Tell us about Tyco/JCI and its history
We have been operating as a fire engineering business in the UK for over 150 years and were originally known as Mather and Platt, who many readers will know were the first company outside the United States to obtain rights to manufacture the Grinnell automatic fire sprinkler. This development, for use predominantly within the Victorian cotton mills of Northern England, meant we became the forerunners of the fire sprinkler industry we all know today.
We continued to operate under the Mather and Platt name until the mid-1980s when we were acquired by the Australian company Wormald and subsequently changed to Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions in 2005 following further acquisition by the US conglomerate Tyco International.
Johnson Controls (JCI) and Tyco merged in 2016, though we continue to trade under the Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions name within the UK and Ireland.
Recent acquisitions into our UK&I Fire Suppression business include Nu-Form Fire, Provincial Sprinkler Company, Xcell Misting, and Powertec Pumps.
What does a typical client look like?
I think its fair to say that we don’t have what could be considered as a ‘typical client’. Our customer base covers a whole variety of sectors and includes Main Contractors as well as end users or Building Owner/Occupiers.
Liaising closely with our customers, insurers, specifiers, and industry governing bodies, we work on a diverse range of projects that can span in value from a few hundred pounds covering a small existing system modification, repair, or service visit, up to those larger turnkey systems which are often multi-million pounds in value.
The sectors we work in include Warehousing and Logistics, Commercial and Offices, Industrial, Retail, Pharmaceuticals, Data, Education, Power & Energy, Waste Recycling, and Food as well as Residential and Domestic occupancies.
What challenges do you face as a business in the industry?
The challenges that we are finding as a business are probably typical of those being encountered throughout our industry in general and can be wide and far-ranging, though operational challenges has seen the most demanding focus.
Recent increases in steel and energy prices, inflation, and the restricted availability of products due to a variety of well-documented reasons in what is currently a buoyant market has slowed down the entire supply chain and this, combined with challenging construction programmes where earlier customer engagement would have been beneficial have all had an impact.
The shortage of skilled labour coupled with an aging workforce throughout all job roles within the industry has also been recognised, and as a business we have taken the decision to invest heavily in an Apprentice and Trainee Engineering recruitment and development programme focusing on all job roles including design, installation, and service, utilising our inhouse training facilities in Manchester.
What problems does your business try and resolve?
Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions are the largest and longest-established fire suppression company within the UK, with the core business offering to our customers being the design, installation, testing, commissioning and service, and maintenance of numerous associated fi re safety disciplines including Automatic Sprinklers, Gaseous Extinguishment, Watermist, Detection, Fire Extinguishers, and Fire Doors.
With every building or risk that we protect from fire being different, a ‘one size fits all’ resolution is never possible. Therefore, our wide portfolio of in-house products as well as our industry knowledge enables us to provide bespoke solutions to every possible fire protection scenario that we may be presented with.
Why did you become an FPA member?
As a business, we have long recognised the importance of being a member of such a prominent fire safety organisation as the Fire Protection Association.
The fact that the FPA publishes the LPC Rules incorporating BS EN 12845, which are the recognised sprinkler standards within the UK, ensures that we are kept aware and benefit from any changes in legislation which is critical to our design, installation, and maintenance operations.
Additionally, we make use of the library of resources that are available on the members site as well as regularly utilising the services of your sprinkler head and pipework testing facility in Blockley.
Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions look forward to continue working closely with the FPA and further developing the relationship between our two organisations.
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