A FIRE safety firm is planning a New Year recruitment drive after seeing record sales figures in 2016.

TFS, a fire safety and security firm, began life in the spare bedroom of a house in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough in 1994.

The company, which specialises in the design, installation and maintenance of fire alarm, emergency lighting and CCTV systems, relocated to a new premises in the town’s Riverside Park last year.

TFS has carried out work for major organisations in the Tees Valley, including Teesside University, Cleveland Police and Stockton Borough Council, and has seen sales increase by 35 per cent on the last financial year.

Kevin Hynes, managing director of TFS, told The Northern Echo how the idea to form the company came about.

“I was working in the Middle East, doing fire and gas work in Abu Dhabi.

“I wanted to come home because I was fed up of travelling - I wasn’t in charge of my own destiny.”

“I wanted to go into something that I know - I looked through the yellow pages and there was no competition for fire safety.

“It was all about advertising and spreading the word. I went to places and said how about me doing it?”

He added he was “very optimistic” about the future of TFS, which recently bid for its biggest ever contract and is planning a recruitment drive in the New Year as a result.

 “We have a new product launching at the beginning of 2017 which we have been preparing for two years, which is bound to increase sales.”

My Hynes said he was very keen to grow the business by recruiting people workers from the Teesside area.

“Without the apprentices, we would struggle. I noticed about five or six years ago the skills gap was getting worse, so we created our own scheme.

“We now take on a minimum of two every year, and they are all local people. We’ve also taken on two former SSI workers.

“A lot of people give youngsters bad press, but the ones here, especially the girls in the office, have been brilliant.

“The region has got a lot of potential, but it needs a kick up the backside.

“I do think we need to stop playing the victim, even though I think we are, but it doesn’t get you anywhere, we need to go out there and go for it.

Mr Hynes said much of the firm’s success story should be credited to its sales director Tony Cooney, who was appointed at the height of the 2011 recession.

“Tony’s technical and sales experience has been invaluable in maintaining growth.

“I always thought we would get to this stage, but it has happened quicker than I thought. It has accelerated over the last five years.

David Hynes, son of Kevin and operations manager at TFS, added: “Five years ago we had five engineers and now we have three times that number.

“We now have the infrastructure in place to take on major jobs.”