TVAC going strong

June 2007

Rumours that TVAC of Leyland, Lancashire is being wound up are without foundation and the company currently has a profitable £20m order book. A 7-figure profit is forecast for the year ending 31 August 2007.

In September 2006 TVAC and Venture Private Equity Ltd parted company. TVAC's managing director, Gary Smith, teamed up with local business man, Eric Sinclair, and TVAC bought back the share of the company sold to Venture earlier in the year. Since then the production area has been more than doubled, and 45 new production technicians and three more designers have been employed. The company has been joined by John Taylor MBE and Andrew Marshall, both previously with Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service, and is looking forward to a bright future.

Serious flooding devastates South Yorkshire and other parts of England

July 2007

Following torrential rain, South Yorkshire and Humberside, along with parts of West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, were affected by serious flooding on and after 26 June 2007. New Dimension high volume pumping units were deployed in force to combat the problem, co-ordinated by the Fire & Rescue Service National Co-ordination Centre in West Yorkshire.

Simon N. Rowley, the well-known Hampshire writer and fire photographer went to South Yorkshire to record the fire service involvement in flood relief operations. Click to see his photographs and a list of the New Dimension vehicles known to have been mobilised.

Emergency One (UK) Ltd - management buy-out

July 2007

On 8 June 2007 a management buy-out of Emergency One (UK) Ltd was completed. The company's founder and previous managing director, Frank Morran, has sold out but will continue to be involved in the business. The new management team includes Mike Madsen and William Burns as co-managing directors and Robert Wells as production director.

Emergency One (UK) has been trading since 1989. In commenting on the buy-out, Mike Madsen said, "This will help Emergency One to continue with its growth strategy in what is, we feel, a natural evolution of the company. Whilst we have exciting and no doubt challenging times ahead of us, please be assured that for all at Emergency One it is strictly business as usual."

AssetCo acquire TVAC

December 2007

AssetCo plc has acquired TVAC for an initial amount of £2.08m with a potential deferred payment of up to £6.87m, in part depending on the trading performance of the specialist vehicles division of AssetCo of which TVAC will form a part. TVAC is the holder of the UK franchise for Plastisol and was engaged by Lancashire County Fire Brigade, as it then was, to build the prototype UK appliance using a Plastisol body in 1998. Since then the company has counted the Lancashire and London fire brigades among its major customers and has supplied other services with Plastisol-bodied appliances.

AssetCo has also acquired the specialist ambulance builder UVM.

Subsidiaries of AssetCo already numbered A S Fire & Rescue Equipment Ltd, FSE Ltd (Fire Safety Equipment), Papworth Specialist Vehicles, Collins Youldon and AES.

Allocation of New Dimension enhanced command support vehicles changed

July 2008

New Dimension enhanced command support vehicles will be allocated to Hampshire instead of Buckinghamshire in the South East region and to Hereford and Worcester instead of Warwickshire in the West Midlands.

New Dimension maintenance contract awarded

July 2008

It was announced on 8 July 2008 that the maintenance contract for the New Dimension fleet has been awarded to Vosper Thornycroft Critical Services (VTCS). VTCS has been maintaining the 3,600 vehicles of the Metropolitan Police since 2006. The transfer of the New Dimension fleet from the Department for Communities & Local Government to individual fire & rescue authorities, originally scheduled for 1 April 2008, is expected to take place later this year.

London Fire Brigade Museum under threat

September 2008

The chairman of the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority, Brian Coleman, is reported to have said, "Once you've seen one brass helmet you have seen them all."  

He went on to say, "It would be my view that the fire brigade museum no longer serves a useful purpose for Londoners. We are a fire and rescue service; we are not a museums and archives service... ... ... I think probably a museum is a luxury we can no longer afford."

For a fuller report see the London SE1 Community Web Site