Firestop moves to heartland of British chemical industry.
March 2005

Firestop Chemicals Limited, the only specialist developer in the UK of the new textile FR technology Noflan®, has recently moved from Bicester to newly built headquarters in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. This move marks the next phase in the company's growth and demonstrates a major step forward in the level of investment and commitment to the project.

The move to the North West, widely recognised as the heartland of the British chemical industry, has brought Firestop closer to its customer base and also provides good logistical links with the motorway network and easy access to Manchester and Liverpool airports.

The new HQ site provides excellent office facilities together with dedicated plastics and textile laboratories to enable application testing on customers' samples to be carried out on site.

The textiles lab boasts a mini stentor for treating samples with Noflan® flame retardant for textiles. A state-of-the-art Dr Collin twin screw extruder has been installed in the plastics lab for further applicaton development on Firestop's second project, BizonTM. This technology is a zero halogen flame retardant for plastics.

Promising new breakthrough in halogen free flame retardant technology for plastics applications.
July 2004

After extensive research and development in the Firestop Moscow laboratories, Firestop Chemicals Limited has synthesized a new halogen free chemistry called Bizon which is giving positive flame retardancy results in polypropylene. Initially screened internally for its flame retardancy performance, samples compounded at an addition level of 25% have undergone independent testing at the Warrington Fire Research Centre. The test results were excellent with the product achieving an UL94, V0 rating at a nominal thickness of 0.8 mm. Over the next few months further work will be carried out to establish the full impact of Bizon on the retained physical properties of the polypropylene compound. Bizon will also be evaluated in other substrates such as ABS and HIPS.

Bizon is already EINECS and TSCA approved as being non hazardous, it is therefore, planned, to produce material for sampling and test marketing in early 2006.

Firestop concludes ground breaking manufacturing agreement with Russian chemical giant VOCCO
2 February 2004

Firestop Chemicals Ltd, the only specialist developer of new technology flame retardants (FRs) in the UK, has announced the conclusion of an historic agreement with Russian chemical company, Vocco. Commercial quantities of Firestop’s latest non-brominated flame retardant for textiles, Noflan, will be manufactured at Vocco’s Volgograd site, with the first commercial delivery to the UK planned for 2005.

A pilot production line will be installed and commissioned within the plant during February and March, and will be dedicated exclusively to the production of Noflan. Vocco is a multi-industrial chemical plant producing a whole range of inorganic products, chloroganic products, plasticizing agents, polymers, solvents, freons and household chemicals.

The venture has been partly funded by a $277,000 grant from the ISTC (International Science and Technology Centre). Based in Moscow, the ISTC is a diplomatic initiative, with a mandate to assist Russian-based companies during the transition from a command to a market driven economy.

Commenting on the agreement, Peter Flanagan, Firestop’s Commercial Director, said: “We are very pleased to have reached agreement with Vocco to manufacture Noflan in Russia. The original formulation was developed by Russian scientists at the Semenov Institute in Moscow and working with them, we have developed a commercial synthesis. In partnership with Vocco, we are now able to bring Noflan to the commercial market.”
Founded in 1931 and re-registered as a public corporation in 1996, Vocco has both the capacity and on-site technical expertise to set up new production lines for foreign partners quickly and cost effectively. The new Firestop production facility has been sited in Unit 301 which will be dedicated to Noflan production. Reducing installation and commissioning time, 60% of the existing production line will be re-utilizised and much of the additional equipment required is already available on site.

Staffed by 28 personnel, including 23 operators and 5 technicians, Noflan production will operate on a 24 hour basis for 300 days per year. Based on projected demand, plans are already in place to significantly expand output at Vocco. The initial annual production availability of 200 tonnes, valued at £1.4 million, will be raised rapidly as sales of the new flame retardant take off and it establishes a market presence.
Firestop manufactures a range of non-brominated and halogen-free flame retardants for use with plastics and textiles, and fire resistant coatings for metal and wood. The only specialist manufacturer of new technology flame retardants in the UK, Firestop is backed by technology transfer company, Proventec plc, a company specialising in identifying the commercial potential of new technologies, particularly those developed in the former Soviet Union.

Firestop achieves EINECS certification for Noflan® and Bizon™flame retardants
28 November 2002

Following extensive testing, Noflan® and Bizon™, two new technologies developed by Firestop Chemicals Ltd, the only specialist manufacturer of new technology flame retardants in the UK, have been certified for use under the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Substances (EINECS). Commercial production is set to commence in 2003.

Noflan and Bizon are both phosphorus-based flame retardants, reacting when heated to create a char, inhibiting the pyrolysis process. Noflan has been engineered specifically for use with textiles, while Bizon is effective as a flame retardant additive for plastics with processing temperatures of up to 230°C. Both products were developed following extensive research conducted at Firestop's research facility within the Semenov Institute in Moscow.

Samples of Noflan and Bizon were submitted to SafePharm Laboratories Ltd, an accredited UK testing facility in March of this year. Following eight months of tests to determine physico-chemical properties, toxicity and ecotoxicity, both Noflan and Bizon have been classified as a Class 4 (non-classified) safe material.

The rigorous testing programme, undertaken at a cost in excess of £250,000, also included additional tests required by US TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act). Registration has already been achieved in the Russian Federation. CAS numbers will be applied for on receipt of final confirmation of the test results from the Relevant Authorities.

Firestop manufactures a range of non-brominated and halogen-free flame retardants for use with plastics and textiles and fire resistant coatings for metal and wood. The only specialist manufacturer of new technology flame retardants in the UK, Firestop is backed by technology-transfer company, Flintstone Technologies plc, a company specialising in identifying the commercial potential of new technologies, particularly those developed in the former Soviet Union.

New technology flame retardant company Firestop secures major investment funding
28 November 2002

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested £625,000 in Firestop Chemicals Ltd, the only specialist manufacturer of new technology flame retardants in the UK. An additional £400,000 from Flintstone Technologies plc and £300,000 from a private investor brings the total funding to almost £1.5 million.

The EBRD focuses on developing business opportunities and closer trading links between former eastern block countries and western Europe. Firestop technologies are the result of 25 years research and development by leading Russian experts, including key researchers at the Semenov Institute in Moscow. Following extensive testing, Firestop will commence commercial production of flame retardants in 2003.

Initially, two flame retardant products, Noflan® and Bizon™, will be manufactured. Both have been certified for use under the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Substances (EINECS). Following their accreditation
the EBRD increased its already substantial investment in Firestop by a further £175,000, giving the company a valuation of £6.5 million.

Firestop manufactures a range of non-brominated and halogen-free flame retardants for use with plastics and textiles, and fire resistant coatings for metal and wood. The only specialist manufacturer of new technology flame retardants in the UK, Firestop is backed by technology transfer company, Flintstone Technologies plc, a company specialising in identifying the commercial potential of new technologies, particularly those developed in the former Soviet Union.

Firestop invests £125,000 in new research laboratories
28 November 2002

Firestop Chemicals Ltd, the only specialist manufacturer of new technology flame retardants in the UK, has extended its research facilities at the prestigious Semenov Institute in Moscow with the opening of a new development laboratory. A UK-based applications laboratory is currently planned, further streamlining the product development and testing programme.

The new facility in Moscow will provide comprehensive R & D testing for new flame retardant technologies, significantly speeding up the development of new products. In addition to existing textile testing equipment which has been transferred from within the Institute, Firestop is investing in excess of £125,000 in comprehensive facilities for testing plastics materials, including a reactor for synthesising flame retardant samples, combining all research work at a single site.

Firestop's current commercial technologies are the result of 25 years research and development by leading Russian experts, including key researchers at the Semenov Institute. Founded in 1931, it was known as the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences until 1990, when it took the name of renowned Nobel prize winner Academician N N Semenov.

Originally the Institute was engaged in scientific research on the theory of chain reactions, particularly in connection with combustion and self-ignition phenomena and kinetics of chemical reactions. More recently, research has focused on the mechanisms of chemical conversion, including kinetics, catalysis, elementary chemical processes, combustion, explosion, macromolecular compounds and polymer materials.