Exova Warringtonfire opened a new fire safety excellence facility earlier this month, expanding its testing space by more than 4,000 square metres
The facility in Warrington, Cheshire, will allow Exova to increase the amount of concrete and steel coating tests it is able to undertake as well as offering customers increased levels of confidentiality when testing their new products. The new facilities are designed to also increase the speed with which manufacturers are able to get their products approved and compliant to all the relevant standards.
UK Fire Minister Brandon Lewis welcomed the investment into the new facility, saying that it underlines that the economy is on the road to growth. He observed:
It is encouraging to see a global business such as Exova committing investment to the highly skilled services for which the UK is known and which increasingly put us at the forefront of advancing fire safety worldwide.
The testing facility now employs more than 100 of Exova Warringtonfire’s 225 staff, making it among the largest testing facilities the firm operates. With the increased space it will also be able to test industrial and commercial watermist systems.
The new investment follows other huge new facilities opened around the world this year. In March, the company unveiled a state-of-the-art fire resistance furnace at a cost of AUS$1.6 million in its testing facility in Melbourne, Australia.
The company has also invested in facade fire testing frames in Dubai — a city that has suffered from a spate of high-rise fires exacerbated by flammable cladding.
Exova CEO Ian El-Mokadem said:
Our commitment is to help our customers gain faster, more efficient market entry wherever they are in the world.
In Warrington, we have some of the very best talent in fire testing and this investment will ensure they can better support customers with advice and testing solutions to meet the most rigorous of regulatory or voluntary requirements.
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