Sentry Doors Reflect on a Successful 2021
As we approach the end of 2021, we reflect positively on what we have achieved and would like to take this opportunity to wish our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As we do so, we look back on this year’s growth and key changes in the fire safety industry to maximise compliance and the safety of occupants in social housing.
The fire safety industry has seen changes this year, including the Fire Safety Act, which has received Royal Accent and is set to become law in 2022. The Act is designed to improve the fire safety of buildings in England and Wales, putting increased requirements on the Responsible Person when carrying out inspections on multi-occupied, residential buildings. The Government are also clamping down on enforcing fines to those who breach fire safety regulations, with a focus on ensuring improvements are made to fire risk assessments and the competence of those who complete them. All these requirements being implemented are to ensure the safety of tenants in social housing are protected and that fire safety becomes a more focused and mandated affair.
As the leading supplier of fire door sets to the social housing sector, we are continuously making improvements to bring you a solution to satisfy your fire door procurement needs in line with latest regulations. Here are just a few of the improvements we have made this year.
New Brand Image, Same Secure Choice:
Our journey started this year with a fresh new take on our brand image. Alongside this, we launched an informative new website which was the perfect platform for us to showcase our bespoke and fully compliant fire and security door sets. Later in the year, we further improved our brand image with the launch of our new brand brochure which offers customers insight into who Sentry Doors are and our product range. The launch of our Compliance Portal gave our clients access to a hub of resources available for instant download to make the journey to fire door compliance as streamlined as possible.
Bringing you Year-Round Consistent Lead Times:
Our production line has improved greatly this year, with expansions made to the management team. A Production Manager, a new Production Supervisor and an Afternoon Shift Production Supervisor were appointed; supported by our Warehouse and Logistics Manager and General Manager, they will contribute to managing the overall increase in capacity to ensure we can adhere to our consistent industry leading lead times.
We saw further improvements to the overall efficiency of the factory with the arrival of a second Morbidelli CNC machine to support the increase in workload. We also expanded our paint booth area and have recently had mezzanine floor fitted on the shop floor. These efforts have all supported the increase in capacity, ensuring that we maintain the same level of service for our customers throughout the procurement process of our door sets. We have seen an increase in demand, and we have responded by making significant investments in our facility to increase capacity and therefore ensure we can still deliver the same quality products to customers.
Staying up to date with Regulation Changes:
We are pleased to report that we were the first fire and security door set manufacturer to hold the new UKCA mark, as certified by UK-approved body BM TRADA. The United Kingdom Conformity Assessment (UKCA) mark is a replacement for the CE mark, serving as a manufacturer’s declaration that their product conforms with the relevant safety legislations in the market. The mark is applied to all our fire doors, and in some cases, applied to supporting literature and manuals. The mark comes into force as of January 2022 and is required to prove compliance amongst UK manufacturers following the Brexit transition period, meaning CE marking is no longer valid in England and Wales. Given the short time frame and pressure to transition from CE to UKCA, we are pleased to have made this transition easy and be a pioneer for other UK manufacturers.
We look forward to meeting you in 2022:
Next year, amongst a series of exciting new developments, we hope to be able to engage with our clients. As part of this, we are pleased to announce that we have a series of exhibitions planned throughout 2022. We have been selected as a sponsor for the National Housing Federation’s Building Fire and Security in Housing Event (22nd February). Later in the year, we are pleased to announce our presence at the Fire Safety Event (5th – 7th April). These events will be a great opportunity to connect and speak to likeminded fire safety individuals. We hope to see you there and assist you in any of your fire door procurement needs.
We would like to thank our customers for their continued support in 2021 and we look forward to connecting with you in 2022.
