Phillip Ingham of
Robinsons Brewery, who was responsible for the overseeing of the project renovation in general said: “Problems arose when we carried out a fire risk assessment, the assessors had identified that a safe means of escape was required from the tenants accommodation above the pub. The premises is landlocked on three sides, the stair from the accommodation is situated at the rear of the premises and all the doors lead onto the main road at the front of the building.”
Phillip and the brewery team considered several on the market available options to tackle the fire safety issue, including putting in a new, strategically placed flight of stairs to resolve the problem. This just wasn’t the desired and feasible solution as due to the buildings Grade II listing it was necessary to make as little impact or alterations on the building as possible. As this building symbolises national heritage of which, some parts of the building date as far back as 1410 in places.
“The risk assessors recommended a certain type of fire suppression system,” said Phillip. “But when I did my research it was clear that this wouldn’t be right for the
George and Dragon, it was too intrusive, so I went online to find another solution. That is when
Blue Light’s Danny Smith and the Automist system came to the rescue.” Phillip then met with Danny, technical adviser at Blue Light on site at the pub to do a full assessment.