The Channel Islands have a reputation for being the sunniest part of the UK. For Bristol, business has certainly brought a ray of sunshine in the form of firefighter PPE contracts over the past 2 years.
The fire and rescue services on the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney as well as the airport fire services on Jersey and Guernsey all now use Bristol firefighter kit. Even the Island’s ambulance service uses the company’s technical rescue PPE for its Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART).
Although Bristol has a long history of involvement with the Island’s emergency services, a steady switch in favour of Bristol PPE has seen the company becoming the sole supplier of firefighter protective clothing to the fire services across all the municipal brigades and airports. Whilst individually each service is smaller than most fire & rescue services across the rest of the UK, collectively they employ upwards of 250 firefighters with a further 40 specialist paramedics in their ambulance HART organisation.
The fire & rescue services are principally equipped with Ergotech Action2 fire coats and trousers with a PBI Matrix gold outershell whilst the airports use the same design with a Nomex Hainsworth TITAN 1220 with REPEL+ in Paris Blue. GORE-TEX Airlock moisture barriers are used in all the garments.
Philip Tasker, Bristol’s National Sales Manager, said, “We have developed a good working relationship with the emergency services on the Channel Islands over many years and we’re delighted that our reputation for class leading PPE and support services has been recognised in achieving a ‘clean sweep’ across all the main Islands. Choice of outer fabric has allowed the adoption of the same advanced Ergotech Action2 design whilst providing flexibility in selecting the fabric and colour to suit individual preferences”.