Partner Article

North East technology protects Wimbledon crowds

It’s one of the biggest sporting festivals in the world - and the safety of half a million visitors will be protected with equipment designed and produced by a North East company. Current Thinking, based in Sunderland, has supplied the massive network of fire telephones installed throughout the Wimbledon complex during the multi-million redevelopment of the world’s most famous tennis centre.

The company’s VoCALL system combines both fire telephones and disabled refuge points. The 123-point network is designed to both provide easy communication for members of the public who cannot easily use the usual methods of evacuation and assist the emergency services to locate them and reassure them during an emergency.

Anthony Smith, Current Thinking’s Managing Director, said: “We were delighted to be chosen for this project. Wimbledon clearly wanted the best quality safety systems in the redevelopment and that’s what we were able to provide.

“Given the nature of Wimbledon with its courts complexes, together with a wide range of administrative buildings and a museum, it has been a challenge to develop a network to cover all parts of the site.

“Building regulations require that Emergency Voice Communication Systems are installed in all non-residential buildings over one storey. VoCALL has been designed to be the most modular and flexible system available and the logging software designed for the Wimbledon project keeps the company at the forefront of developments in the market place.”

Equipment produced at Current Thinking’s Sunderland factory is installed in many of the huge construction projects in Dubai - including the world’s tallest structure, the 2,200 ft high Burj Tower. Nearer home, Current Thinking systems assist hearing-aid users on mainline rail stations on both the East and West coast routes, as well as the new St Pancras International terminal for the Channel Tunnel.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .