This parish consists of two churches. Built in 1763 the Holy Trinity Church is a Grade 1 listed building. It is the largest Georgian church in Surrey. St Mary’s is the oldest church in Guildford dating back to around 950.
Parish administrator Michèle Lyon had become frustrated with the fire extinguisher service she was receiving for the Holy Trinity and St Marys churches in Guildford. Having cancelled one contract when it became too expensive four years ago, she decided to use a local company. They came in at a lower cost initially but then prices started to rise and she found that she was being charged for unexpected ‘extras’. One example was an invoice charge for CO2 extinguisher horns, despite this being an integral part of any CO2 fire extinguisher.
Michèle put the contract out to tender and invited Safelincs to quote as it is an approved supplier on the Parish Buying* website.
A Safelincs service engineer attended the two churches and found that the incumbent supplier wanted to replace equipment that didn’t need replacing and had been completely missing servicing of other extinguishers in the past. Furthermore, the company had issued fire extinguisher certificates for items that had not been inspected.
Safelincs was able to advise that certain extinguishers were superfluous and the equipment and servicing it now provides, through the Parish Buying website, is costing Michèle around half the cost of any other quote.
“Safelincs is providing a positive, swift, reliable and, above all, honest service,” says Michèle. “The prices are clearly published on the Parish Buying website and there are no hidden charges. Everything is transparent and I feel that I am in control of my costs now. Money is very tight everywhere at the moment and I am sure many other churches would benefit from the service they provide. I shall continue to use them and am about to buy a carbon monoxide alarm for the boiler room.”
*Parish Buying is the central purchasing organisation of the Church of England and Safelincs is the fire safety and H+S supplier for Parish Buying. Parishes and church organisations achieve significant cost savings when purchasing Safelincs services and products through Parish Buying.
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