It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to get out and about and socialise with friends and business contacts. And although we’re not out of the woods with Covid-19 yet, it’s been refreshing to be able to attend events again and catch up with industry professionals to share our experiences, ideas and new developments.

With this in mind, we decided to host our very own ‘Friends of Fireco’ event on November 10th at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. This networking event sat between the FPA Fire 2021 conference and the FIA AGM, so there were many valued industry contacts to invite during a very busy week for the fire safety industry.

The museum proved to be an original and fascinating choice to host a gathering. Soane, regarded as the foremost architect of Regency times, was also an avid and meticulous collector of art, books and relics. He kept the incredible collection at his home in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and in order to house his growing horde of treasures Soane bought the two neighbouring properties and renovated the building to create the museum as it is today.

The son of a bricklayer, Soane worked his way to the very top of his profession and became good friends with J.M.W. Turner, whose work hangs in the museum, along with paintings by Hogarth, Canaletto and many others. It was a genuine thrill to host our guests in the same rooms that Soane entertained all those years ago. Experts were on hand in each room to describe the works that were crammed into every inch of space and our attendees seemed only too happy to learn about the stories behind the famous artwork.

Chris, the Commercial Events Manager of the Soane, said that the guests were far more engaged with the house than is usual at such events. And this wasn’t just because they were wondering where the fire exit was! It’s only natural that fire safety professionals take an interest in the architecture of a house, and when that house contains items such as the sarcophagus of King Seti 1st, then that level of curiosity is only going to increase. The fact that some of the rooms were illuminated by candlelight certainly raised a few eyebrows!

“It was a fantastic night, hosted by a fantastic team at a truly amazing venue. Thank you and here’s to more face-to-face gathering once again.” John Field, Safety Manager with Imperial College London

 

“Innovation in venue to promote innovation in life safety products. The evening spent with like-minded people was a pleasure.” Jim Creak, Fire safety Technical Committee member for British and International Standards

 

“Thanks for the invite Fireco, it was a pleasure to meet up again after the pandemic.” Andy Cunningham, Managing director at Lite-4-life

It was agreed that the evening was a great success, which begs the question: “When’s the next one?” Keep following Fireco to find out!

Thanks to everyone who attended and all the staff at the museum for helping to make it such a memorable evening. 

Sir John Soane’s Museum is free to visit and highly recommended https://www.soane.org/