Amazon’s new 500,000 sq ft fulfilment centre at Severn Beach is designed to ensure that more people in the Bristol region receive next-day deliveries. When it is fully operational in September the centre will employ around 1,000 people and will be equipped with advanced robotics technology to help lift and move products around the plant.

Fire detection specialists AFS, engaged to engineer and install a whole life protection system at the fulfilment centre site, fitted Vimpex Smart+Guard covers to all the relevant manual call points across the site to protect the system from malicious activation.

Smart+Guard, manufactured in the UK by Vimpex, is a tough hinged protective cover that can be easily installed over a range of emergency switches and other devices to provide protection from vandalism, accidental damage or misuse that can cause unwanted alarms. Misuse of manual call points or pull stations resulting in false or nuisance alarms is a costly and troublesome interruption to business continuity. BS 5839 – The British Standard for Fire Alarm Installations recommends the use of manual call point covers in vulnerable areas to mitigate against false alarms.

Vimpex Managing Director, James Jones, comments “When we acquired the Smartguard range of products and merged production of the range into our operations, we knew there was massive scope for developing the business. This is evidenced by the growing list of high-profile end users now specifying the product for use in their facilities. The recent news that Amazon have installed the product into their newest fulfilment centre in Bristol is testament to our great levels of customer service and our willingness to go that extra mile for our customers.”

Vimpex is one of Europe’s leading independent manufacturers and distributors of quality fire evacuation and alarm system products for installers, distributors and OEM manufacturers. The company is also a specialist in the supply of technical rescue and PPE equipment for UK fire, rescue, police, military and emergency services teams.