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On Nov 2 this year Professional Protection Systems will be 60 years old.
Acknowledged as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of decontamination technology and top end specialist PPE the company, that commenced production in 1947, was a post-war baby utilising what was at that time revolutionary material and technology developed to help fight world war two. The material was PVC and the technology was high frequency welding, and both, to some extent have remained at the centre of PPS operations down to the present day.
The earliest products could perhaps be described as a sort of intermediate PPE- as they consisted of surgical style PVC coats, industrial smocks and trousers, cycling capes and other rainwear for all the family. Indeed it was from these nursery slopes that the new company made a dramatic debut into the heavy duty PPE market in the 1950’s supplying the UK’s emerging nuclear industry with its first nuclear suits. Looking today like gear from a low budget “B” sci-fi epic they cost all of £7.50 each. Suddenly PVC had found its true industrial role, the only existing alternative to these units being a rubber suit that cost around £30. After this plastics moved into all kinds of other fields in rapid succession – like toys, housewares and blow moulded packaging. In other words the material of the Brave New World rapidly became a common place and PPS rapidly found itself shifted from centre stage to sideline, as sister companies devoted to mass production overshadowed it in volume if not revenue terms.
PPS may have become a bit of a Cinderella compared to its siblings but it continued to develop becoming the UK’s leading supplier of Air Fed Suits not just to the Nuclear but to the pharmaceutical industries, as well as undertaking the occasional more exotic assignment- like making the Ice Warrior suits for a Dr.Who production. It was however mainly a long period of jogging-along in a specialist and somewhat niche market. Some especially commissioned research into customer perceptions in the early 90’s revealing that PPS was seen as a sound and worthy organisation, trusted and liked but not big on innovation, says it all.
All that changed in 1994, when PPS unveiled its revolutionary mobile inflatable decontamination shower. Designed for swift intervention at Hazmat incidents its arrival on the scene coincided with the Tokyo Sarin gas incident in 1996.
The new product was exactly the first response unit the Japanese security forces were looking for as they evaluated the lessons of that attack and PPS had won its first major export order spread over the coming years. It was about the same time that the company’s relatively new Managing Director, Mark Whitcher with support from two external investors decided that their company had arrived at a crossroads.
PPS had become part of a major South African packaging group- almost an accidental acquisition along with the sibling housewares and packaging company. Feeling that there was no synergy between PPS and a blow moulding giant they decided to go for a management buy out. Fortunately the South Africans were of a similar mind, regarding PPS as an ugly duckling that didn’t belong in their nest at all. The subsequent successful buy-out couldn’t have been more timely, says Whitcher. “Not only was the PPE market becoming more global but we had a new world market in decontamination technology as well, so five years ago we set off to become big players in both. I believe we are achieving that goal”. Early on Whitcher and the PPS team recognised that globalisation was spreading Western best practice in the workplace at the rate of knots. This plus ever increasing health and safety regulation in developed markets was going to give an unprecedented boost to PPE sales.
In decontamination technology PPS has kept the lead created by its 1994 launch of the world’s first portable inflatable decontamination shower and besides supplying HM Government, the NHS and UK ambulance trusts with their mass decontamination needs also supplies similar equipment to emergency services all over the world.
If PPS were to achieve their goals, Whitcher realised early-on that PPS had to be completely customer- focused. “In practice”, says Whitcher “this means that we have to be able to supply complete bespoke systems as well as one-trip units from the shelf, we have to be able to source all kinds and every accessory and we have to be able to train customers in best practice when using our equipment.
We also believe in quality. For instance most of our competitors are small businesses who outsource much of their work and they cannot offer the same levels of quality control as PPS can; we manufacture most of our PPE and inflatable decontamination units so all quality control is done in-house and at every stage of production”. This is of critical importance in a realigned PPE world where successful manufacturers are, in effect, taking more and more of the duty of care over from their customers.
A very important part of the PPS set-up created by Whitcher is an R&D portfolio. “ I don’t think any of our competition have one as broad, but we find it absolutely essential to keeping ahead of the market place” Whitcher comments. As examples of its contribution he mentions the development of wear protectors, low air flow warning devices, new types of filter and other comfort and safety enhancing features that are continually being incorporated into the range. The ultimate perhaps is an air fed suit with no air line. Developed especially for nuclear plant decommissioning it has been designed by PPS without an air line because, as he says it is essentially a suit to be worn on a building demolition site, where an air line is hardly a help.
According to Whitcher PPS is the model of what the 21st century PPE supplier should be in that it is large enough to provide the top level products and services that customers need but completely dedicated to the sector. “Hardly any of our international competition can say that” says Whitcher “It is either part of a larger organisation not totally dedicated to PPE or Decontamination or diversified in some way. We’ve been through that and we’re not going there again ”.
PROFESSIONAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS, Protection House, Sherbourne Drive, Tilbrook, Milton Keynes, Bucks, ENGLAND. MK7 8HX
Tel: +44 (0) 1908 272240 - Fax : +44 (0) 1908 371605 - Email: sales@ppsgb.com
Registered in the United Kingdom - Registration Number 4494024
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