Posted: May 2020
Keeping up with a fast-paced and ever-evolving industry like the road and workplace safety industry can prove challenging. Leading the charge on the frontier of this sector can prove tougher still.
For Brigade, the desire to drive change has been instilled in the heart and soul of what we do ever since our founder, Chris Hanson-Abbott OBE, first heard a strange beeping sound on the streets of Japan – the catalyst for our introduction of the first reverse warning alarms to European markets.
As a demonstration of this desire, we spoke to individuals throughout our company and listened as they told us about their careers at Brigade and their insights into the industry.
From the marketing team – Emily Hardy, UK Marketing Manager
Emily Hardy, our UK Marketing Manager, has been with Brigade for 12 years. She explains that the importance of what Brigade does aligned with its people culture appealed to her, particularly as a parent. She said: “once you have children, it seems safety, and protecting life, takes on a whole new meaning.”
Her job, among other duties, involves journalist liaison, the promotion of up to 65 industry events per year, and the interpretation of safety specifications and new legislation. The latter being essential knowledge for our client base, and serving as the driving force behind the necessity for our products.
Emily wanted to highlight that the biggest change being communicated right now is with regard to the new DVS regulation that is to be put in place in London from October this year. She said: “this is some of the first legally enforced legislation we have seen, though I’m sure regulations like DVS will soon spread throughout the country, and maybe even go further than UK borders.
“In the last decade, the industry has experienced rapid growth that has led to this. Things that were once cutting-edge are now seen as the norm. I’m sure that this will continue to happen as new products and legislation come into play.”
From the development team – Jamie Stewart, Junior Product Development Engineer and Feyisike Ademujimi, Product Development Engineer
In our development team we spoke to Junior Product Development Engineer, Jamie Stewart, and one of the newer additions to our team who joined Brigade four months ago, Feyisike Ademujimi, a Product Development Engineer.
Feyisike has spent her career working in the safety industry and tells us that the progression into a development role seemed natural: “having a purpose is important. It gives you a reason to get up in the morning.” A similar sentiment was shared by Jamie who said: “Our products are there to help save lives so ensuring they are reliable is paramount. I relish the challenges this brings.”
Regarding what is likely to come next for the industry, both Jamie and Feyisike seem certain that further technological advancements are imminent. Jamie, for one, predicts: “both passive technologies such as Mobile Digital Recording (MDR) devices, as well as active technologies like our Camera Monitoring Systems will see significant upgrades and developments.”
When asked the same question, Feyisike responded by saying: “it’s all about reaction times – that seems to be the natural next step. Soon we will be moving towards avoiding accidents completely with autonomous driving – this is already beginning to happen in the consumer market for instance.
“For us now, though, the implementation of remote driving systems and AI seems a more realistic prospect.”
What appears to be a common theme, whether it comes from our marketing department or the development team, is that we’re heading for a more mature safety market. Here at Brigade, we feel that the key to maintaining our position of prominence in this marketplace is to keep things fresh. We don’t just meet industry standards, we set them. And then we push them further.
Click here to see Brigade’s product range which our staff have worked tirelessly on to ensure roads and workplaces remain safe for everyone.
