The property management company FirstPort was fined £360,000 today over the fatal fire at Gibson Court on September 30 2011.
More here
The full sentence is not available at this time.
The following statement has been provided to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP by FirstPort chief executive Nigel Howell.
“We are sincerely sorry for and deeply regret the fire in Gibson Court in 2011 that had the most tragic of consequences. Our thoughts remain with the family of Mrs. Cockerton through what must have been a very difficult time. Now that the case is concluded, I will be writing to them personally.
“As a company, we have co-operated fully with the investigations, accepted our responsibility and entered guilty pleas.
“We would like to reassure all our residents and their families that FirstPort Retirement is a very different company compared to six years ago.
“We have new owners, a completely new management team and, as the judge has acknowledged, a much-improved approach to safety including policies, procedures and training.
“Again we are sorry for the fire, have applied the lessons, and safety is our number 1 priority.”
Background Information from FirstPort:
The incident took place at a Peverel managed independent retirement living development at Gibson Court, in Woking, Surrey during September of 2011. At the time the company was being run by Bank appointed Administrators following the global financial crisis.
Whilst the legal entity still exists and is being sentenced today, FirstPort Retirement Property Services is a considerably improved company with new owners, a completely new management team who have a dedicated and focussed new approach to health and safety.
This was an isolated incident and whilst today’s management are unable to speak of the detail from the events of almost six years ago, it can assure customers and their relatives that Strong Health & Safety is FirstPort’s number one priority. The company now has a culture driven by its leadership team of keeping people who interact with FirstPort safe. Significant changes have been made in the way in which the company operates health and safety policies, processes and standards.
Firstport Retirement as a company previously known as Peverel Retirement have again been let off very lightly.
The CEO stated
“As a company, we have co-operated fully with the investigations, accepted our responsibility and entered guilty pleas.
Chas Asks:
Is this the same company that blamed the Fire Brigade when the fire first occurred?
Firstport Cont:
“We would like to reassure all our residents and their families that FirstPort Retirement is a very different company compared to six years ago.
Chas Says:
Changing name does not make you a very different company, does it?
Firstport Cont:
“We have new owners, a completely new management team and, as the judge has acknowledged, a much-improved approach to safety including policies, procedures and training. “Again we are sorry for the fire, have applied the lessons, and safety is our number 1 priority.”
Chas Says:
Is there anyone who believes a word this company says?
“We have new owners” But for how long?
The company that was charged with bringing investment opportunities to Electra have had their contract terminated(which represented 95% of all their work).
The new owners of Electra are highly critical of some of their previous investments.
This includes Knight Square(parent of Firstport)
In the notes to their accounts Electra make some scathing comments about the performance of Knight Square including ” Profitability has reduced as a result of operational disruption following a floored systems implementation” Electra downgraded the value of Knight square by 9m pounds.