Apollo breaks three million fire detectors barrier
Apollo Fire Detectors Limited has reached a major
milestone as annual production topped three million fire detectors
in March. The achievement is particularly special to the company,
as it coincides with Apollo's 25th anniversary.
The production milestone was formally recognised on 30 th March
2005 with a celebration involving the company's 450 employees and
cake for all. In acknowledgement of the effort that has gone in to
making Apollo Europe's leading fire detector manufacturer, managing
director Michael Hamilton presented the first slice of cake to
Tracy Cottam, the company's longest serving shopfloor employee with
a service record of 21 years.
Asked to what he attributed the company's continuing success, Mr
Hamilton said: "We owe a great debt to our customers. Many have
been with us from the start and continue to be superb ambassadors
for Apollo. We also continue to attract new customers who are
adopting Apollo technology as the best basis for business. However,
none of this would be possible without a skilled and motivated
workforce that takes enormous pride in delivering the right product
to the right place at the right time."
Mr Hamilton is confident that Apollo will continue to expand and
has already taken steps to ensure that the company maintains its
reputation for delivering innovative and reliable fire detection
technology as it grows. He explained: "In order to sustain our
reputation for quality and service, we are expanding our workforce
to keep pace with demand. With exports continuing to grow, we have
recently added a number of staff dedicated to specific growth
territories - specifically the US, Spain, China and Ireland. We are
also recruiting in the UK, where we need a further fifty people to
join the team."
Apollo was founded in May 1980 and employed 13 people. Today its
workforce numbers over 450 people and operates the largest
dedicated smoke detector manufacturing facility in Europe. It is
headquartered in Havant, Hampshire, in purpose-built premises that
were opened by HRH Prince Andrew in 1997. The company now exports
to 100 countries around the world, although UK sales still account
for almost half of its business.