7 Oct 2022

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) announces it has entered into a partnership with B&M as part of the Primary Authority scheme (PAS). The partnership means that CFRS will support B&M on all fire safety matters across their store portfolio and warehouses in the UK.

B&M is one of UK's fastest-growing variety retailers and has over 600 stores and is committed to ensuring that the business has appropriate health and safety standards.

The new PAS partnership means that B&M will receive reliable and consistent regulatory advice in relation to fire safety, through a single point of contact for fire safety advice and regulation. Up until now, fire safety for B&M has been enforced by fire and rescue services up and down the country.

Primary Authority Scheme

The Primary Authority Scheme was launched in 2015 and is open to any business, charity, or other organization that is regulated by two or more fire and rescue services under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, 2005.

Primary Authority Partnerships are proving to be a great success and B&M is now one of five PAS partnerships held with CFRS.

Benefits to the business

“We’re delighted that B&M has chosen us as their PAS partner”, states Wane Pringle

Wayne Pringle, PAS Manager commented, “We’re delighted that B&M has chosen us as their PAS partner, and it’s great to see how much they see the value in the scheme and the benefits to their business.”

Over the last few months, we’ve visited stores and a distribution center, investing time in understanding the business, meeting their teams, and carrying our safety audits to ensure we’re able to provide the very best service and advice to the business.”

We look forward to working closely together on all fire safety-related matters.”

Marking the partnership

To mark the partnership, Sam Smith, Head of Health & Safety for B&M, and Barry Snook, Area Health & Safety Advisor for B&M visited Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service to meet their Primary Authority Scheme managers.