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We are celebrating a 10 year anniversary with UK’s number one trade kitchen supplier, Howdens on its support for On-Call firefighters by presenting an award to long-standing employee and On-Call Watch Manager, Tony Clark.

A decade ago Tony Clark, who is now Fire Safety and SHE Advisor at Howdens, presented an idea to the leadership team to create an On-Call fire service provision based at one of the company’s manufacturing sites in Howden, East Yorkshire.

10 years later the company supports 14 On-Call firefighters who are able to respond to fire calls, and two medical first-responders across their sites in Howden, Raunds in Northamptonshire, and their site in Cheshire.

With a fleet of emergency vehicles including a permanent fire engine housed in Howden, and two medical first response vehicles, the On-Call team at Howdens has attended over 1,700 emergency fire calls and over 1,000 medical first-response calls since 2011.

Julian Lee, Operations Director, Howdens, said: “The initiative that was presented to us by Tony, who had previously worked for the fire service, was one that the business was proud to support, and continues to do so as we mark this anniversary.

“At Howdens, one of the founding principles in the business is ‘Worthwhile for All’, and this fantastic initiative ensures we live into this and support our local communities.”

In a recent study by Howdens it was discovered that 82% of british adults think that businesses have a responsibility to support their local emergency services, whether that be fire and rescue, policing or medical.

Phil Shillito, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, adds: “The support that we have received from Tony and the team at Howdens has been appreciated across our region and beyond. It is a great example of how businesses can help to support their local emergency services.

“We would encourage any organisation that is looking to give back, to reach out to their local emergency services to find out how they can help.”

Additionally, since March 2020, a dedicated area of the site at Howden has been converted to voluntarily store personal protective equipment, such as face masks, sanitiser, aprons and lateral flow tests provided by the government, before the team at Howdens in partnership with the Local Resillience Forum, headed by Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, then distribute to schools, hospitals and other organisations in the region as and when they need replenishments.

The company has so far distributed over 4 million pieces of equipment across the region.

To find out more about how become an On-Call firefighter visit our careers area, click here