Episode 46 of the Fire Safety Matters Podcast features exclusive interviews with Derrick Hall (director of sales and marketing) and Kevin Mears (head of product management) at Kentec Electronics, while Brian also hears from Spike Armstrong (business development manager for Thermocable).

Derrick and Kevin concentrate on the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (ie Martyn’s Law) in relation to the fire safety sector and the impact it will exert on product development. There’s also a focus on the statutory guidance being produced by the Government.

A member of the Halma plc Catalyst Programme, Spike Armstrong discusses linear heat detection cable and its use in tandem with solar panel arrays, in turn outlining the key findings of Thermocable’s own research in this area.

As always, Brian and Mark analyse the latest fire sector news.Subjects covered include the Fire and Security Matters Awards 2026, the Women in Fire Safety Awards (which have just been acquired by Western Business Media) and the recent launch of the Fire Protection Association’s 2025 Policy Manifesto.

There’s also detail (courtesy of the London Fire Brigade) on the number of e-bike fires in the capital and news about the introduction of a mental health-focused pack for passive fire protection practitioners developed and issued by the Association for Specialist Fire Protection.

Episode 45 of the Fire Safety Matters Podcast features two exclusive interviews. Brian hears from Darren Ellis, qualifications manager at FireQual, and Stephen Marsh (head of sales at wireless fire detection and alarm systems manufacturer Cygnus).

Darren focuses his attentions on FireQual as an organisation, the importance of competence in the sector and qualifications for fire risk assessors, while Stephen explains why school holidays are an ideal time for education sector trusts and academies alike to evaluate their fire detection and alarm systems.

In addition, Brian and Mark review the latest fire sector news.Subjects covered include the most recent set of statistics on building safety remediation issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and an e-Learning programme on fire safety introduced for high-rise building managers.

There’s also detail on the news that Warringtonfire has just invested circa £4 million on two furnaces designed to increase the testing capacity at its Birchwood Park facility and an overview of BS 8674 (the recently published British Standard for fire risk assessors).

Episode 44 of the Fire Safety Matters Podcast includes Mark interviewing Mike Sutton, business development manager at Apollo Fire Detectors. Mike’s a proud member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers (IFSM) and the Institution of Fire Engineers in addition to being an associate member of the National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers.

On this occasion, Mike focuses his attentions on ways in which to protect educational premises from fire.

In addition, Brian and Mark analyse the latest industry news. Topics covered include the eighth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Industry and Regulators Committee seeking practitioners’ views on the Building Safety Regulator and the appointment of Dave White FIFSM (Life) MIFireE (chair of the IFSM) and Colin Todd MBE (managing director at C. S. Todd & Associates) to the Board at FireQual.

Brian and Mark also review the Fire and Security Matters Awards 2025 and Fire Safety Matters Live Coventry, reference Western Business Media’s new Ignite digital platform for CPD and look ahead to Fire Safety Matters Live Manchester on 1 October.