Equipment and safety solutions at Gatwick Airport

We work closely with Balfour Beatty to help make Gatwick London’s airport of choice. For many years our team has supplied a range of equipment to support the millions of pounds worth of investment projects that have been happening across the airport.

Balfour Beatty has a long-standing relationship with Gatwick, for which it has delivered over 500 projects, including upgrades to the security lanes, the Pier 11 build, and the £50 million refurbishment of the North Terminal. Sunbelt has played a vital role in supporting delivery of these projects.

At the beginning of its strategic partnership with Balfour Beatty, we installed an on-site facility offering a range of electrical tools such as drills, breakers and fixings, low level access equipment, consumables and PPE for sale. We also put in place a dedicated airport team to provide airside deliveries, engineers and sales support for all product ranges covering the entire airport. As well as being able to supply smaller equipment, the team arranges for large plant and machinery to be delivered direct from one of our service centres nearby.

Customer Name
Balfour Beatty
Project and Location
Gatwick Airport

Challenge

The changes taking place at the airport are designed to improve operations and increase capacity. This can be challenging to achieve within an operational environment, with over 46 million passengers passing through each year.

One of the areas earmarked for a revamp was the crucial airside fire station. Balfour Beatty planned to rebuild a new one in place of the existing site. The station and the Gatwick Fire and Rescue Service ensures the safety of all airport users by tending fires, both inside and out on the airfield, as well as accidents, incidents and threats to safety.

Also, leading the way, the Gatwick Fire and Rescue Services team has been awarded tier four approved training provider accreditation from the CAA. They offer industry leading Initial Fire Fighter Courses (IFFC), working with some of the UK's top airports, including Heathrow, Southampton, Manchester, London City and the Channel Islands. They have even delivered aviation firefighting training to overseas students from North Africa and Europe.

It was crucial that there was no disruption to their services whatsoever during the rebuild of the fire station.

Solution

Sunbelt worked closely with Balfour Beatty and Gatwick Fire and Rescue Services to provide a temporary unit for them. This had to be fully functional and able to meet the demanding requirements of the crucial service they deliver. To ensure the team met all requirements months were spent planning and mapping out the requirements.

Results

The fire crew remained fully effective and operational throughout the construction of their new facilities. We were proud to be able to ensure safety was at the forefront of the airport’s operations.