Press release from Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Management Board

Regional Control Centre Director Appointed

Graeme Hall has been appointed as director of the regional control centre which will handle 999 fire calls across West, South, North Yorkshire and Humberside from January 2011.

The centre, under the final stages of construction at Wakefield’s Paragon Business Village, is due to replace the four individual control centres in Birkenshaw, Sheffield, Northallerton and Hull.

Mr. Hall, who is Head of Customer Services at Damart Ltd., has worked for over 10 years in the contact centre industry, mainly in the financial services and retail sectors. He has had experience of delivering large-scale organisational change including a number of business start-ups.

Councillor Mick Coulson, who leads the shadow public sector company which will run the new regional control centre (RCC), said that Mr. Hall was an excellent manager who recognised the challenges and opportunities presented by a unique technological venture:  “The Government is investing £350m. to create a nationally linked network of nine fire control centres across England to improve resilience and efficiency but no one under-estimates the complexity or sensitivity of the task,” explained Councillor Coulson. “There are currently 46 stand-alone controls but they are unable to back each other up in the event of high demand or systems failure as they rely on different technologies and operational procedures.”

The Yorkshire and Humberside centre will be one of the last to ‘go live.’

“The new RCC will deliver increased operational capability and resilience, whilst building upon the excellent service provided by the existing controls. I am looking forward to working with all stakeholders both regionally and nationally to deliver these benefits,” said Mr. Hall.

Mr. Hall, who lives in Burley-in-Wharfedale, is a major in the Territorial Army and served in the RAF. He is also a qualified rugby union referee.

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* Benefits of the FiReControl project include:
Caller identification technology – the location a call is coming from will be identified automatically, screening hoax calls and saving valuable time.
Satellite positioning equipment – will monitor the whereabouts of each vehicle and the equipment it carries and tell the RCC whether it is the best appliance for a particular incident.
Mobile data terminals – will be installed in cabs so firefighters have constantly updated information (including maps and hydrant locations)
Networked solutions – to make sure each RCC is able to provide automatic back-up if one region is too busy or unable to operate.
Accommodation – purpose-built centres will meet strict security and resilience standards.

For further information please contact Stephen Hardy, Media and PR Unit, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, 01274 655717.