Hays plc provides worldwide recruitment and human resource services. It is a European company listed on the London Stock Exchange and part of the FTSE 250 Index. HAYS operates in 31 countries from 255 offices employing 7,620 people worldwide. Having recently relocated to a prestigious new flagship building in the heart of the City of London, its information system infrastructure had to be protected.
Data rooms are prone to fire from electrical malfunctions which are statistically a prime cause of catastrophic scenarios. In such fires there are a variety of materials that may combust and depending on the fire’s stage the extinguishing system is required to put it out without harmful collateral damage effects to other assets and/or to human life. Fire then must be limited at source to minimize damage to equipment and premises as well as to avoid prolonged interruption of operations.
Design, supply, install, commission, and maintain a modular fire extinguishing system complete with fire detection that has a minimal weight load and space requirements to protect against the threat of fire this data room laden with the latest technology equipment. It needed to be efficient and effective for A, B, C, F, classes of fire and rapidly responsive to ensure that damage to critical equipment is minimized thus avoiding enormously costly down time and disruption to business continuity. Abiding to the environmentally conscious policy followed by the company any installed system needed to be eco-friendly.
With City rents increasing, space was at a premium for IT system cabinets to serve the needs of the business. Optimum fire cover could not be compromised; therefore FirePro was the obvious choice to provide the automatic room flooding for the protection of the facility. This was achieved with modular FirePro units that fitted directly to the ceiling void, as well as the room.
With no pipes to install, no footprint for cylinders and no major Health & Safety issues to worry about, the range of equipment within the data room is discreetly protected by FirePro. The units are installed at ceiling level and within the ceiling void. In case of a fire they will function in exactly the same way as a gas extinguishing system would but at a far lower cost of ownership and with extremely reliable and effective fire extinguishing capabilities. What is more HAYS is protected from fire in an environmentally friendly way.