Shropshire fire safety company award £40,000 NHS contract

The boss of a Shropshire fire safety company is celebrating after scooping contracts worth up to £40,000 at two leading hospitals.

Barry Mould, director of Shires Fire & Safety in Telford, scooped the contract to provide, service and maintain the fire extinguishers at two major NHS hospitals in the West Midlands.

But Mr Mould, whose company is based on Stafford Park 17, said he had refused to tender for the jobs initially as he knew he could not provide the cheapest price.

“We are ecstatic we have won the contracts for both of these two large hospitals as we did not expect it as we did not tender for the jobs.

“I was asked to tender but I have done so in the past and companies go for the cheapest in such a process rather than considering the quality of the service they are being offered. Fire safety is one area nobody should compromise on.

“We often find companies go for the cheapest option but then find it isn’t cost effective in the long run as they then have to get someone else in at a later date to start again with renewing and servicing the equipment as it hasn’t been carried out to a high enough standard previously,” Mr Mould said.

“An annual review of such an important piece of equipment is just not adequate.

“If a company gives a low quote is usually means the maintenance won’t be carried out as the engineer just cannot afford the time to do it.”

Mr Mould, who was elected for the committee of the Independent Fire Engineering and Distributors Association, said he won the contracts after his engineers made one site visit and impressed the hospital chiefs with their knowledge, ability and professional service.

“NHS hospitals have now been directed to use only BAFE approved contractors for fire equipment and these contracts were obtained due to our transparency and referrals in relation to our professional service and attention to detail,” he added.

Shires Fire and Safety, which was set up in 1990, now boasts 10 engineers and eight office staff.

Mr Mould said the contracts were worth around £18,000 for each hospital but could potentially lead to more work in the future as they also offer specialist services such as nurse call alarms, fire alarms and emergency lighting.