We are delighted to reveal the IFSEC Global Influencers in fire safety for 2022.

Chosen based on nominations judged by a panel of highly respected judges, the IFSEC Global annual influencer awards are designed to generate positivity across the industry by recognising and highlighting the talent and efforts of some of the leading individuals tirelessly working to develop the fire safety sectors.

This year, we have revealed the top influencers in security in a separate article, which can be found here.

We defined ‘influence’ in the following ways:

• Someone who has played a key role in driving technological innovation
• Someone who has been a driving force in changing regulation, standards/guidance or best practice
• Someone whose insights/opinions are widely respected and which are influential in shaping debate around industry issues
• Someone who has been instrumental in the success of the organisation or business they lead or are employed by
• Someone who has helped to raise the industry’s profile or been an influential voice in the national media

The process

The process consists of two stages. First, we invited nominations from the IFSEC Global audience and beyond. Then, a panel of judges, drawn from across the fire safety industry and barred from featuring in the list themselves, assigned points to each nomination based on the persuasiveness of the nomination, their research into the nominee and their own knowledge of the nominee’s contributions to their field. The judges were also permitted to submit a limited number of nominations themselves, which were then scored by the other judges.

There are two categories for fire safety. The first is one for the whole industry, while the second – ‘Ones to Watch’ – is designed to recognise up and coming individuals making a difference in the sector, but who have been in the profession no longer than five years.

You can also check out the 2021 Top Influencers in Fire Safety, here. 

Top influencers in fire safety 2022

1) Dennis Davis, Executive Officer, Fire Sector Federation

Dennis is currently Executive Officer at the Fire Sector Federation. The Federation is the umbrella organisation of the fire safety sector and regularly engages with government and others to promote and contribute to improving UK fire safety. Dennis leads the Federation’s technical work which currently has a strong focus on competency. His background is that of an operational firefighter who became Chief Fire Officer for Cheshire and HMCIFS of Fire Services for Scotland, after which he established a company as an international independent adviser on fire and civil protection matters. Professional contributions include presidency and chairmanship of the Institution of Fire Engineers and presidency and leadership roles within UK Chief Fire Officers.

2) Andrea White, Managing Director, A W Fire Ltd

Andrea White, MSc BSc(Hons) IEng FIFireE C.BuildE MCABE MIFSM CMIOSH, is an independent Fire Engineer supporting designers and developers, and also undertakes external wall assessments. She is proud to be an Incorporated Engineer via the IFE, a Chartered Building Engineer via CABE and an IFE-registered Fire Risk Assessor. Andrea is Chair of the Women in Fire Engineering Networking Group, as well as a Lead Interviewer and Panel Member for the IFE’s Fire Risk Register. With a background in fire safety enforcement, consultancy and the insurance industry, Andrea has a particular interest in timber construction and also in ensuring appropriate fire safety measures for those with invisible disabilities.

3) Paul Pope, Group Business Development Director, Global Fire Equipment | Board Director, Fire Industry Association

With more than 35 years’ experience in the fire safety sector, Paul Pope is recognised as one of the most passionate advocates for improving standards and technological innovation. He has held senior management positions in several leading UK and international companies. In 2020 Paul joined Global Fire Equipment and Createch Lighting as the Group Business Development Director, where he has global responsibility for the company’s product development, business development, sales and marketing. Paul is also a board director at the Fire Industry Association (FIA) and is very active across the association’s councils, committees and Special Interest Groups.

4) Lynsey Seal, Principal Fire Engineer, London Fire Brigade

Lynsey Seal’s (QFSM CEng BEng (Hons) FIFireE AMIMechE MWES) current role is as a Principal Fire Engineer at London Fire Brigade, having been part of its Fire Engineering Group since 2004. This Group acts as technical fire safety consultants on matters such as planning and Building Regulations consultations, providing advice and expert witness reports and supporting LFB fire investigators, as well as much more. Her scope of responsibility has now increased with the creation of a new centralised team at LFB. Lynsey has personally been involved in multiple high-profile projects such as the London 2012 Olympics, and Tate Modern extension, to name but a few. Now in more of a strategic role, she is still involved in regular technical peer reviewing of work as well as representing LFB and the National Fire Chiefs Council on multiple technical committees and working groups, including contributing to Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety.

Lynsey is a Chartered Engineer with degrees in both Mechanical and Fire Engineering. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers and is the current Vice Chair of their Ethics Committee. She is also a keen STEM ambassador promoting engineering careers to young people (with a focus on under-represented groups) and is a Member of the Women’s Engineering Society. In 2020 she was the project lead for a children’s book called ‘My mummy is a firefighter’ which is part of a wider series aimed at addressing gender stereotyping in various careers. She was also recently awarded the Queens Fire Service Medal for distinguished service.

5) Fiona Perrin, Health, Safety & Fire Manager, Royal Academy of Arts

Fiona Perrin has been working in health and safety for nearly 20 years and in fire safety for almost as long and has recently graduated as a Fire Engineer. Fiona has had a varied career which has involved consulting, media, heritage, constructions, local government and housing. She spent 12 years at the BBC where she could be found fire risk assessing international offices, large events, numerous TV sets and stunts – all while giving Top Gear a wide berth. Fiona now works at the Royal Academy of Arts where she has the special job of keeping the staff, visitors and the beautiful heritage building safe. Fiona is a Chartered Fellow with IOSH and a Member of IFE. She is also the Vice-Chair of the IFE Women in Fire Engineering Support Group and advocates and supports women in the fire industry.

6) Tina Mistry, Relationships Manager, Aico

Tina has been at Aico for six years and has supported the housing sector technically in a specification capacity. She is currently working to drive forward The Housing Safety and Wellbeing Taskforce to further develop collaborative working amongst public, private, and third sectors to share best practices and make the genuine positive change that is needed to create safer, healthier homes and communities across the UK. The Taskforce sets out a holistic approach to implementing new regulations and standards that will assist in the delivery of Health & Wellbeing, NetZero, Housing Quality, Fuel Poverty, Building Safety and Resident Engagement. Tina has worked at a range of organisations from Arts Council England to create cultural change at a senior level at arts venues and delivering an initiative called ‘Decibel’ to the local government at Birmingham City Council on physical and social regeneration. Her role within Neighbourhood Management at Coventry City Council ensured that service delivery met customers’ needs, engaging diverse communities and forming strategic partnerships. Previous roles also include Community journalist for BBC and working for an energy efficiency Main Contractor.

7) Anthony Taylor, Chair, Hackett Working Group 8

Anthony Taylor is a professional Governance, Risk & Compliance Consultant. He has worked at senior level in various organisations including civil engineers, an insurance broker, a global tour operator, a public sector local authority and national and international real estate companies. Anthony is an Honorary Member of RICS, a Chartered Member of IOSH, a member of the Business Continuity Institute, IIRSM and holds PIEMA. He is currently the proprietor of Resolve Risk Ltd offering specialist risk management consultancy. He has, since June 2018, served as Chair for Working Group 8 (Building Safety Manager) in relation to industry’s (Competence Steering Group) response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s Report into the failings at Grenfell. Anthony is currently the Interim Chair of the Building Safety Alliance, a body created to implement the recommendations made by WG8 and work with the built environment sector, the Regulator and government to improve residential building safety. He is also a member of the BSI Committee for the Competence in the Built Environment, and on the BSI’s Steering Groups developing PAS for the BSM, PD and PC. Additionally, he Chairs several committees on a pro bono basis, always seeking to achieve co-operation and co-ordination across the sector.

8) Lorna Stimpson, Chief Executive, Local Authority Building Control (LABC)

Lorna joined Local Authority Building Council (LABC) in 2008 after working in the North West as a Building Control Surveyor for 21 years, and is now Chief Executive of the LABC. Lorna is part of the Joint Regulators Group working with MHCLG and HSE, the National Fire Chiefs Council and the Local Government Association to define, pilot and test the new regulatory approaches outlined within Dame Judith’s Final Report. She is a member of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) and sits on other industry and professional committees focused on improving standards and outcomes in the construction industry.

9) Sofie Hooper, IWFM, Head of Policy

Sofie Hooper leads on IWFM’s wider policy and public affairs work, helping to raise the voice of the Institute, its members, and the wider workplace and facilities management sector. She engages with stakeholders to ensure best practice is taken on board and concerns affecting workplace and facilities professionals are mitigated.

While her work covers a wide range of activities and areas, building safety workplace and sustainability form the core agenda. Sofie has been leading on IWFM’s Building Safety work programme, feeding into the legislative process towards the Building Safety Act and now its implementation phase. She provided the Secretariat for the Competence Steering Group’s Working Group 8, which developed the Building Safety Manager competence framework following Dame Hackitt’s recommendations. In addition to being the co-author of the Group’s report, Safer people, safer homes: Building Safety Management, she is also a regular contributor to Facilitate magazine. Building on WG8’s recommendations, Sofie is a part of the Interim Executive of the Building Safety Alliance, a cross-sector collaboration which is working to improve holistic building safety and associated competence across the occupation phase. She is also a part of the Steering Committee for the DLUCH sponsored PAS 8673, which is setting the competence requirements for the management of safety in residential buildings.

10) Jon Vanstone, Chair, Interim Industry Competence Committee, Building Safety Regulator

Jon Vanstone is a Construction Industry Competence and Building Regulation Compliance Consultant. Jon has spent the last 20 years of his career designing and operating competency frameworks for Certification Bodies and Accreditation schemes at both an individual and organisational level. Jon is currently the Chair of the Interim Industry Competence Committee under the Building Safety Regulator and leads the strategy work for the incoming Industry Competence Committee. Jon is a member of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee working on several sub-committees including Golden Thread and Approved Document review committees. Jon is also Chair of the Competent Person Forum (CPF) for Certification Bodies that are authorised by DLUHC and enables installers to self-certify work as compliant to the building regulations. Jon is a central figure in the current review of the Mandatory Technical Competencies for Competent Person Schemes, chairing three industry groups.

Jon is a member of the CPB-1 committee working on PAS 8670, is a member of the Competence Steering Group and is a member of the scheme committee for the competency validation of Building Control Inspectors. He is Chair of certification body Certass, Vice Chair of the BEIS endorsed Trade Association Forum and Non-Exec Director of the National Home Improvement Council. Jon is a strong influence for change throughout construction, publicly promoting the need for a dramatic shift in culture.

Ones to watch in fire safety

Lucy Cowell, Fire Safety Advisor, Imperial College London

Lucy joined the fire industry in May 2018 as an assistant Fire Safety Advisor with Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, new to the industry and with no previous experience. She was pivotal in the creation and delivery of a weekly email circular delivering details of upcoming CPD events and current reading materials as a one stop shop, distribution included those within the UK Fire & Rescue Services and broader fire safety professionals, which later extended to include international distribution. Lucy was also fundamental in creating an online CPD event for Fire Risk Assessors, which was viewed by over 700 participants.

Lucy supported the NFCC in reviewing the eLearn package for Fire Safety Regulators for the EngTech and CAR (Contextualised Auditors Register) for Fire Safety Regulators. In early 2021, she gave advice to the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM) on the development, review and guidance document for the Institutes Tiered Fire Safety Regulators Register (TFSRR), which led to her being invited to be a co-opted member for the IFSM.

Whilst no longer employed with a local authority, she continues to volunteer on a review panel for the Skills for Justice qualifications in fire safety within her own time. Independently, Lucy regularly shares key information and thoughts on LinkedIn; currently reviewing the HTM documents and while doing so is writing a summary document to share with the wider industry to promote and support the competency of others.

Sonny White, Fire Alarm Designer

Sonny White is a 16-year-old with a passion for fire alarm systems. An enthusiastic fire alarm designer in the making, Sonny has spent the last few years turning the log cabin in his Mum’s back garden into a fire alarm training centre. Here he has taught himself how to wire and operate different types of commercial fire alarm systems, as well as gaining an in-depth knowledge of BS 5839-1. Frustrated that his school’s fire alarm causes many of his peers to react adversely and cause them to run, hide, scream or cry, Sonny has researched and authored a Guidance Note which will be launched by the FIA at FIREX on fire alarm sound levels and how to make them more appropriate for those with sensory sensitivities. His hope is that fire alarm designers will read his Guidance Note and gain a greater understanding so that they can install more appropriate fire alarm systems in special needs settings.