Damien Ward

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 making some great strides. Ever-Expanding Checkmate team Here are some recent achievements from within the ever-expanding Checkmate team: Huge congratulations to Scott Birch, Kieran Carlisle, Mark Parol ​and​ Adam Shipstone ​for successfully completing their ILM Level 3 in Leadership and Management qualification. This qualification represents an ideal next step for aspiring professionals taking their first foray Signifying an excellent milestone in their careers, this qualification represents an ideal next step for aspiring professionals taking their first foray into line management, or those with some experience of managing a team or project to deliver clearly defined outcomes. Congratulations to ​India Bateman​ who has passed her Level 2 AAT (Accounting Qualification)! Suitable for learners that are new to finance, India has since gained a thorough grounding in accountancy knowledge and skills, from costing and double-entry bookkeeping, to computerised accounting. Development of management and operatives Well done to Damien Ward and Kieran Carlisle ​who have passed their ASFP Level 3 in Passive Fire Protection! This qualification is provided by the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), a nationally and internationally recognized awarding organization regulated by the qualification regulators Ofqual and CCEA. Speaking on behalf of Checkmate Fire, the Business Development Manager, ​Kate Cooke, ​reiterated the business’s commitment to training and internal investment: “We continue to invest heavily in training and development of our management and operatives, recruiting those who not only have the right skills and experience, but aligned personal ethos too. By ensuring all of our internal staff and operatives are fully trained for their job, with quality mentoring in place, not only does the company thrive but those within it do too.”

Checkmate Fire Solutions, the UK’s passive fire protection specialist, is delighted to announce the appointments of Ash Babb and Andrew Heywood as Internal Technical Compliance Auditors, with responsibility for further improving its quality levels.    The pair will undertake additional audits on Checkmate’s Passive Fire Protection, Fire Door, Intumescent Paint and Fire-Resistant Glazing installations and repairs, over and above the inspections carried out for third-party accreditation, to ensure the highest possible standards are delivered on all contracts.  Creating Safer Environments The work they complete will help Checkmate’s installation teams to achieve outstanding levels of fire integrity in the buildings they work on The work they complete will help Checkmate’s installation teams to achieve outstanding levels of fire integrity in the buildings they work on, creating safer environments for the people who live and work in them, and protecting the businesses and public services that run from them against the potentially devastating effects of a fire. Ash joins Checkmate from the accredited certification body Exova BM TRADA, where he worked as a Lead Technical Officer and developed an in-depth knowledge of fire resistance testing and related standards. Excellent Working Knowledge Andrew has an extensive background in fire safety, having served for 30 years in the Fire Service, the final nine of which were as a Fire Protection Officer assessing legal compliance in regulated premises. He has an excellent working knowledge of fire safety guidance, including Approved Document B (ADB), DB incorporating insurers’ requirements, BS9999 Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings, BS7974 Application of fire safety engineering, and CIBSE Guide E Fire safety engineering. The pair join the in-house Technical and Compliance team headed by Damien Ward, who moved to Checkmate after spending almost a decade as Senior Certification Manager for the Building Research Establishment (BRE). Double Protection Damien believes the new recruits will play a key role in maintaining and building on Checkmate’s already high standards Damien believes the new recruits will play a key role in maintaining and building on Checkmate’s already high standards. “Everyone at Checkmate understands the importance of our work to protecting lives and livelihoods and we have developed a culture in which achieving the best possible standards is now regarded as the norm,” said Damien. “However, we also believe in continuous improvement and are happy to invest in order to drive up standards, which is what Andrew and Ash will help us to do. With the appointments of these two experts to undertake audits of our own work, we have become the only supplier in our industry to provide customers with the double protection of third-party accreditation and additional high-level inspections." "That means Checkmate’s customers will benefit from excellent levels of fire integrity in their buildings, which is great news for residents, workers, building owners and insurers.”

Checkmate Fire is delighted to announce the appointments of Ash Babb and Andrew Heywood as Internal Technical Compliance Auditors, with responsibility for further improving its quality levels. The pair will undertake additional audits on Checkmate’s Passive Fire Protection, Fire Door, Intumescent Paint and Fire-Resistant Glazing installations and repairs, over and above the inspections carried out for third-party accreditation, to ensure the highest possible standards are delivered on all contracts. creating safer environments The work they complete will help Checkmate’s installation teams to achieve outstanding levels of fire integrity in the buildings they work on, creating safer environments for the people who live and work in them, and protecting the businesses and public services that run from them against the potentially devastating effects of a fire. Ash joins Checkmate from the accredited certification body Exova BM TRADA, where he worked as a Lead Technical Officer for several years and developed an in-depth knowledge of fire resistance testing and related standards. Andrew has an extensive background in fire safety, having served for 30 years in the Fire Service, the final nine of which were as a Fire Protection Officer assessing legal compliance in regulated premises. practice for fire safety Damien believes the new recruits will play a key role in maintaining and building on Checkmate’s already high standards He has an excellent working knowledge of fire safety guidance, including Approved Document B (ADB), ADB incorporating insurers’ requirements, BS9999 Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings, BS7974 Application of fire safety engineering, and CIBSE Guide E Fire safety engineering. The pair join the in-house Technical and Compliance team headed by Damien Ward, who moved to Checkmate after spending almost a decade as Senior Certification Manager for the Building Research Establishment (BRE). Damien believes the new recruits will play a key role in maintaining and building on Checkmate’s already high standards. excellent levels of fire integrity “Everyone at Checkmate understands the importance of our work to protecting lives and livelihoods and we have developed a culture in which achieving the best possible standards is now regarded as the norm,” said Damien. “However, we also believe in continuous improvement and are happy to invest in order to drive up standards, which is what Andrew and Ash will help us to do." "With the appointments of these two experts to undertake audits of our own work, we have become the only supplier in our industry to provide customers with the double protection of third-party accreditation and additional high-level inspections. That means Checkmate’s customers will benefit from excellent levels of fire integrity in their buildings, which is great news for residents, workers, building owners and insurers.”