces further expansion of the company, with a new Surrey branch now open in Redhill. With the region previously serviced by the company’s Harlow office, the new Redhill location will take responsibility for all business that falls south of the river Thames. This will enable them to provide their wide range of clients in the area with a more dedicated resource, further underlining Checkmate’s capab...

Having identified that the passive fire protection industry had room for improvement in regards to apprenticeships, the HR department at Checkmate Fire created a 12-24 month trainee scheme to help introduce fresh talent to both the company and sector. Already an incredible success, the initial goal was to have 12 trainees committed to the scheme by November, however, that figure was quickly exceeded, with 17 trainees having signed up. Targeting people with transferable skills, the majority of C...

Checkmate Fire is delighted to announce that the company has gained the ISO27001 International Information Security Standard. Dedicated to providing the clients with excellent service, this is further proof of ongoing commitment to holding the business to account and maintaining best practice. This international standard underlines how effectively Checkmate handles client data, highlighting the vigilance with which they manage security. Extensive list of accreditations Companies that are awar...

Checkmate Fire, the supplier of passive fire solutions, appoints a regional manager, amid the firm’s expansion into Scotland. Having previously worked as a quantity surveyor at two passive fire specialists, Martyn Robinson brings over five years’ experience in managing commercial projects. He is set to head up Checkmate Fire’s expansion into Scotland. The firm’s launch into the region comes on the back of consistent year-on-year growth, underlining an outstanding period...

At Checkmate Fire, they’re constantly looking at ways to improve the service to clients – and they believe there’s no better way to do this than investing in the biggest asset: workforce. As a continuous process, they ensure that their people have the opportunity to further both their careers, and their expertise within the business. Through additional training and qualifications, they aim to have the most motivated and knowledgeable team possible – and they’re mak...

Having enjoyed a brilliant stint at both UK Construction Week and The Fire Safety Event North last year, Checkmate Fire will once again be present at both events this October. Showcasing products and services UK Construction Week, 08-10 October 2019, NEC, Birmingham, Stand D343 Displaying at the built environment event again, they’re looking forward to welcoming as many people as possible to their stand this year. Free to attend, with exhibitions, CPD seminars, and an innovation zon...

The Fire Safety Event 2019 and its co-located shows have enjoyed the most successful event to date welcoming over 11,733 visitors across three days at the NEC, Birmingham. The Fire Safety Event has firmly cemented itself as the fastest growing exhibition in the UK for the industry, providing a platform that ensures its visitors are equipped to maintain the highest fire safety standards. High-profile incidents in recent years have put a spotlight on the industry and The Fire Safety Event recogni...