Posted by meb at January 31st, 2008

Turkey’s new fire safety legislation, which came into force in the beginning of January, has motivated several United Kingdom-based fire safety engineering firms to plan expansion into Turkey.

Graham Lowe, U.K. sales manager of Hochiki fire detection firm, told the Turkish Daily News that the new law that tightens the fire safety regulations of new buildings offers notable business opportunities for players in the fire safety equipment industry. Lowe was in Turkey along with representatives of U.K.-based fire safety engineering firms Tenos and Advanced Electronics last week, researching business opportunities and meeting with industry experts.

“We decided to visit Istanbul to assess potential in the market. The new legislation has created notable opportunities for us to start marketing European Union standard fire safety equipment here,” he said.

Hochiki Europe is at present one of the major manufacturers of quality fire detectors for commercial and industrial applications, with a production volume of approximately 500,000 detectors and ancillaries a year. The firm plans to double its business in the next five years, said Lowe.

Window of opportunity:

Steve Carroll, export sales manager at Advanced Electronics, said the next step of the three firms is to get approval for their fire safety equipment from local authorities. “Our products already have the EN54 approval, which is the European standard with which fire alarm systems have to comply. Turkey’s EU process and the new regulations that are part of the process are a new window of opportunity for us,” Carroll said.

Advanced Electronics is a leading manufacturer of analogue addressable fire and emergency lighting control panels in the U.K. The firm also exports products to more than 25 countries around the world.

The firms aim to offer as a joint venture a complete fire safety package including workmanship and maintenance service to local clientele, said Lowe. “Our initial target clientele in Turkey will be government buildings and institutional properties, to whom we will offer a full-service package. Our initial start up investment will be between 500,000 to 1 million euros, which also means new jobs in the sector for locals.”

Source: Turkish Daily News