Keith Wells

I have been working within various sectors of the construction industry for over 40 years. When the opportunity to take over the management of Quelfire arose in 2013, I threw myself into learning the ins and outs of passive fire protection and soon discovered that the topic is not getting enough attention, which has since been reinforced by tragic events such as the Grenfell Tower fire.

I have made it my mission to make a significant contribution to educating the construction market about the importance of passive fire protection. To work towards this goal, we supply the market with high-quality, certified products and expert technical advice, as well as offer training sessions to organisations involved in all stages of construction projects, from planning and design through specification to installation.

My role is to drive the business forward as a leading own-brand supplier of quality tested and certified firestopping products and shaping the company’s strategy together with the other board members to work towards this goal.

A particular focus of my role is to ensure that our product portfolio is in line with, or even one step ahead of, the needs of our customers and the market requirements.

Accordingly, in the last few years, I have significantly increased the proportion of the company’s annual investment going into the improvement of our current products and the development of new products and systems that push the benchmark for passive fire safety in buildings.

I have a particular interest in making internal processes, especially production, as efficient as possible. I continuously work with the other directors to identify areas of improvement and implement changes in order to improve our operation.

Testing and certification is another area that I like to oversee and be closely involved with. On the top of third-party testing and external audits that are regulatory requirements (for our CE Marked product range in particular), we regularly carry out in-house testing on our products and raw materials to ensure consistent quality.

All the teams are engaged and focussed on the company’s goals. I enjoy when team members come forward with new ideas that they are given the chance to bring them to conclusion.

I am a keen outdoor person who enjoys hill walking, especially along the Welsh coastline and in the Lake District. I also like getting involved in charity work and taking on DIY projects, both at home and for family.