Meet the Supplier: Gunfire

In our latest ‘Meet the Supplier’ feature, we caught up with Tom Laws, Managing Director of Gunfire Ltd, supplier on Lots 1, 3, 4 and 5 of our Building and Fire Safety framework. Developed with Contracting Authority The Hyde Group using expert technical advice it aims to support organisations with building and fire safety compliance. Tom talks about the challenges facing the sector and the inspiration for the company’s name.

What is your company’s mission statement/aims/objectives? 

We are a business that constantly changes and looks at ways to improve, and as part of that our values are consistently improving, as we learn and adapt to stay ahead. Our mission is to create a culture of continuous improvement, ensure fair and honest financial transparency and pioneer the adaption of innovative systems and technologies.

We’re big on transparency, both internally, and with our clients and supply chain. Our main objectives this year have been raising brand awareness and improving efficiency through automation – we’re keen to make sure that all our team members are working as productively as they can and have the tools that they need to do their roles. These feed into our main objective for 2024, which is to improve fire safety in 7,500 properties throughout the UK.

Can you give us a brief history of your company?  

We’re a family-owned company, based in Cambridge. Gunfire was founded in 2000 by Jerry Otter, as a trading division of Gunite Eastern Limited, which is a family-owned external refurbishment contractor that is also very strong in the social housing market.

Gunfire is now an independent business with lofty objectives as we move into a more management-led business.

You are a supplier on Lots 1,3,4 and 5 of the Building and Fire Safety Framework. What are the benefits of being a supplier on this framework?  

We had to go through a rigorous process to get a place on the framework, and although we have a good structure and processes in place, it gave us the opportunity to stand back, look at the business and realise where we needed to improve. That vetting process gives clients confidence in the framework and its supply chain.

Being on the framework has enabled us to develop long-term relationships with clients and that opportunity for multiple long-term contracts is probably one of the biggest benefits for us in terms of business continuity and ability to grow.

What specific products or services does your company deliver through the framework? 

All of our services, from compartmentation fire stopping & fire door surveys, through to installation of fire stopping systems, fire door maintenance and fire door installations. We are also an approved installer of Injectaclad – a cavity barrier system – but that’s not on the framework.

Can you share some key achievements or successful projects completed through the framework? 

The fact that we can directly deliver for the end customer, and not have to go through a Tier one contractor, is important for us and we’ve had a number of successful projects but there are two that stand out.

We developed an excellent relationship with Phoenix Community Housing during a five-year contract to help them improve fire safety to hundreds of their buildings.

We also completed a flat entrance door replacement programme for Enfield Council, delivering 4,000 door sets in the first year, and we’ve just been awarded the contract to deliver phase two.

What sets your business apart from its competitors? 

We have a field-based compliance team whose main role is to conduct site audits, and we do a 10% intrusive test of every single fire seal that we install. This team is independent from the project teams and they report directly to me, for added assurance.

Also, what we are doing in terms of automation makes us stand out. We use integrated project management and health and safety software, which communicate with one another eliminating the need for extensive data transfers from one system to another.

Are there any recent innovations or developments in your business that excite you?

Yes, the automation and integration of our project management and health and safety software systems is probably the most exciting thing and has really streamlined our systems from estimating and project set-up to H&S & sign off of projects, which has allowed us to identify the risks in the business easily to make adjustments to our business processes.

How does your company contribute positively to the communities it operates in? 

We have a dedicated social value manager, who leads on our social value plan, and aim to deliver community projects in the areas where we work. In Enfield, we turned the space that had previously housed site containers into a small garden once the programme of works was completed.

We always try to create local employment opportunities on our big projects and Chris, the resident liaison officer for the Enfield Council project, lives in one of the blocks where works were completed, which proved invaluable for developing strong relationships with residents.

Community engagement is key. We’ve just started a large-scale fire door maintenance programme in Stratford and spent three days speaking to residents about the importance of the works and introducing them to the team.

What will be the key areas of focus for your business over the next 12 months?

As outlined above, we have implemented several automation processes. The next, and probably most challenging step, will be to engage with the new programmes and utilise the system to its full potential.

We will also be focusing on compliance, so improving our technical training programmes with our operatives and site team and ensuring that everybody has the right ongoing training.

Finally, we will be setting out our strategy for the next three to five years, outlining how we will support clients to continue to improve fire safety in their properties along with giving our teams the visibility that they are contributing to a much wider strategy.

What are the biggest challenges currently facing the housing sector? 

Aside from significant project delays due to the Building and Fire Safety Act, as outlined below, construction costs and affordability is an ongoing issue. There’s also the ageing construction workforce and skills shortage, hence why we’re having a push on our compliance and technical training. Finding young workers is difficult because there’s not many kids that grow up wanting to be a fire stopper or a fire door carpenter. It’s not on the list of dream jobs!

What impact has the Building and Fire Safety Act had on the delivery of projects within the sector?

While I fully support the Building Safety Act, we’re seeing significant delays on programmes of works in buildings over 18 metres high, even for something as straightforward as fire door replacements. This seems to be due to the volume of projects going through the approval process.

I think that the regulator has got to speed it up and I think there should be a way to fast-track simpler projects.

Currently, clients with defective fire doors, which are an ongoing risk, could now be waiting 8-10 months for approval before they can start new projects.

If you were Housing Minister for the day, what would you change? 

First of all, I’d make a rule that I can’t get sacked within six months, to try and bring some consistency to the role!

Secondly, I’d set up a tiered fire safety accreditation system, with bronze, silver and gold levels, which would involve looking at a business’s behaviours, culture, attitude to ongoing training, business processes & systems along with appropriate insurance levels.

This would incentivise installation companies to achieve the gold standard while not limiting their route to market along with providing key benefits to clients such as clarity on standards, confidence in compliance and potentially mitigate risk of choosing an installation contractor.

A tiered system would give clients an immediate snapshot of compliance standards throughout a business enabling them to make more informed decisions.

Can you tell us an interesting fact about your organisation? 

The company name was created by Jerry combining the “Gun” from Gunite Eastern Ltd (Jerry’s first business), with “fire” to reflect our work within the fire safety market. Setting up our LinkedIn page was challenging, and it wouldn’t accept Gunfire as a single word, we had to add in “passive fire protection” after the company name!

 

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