9
PRO INSTALLER MARCH 2016
PRO NEWS
@proinstaller1
Fire door warning following
fatal tower block blaze
Fire doors were central to a case in
which Lewisham Homes was fined
£40,000 for breaking fire safety
laws, following a fatal blaze in a
Deptford tower block in which two
women died.
Lewisham Homes was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court after pleading guilty
at an earlier hearing to failing to properly
maintain fire doors and failing to review an
existing fire risk assessment.
Sentencing the housing manager, His Honour Judge Justice Christopher Hehir said the
prosecution should act as a ‘wake up call’
to the risks of not maintaining fire safety
features in residential high rise buildings.
Lewisham Homes manages a significant
proportion of the housing stock owned by
the London Borough of Lewisham.
The prosecution was brought by the
London Fire Brigade following the blaze in
February 2011.
More than 100 fire fighters were called to
the fire at Marine Tower on Abinger Grove
in Deptford which started in a flat on the
16th floor.
Crews rescued two women from another
flat on the same floor but both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The fire was started deliberately and
in 2012 Sandra Clarke, a resident in the
flats, was prosecuted and convicted of two
counts of manslaughter at Woolwich Crown
Court.
An investigation by fire safety officers revealed serious safety failings relating to the
failure to maintain fire doors, which directly
contributed to the spread of the fire.
The flat in which the fire started was fitted
with a metal security door which prevented
the existing fire door behind it from being
closed.
The severity of the fire and the lack of
protection between the flat where the fire
started and the building’s communal areas
meant fire and smoke rapidly entered the
lobby and also the adjacent flat in which
the two women who died were trapped.
Speaking after the sentencing in January
Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Neil
Orbell said: “This tragic incident is a stark
reminder of the potentially lethal consequences of failing to maintain the vital
safety features, such as fire doors, which
are built into them to give you protection
from fire.”
Source: www.london-fire.gov.uk
New website for Caldwell Group
USA based international hardware giant
Caldwell Group has
appointed British digital agency Purplex to
develop a new website
portal that is technically rich in information
for its customers and
specifiers alike.
Caldwell Group, which
includes UK manufacturer
Cotswold Architectural,
needed a solution that
operated across desktop,
laptop, tablet and mobile
devices.
The resulting new website
has not only been designed
and built by the team at
Purplex but the team also
provided support with
writing technical web copy,
photography and a video
shot.
The end result is a content
rich and engaging website
that supports Caldwell
and its stockist network
with a sales and marketing
hub, packed with its latest
innovations - backed up
with high quality images,
in-depth product information, details, datasheets,
manuals and sales support
documents.
Purplex’s specialist knowledge of the window industry coupled with its array of
marketing skills ensured the
delivery of this web project
to the highest standards.
Tim Ferkin, Sales and Marketing Director at Caldwell,
comments: “We have a gargantuan product range and
we needed a site that was
big, technical and put the
user first. Purplex delivered
on all three points and we
now have a best in class
website that is great for us
and our customer base. It
wouldn’t have been possible to deliver such a site
without deep industry and
technical knowledge, which
the Purplex team had.”
Contact Purplex on
01934 808132, or visit
www.purplexmarketing.com
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15/01/2016 13:29