On 27 July, FM Business Daily (FMBD) staged another successful roundtable event, this time sponsored by Premier Technical Services Group Ltd (PTSG).
Hosted at Sodexo’s fantastic London headquarters at 1 Southampton Row, the theme for the event was Fire Safety In UK Facilities and Estates. Working closely with PTSG, FMBD brought together a range of industry professionals to discuss what is arguably the most urgent issue in FM at the present time.
What set the event apart from anything else in the FM calendar in 2023 was the ‘audience with’ Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, FREng, FIChemE, FCG, the industry’s leading fire safety advisor.
After a welcome from FMBD’s editor, Dennis Flower, PTSG’s Group Sales Director, Andrew Dack, delivered a short address on how PTSG works with businesses to help them meet the requirements of the new Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which took effect on 23 January this year.
Dame Judith Hackitt
Leading engineer and civil servant Dame Judith Hackitt delivered a thought-provoking speech on the Building Safety Act. Dame Judith was the Chair of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which was commissioned by the Government following the Grenfell Tower fire. The Review’s Interim Report was published in December 2017, and its final report, Building a Safer Future, was issued on 17 May 2018. She now chairs the Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG).
Dame Judith spoke for 45 minutes on the Building Safety Act, which introduced new duties for the management of fire and building safety in high-rise residential buildings.
Roundtable discussions
As was the intention, Dame Judith Hackitt’s speech led to some very lively discussions. The feedback from each of the tables of guests was shared with the whole group, prompting a range of questions and answers.
Among the main points raised were:
- We shouldn’t just be driven by legislation, which we must abide by of course, but more by moral duty and desire to consistently do the right things…safely, properly and all of the time.
- Clients need a degree of guiding or ‘educating’ on who is the person responsible for their building(s) (the Duty Holder) and what their responsibilities are.
- It is common for the responsibility of making a building fire-safe to be passed along the supply chain and it is often left to letting agents to try and ensure buildings are compliant.
- Fire safety regulations should cover all buildings, not just residential, and should encompass all parts of buildings.
Such is the enthusiasm among roundtable guests, events are effective networking opportunities, with many new working relationships being formed as a result.
Cheryl Ellerington, Managing Director of FM Business Daily, said: “This was the first of a series of roundtable events we are delivering this year, sponsored by a range of different service providers in the FM industry. We couldn’t have asked for a better result on 27 July. I am extremely grateful to everyone who attended and especially to Dame Judith Hackitt, who was kind enough to share her experience and in-depth knowledge of fire safety in UK facilities and estates.
“I would also like to thank Sodexo, the host of the event, who provided a first-class facility which, in London, is easily accessible and perfect for staging different kinds of events and functions. The food was exceptional and the hospitality from the Sodexo team was perfect in every way. Thank you!”
FMBD is looking to working with PTSG again to arrange the next roundtable event, which will be held in Birmingham. Further details will be announced in this newsletter.
If you would like further information on FM Business Daily’s roundtable events, please don’t hesitate to contact Managing Director Cheryl Ellerington: cheryl@fmbusinessdaily.com
