Helping our colleagues through the OFR Technical Institute: Part 3

We are always looking for new and innovative ways in which we can support our team with personal and professional development. The OFR Technical Institute was set up to offer bespoke training and has helped many colleagues since to develop their knowledge and skills. Here – in the last of this week’s blog series on the Institute – our colleague associate director, Tom Bentley tells us more….

As an associate director in our Bath office, I enjoy the huge and challenging variety of work that my role brings. I originally joined OFR in late February 2020, just a few weeks before the first covid lockdown! I came to the business with a background in active fire protection systems design such as sprinklers, water mist and wet risers, and now I’m leading our digital offering as well as delivering fire strategies and fire safety advice.

I had already gained experience working within fire engineering teams at previous employers, but it had mainly been in the active fire protection side and that is why I have found the Technical Institute modules so beneficial – they’re very enlightening and well presented by my colleague, Mike Spearpoint.

I feel that having the Technical Institute really sets OFR apart from other businesses working in the industry – being able to harness the knowledge of our research team and share it across the business is incredible, and ensures the technical competency of our staff is where it should be. 

The most valuable thing that I’ve learned from the modules include a grounding in the basics which underpin the fire engineering principles that we apply to projects. My favourite module to date has to be Suppression, which is something that I have extensive experience in but value the opportunity to discuss and learn further.

I recognise how fortunate I am to be working at OFR – it’s brilliant to be able to work with a friendly and enthusiastic group of like-minded colleagues who have an enormous wealth of knowledge that they share generously and regularly.