FPC, a tense tale of adventure, science and… art
Before you stands a very proud and gratified CEO, announcing the 50th anniversary of FPC Risk, a wonderful team of experts specialized in fire risk and emergency management.
What a journey it was.
Half a century ago, Joseph New and Ed Bruyninckx established the very first fire safety consultancy (hence the name FPC) company in Europe, driven by the American insurance companies that started to require this niche expertise on the old continent. Few regulations were in place at that time, but as true fire safety pioneers, the FPC founding fathers worked the company to a solid position in a global market place. By offering dedicated solutions to large oil (energy) companies, major hotel chains, world wide financial institutions - you name it - they managed to establish an enviable lead over the then virtually non-existing competition.
Adventurous stories
I still remember my father’s stories about adventurous trips to Nigeria and other exotic places. He told me how he crossed the vast country by helicopter to visit all the different oil booster stations to develop fire safety solutions. As a child this sounded extremely exciting to me - and it still does! - but at the time I couldn’t care less what that fire safety shizzle actually was all about. But trust me, THAT changed substantially!
From then on the realm of fire safety started going through spectacular changes. More and more regulations emerged and fire science developed into a real academic discipline, taught at universities and other scientific institutions all over the world. Triggered by my father’s stories, I joined FPC (the ’Risk’ was added later) as the first academically schooled fire safety engineer in Europe, now 25 years ago. Ten years later I became CEO myself, now serving my 15th year.
Art or science?
Although today fire safety is at times still not equally appreciated next to other engineering disciplines, FPC Risk quite confidently proclaims fire safety engineering as a full-blown discipline, whilst combining it with profound emergency management experience. One of the most exciting things about this discipline is that it’s not just all about engineering. It is also about people, operations and preparing organizations for potential calamities. Moreover, at FPC we believe that fire safety has developed more and more into the architectural art of designing the appropriate life & fire safety measures for the protection and benefit of our customers and society.
The secret of our humble success…
Today the strength of FPC Risk lies into a highly skilled and trained team combined with a great level of expertise & pragmatism, a very stable customer base and a relentless drive for innovation. I am extremely proud of my team of experienced seniors and motivated youngsters, each and every one of them with a dedicated passion for fire safety. We have come a long way as a company and I feel utterly privileged to have met and worked with so many professional and nice people. In this fast developing and ever-changing world we keep exploring how to serve our customers and the industry at large better every day. And that is not a promise, it’s a mission.
Save the date
The world has changed beyond recognition ever since Joseph and Ed set their first steps on that long and challenging road called fire safety. But still all projects are as exciting as in the day back then, and are still performed with the same passion and dedication as our founders did.
We celebrate our 50th anniversary on the 30th of September. So mark your agendas!
One more thing…
More “breaking news” is to be revealed soon. Since - you know - nothing is permanent…but change. But change is good.
I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, thank you for being with us, as a customer, as a collegue, as a friend.
Let’s keep the fire burning!
Ralf Bruyninckx
CEO FPC Risk