Insights from the Fire Safety Event: A Day with Sarah Ball

Modern Joinery publisher, Sarah Ball, discusses her brilliant day at the NEC visiting the Fire Safety Event to look at Timber Fire Doors for Modern Joinery News.

Sarah Ball, Modern Joinery (MJ) publisher, recently attended the Fire Safety Event at the NEC in Birmingham managed to catch up with loads of people for both MJ and sister publication PiGs AKA People in Glazing Society.

This included UAP, FDM Training and Development, DoorCo, Joinerysoft, Permadoor and Strongdor – and she even caught up with Lawson Price and Nev Gleed at Epwin in the aisles!  

Reflecting on the event, Sarah said: “Until I got into the event, I hadn’t appreciated the size of the fire door market or the complexities of the maintenance side that runs alongside it. The scale of the industry is impressive – and the work they do in keeping people safe.”  

Quite a few of the stands are also exhibiting at FIT Show including Strongdor, DoorCo and Joinerysoft.  

“Strongdor was my first port of call, and I got my photo taken with their mascot Theodor! I didn’t however have a go in their ball pick up booth – but it will be at FIT Show – so I might try my luck there!  

“It was great to catch up with DoorCo as well, who I know well as they supported last year’s Kilimanjaro challenge with two team members and raising a huge amount of money. It was excellent to catch up in person! 

“I also made a beeline to Joinerysoft – a software system for timber windows and doors. I caught up with the team who showed me the latest Joinery Network products on the system on their new digital display boards.  

“I had a lot of discussions with people about testing, maintenance and auditing including Nicola John from FDM (pictured). 

“She’s a huge advocate of training because since the Grenfell report, regulations are in place for additional accountability, but now there’s personal liability on top. This means that the buck stops with the individual rather than the company – so training becomes even more important.” 

Sarah said it was a very successful day – reconnecting with familiar faces and meeting new ones. She explained that Modern Joinery is growing, and everyone she spoke with was interested in hearing more about the fortnightly newsletter. 

Live shows like the Fire Safety Event are fantastic for demonstrating new products and services – but more importantly, for meeting customers and potential customers face-to-face. 

Next stop: Sarah and MJ Editor George Lewis will be at the FIT Show (29 April – 1 May) – register for your ticket here to meet the team at the show: FIT Show 2025 Registration