Thames Water, the UK’s largest water and waste company, has signed a three-year framework agreement with Zaun following the perimeter security specialists’ involvement in the London Tideway project.
Zaun is one of four contractors in the framework set to supply and install security fencing and gates to a range of Thames Water’s 600 sites, and one of three companies signed on for ongoing maintenance.
Thames Water, which supplies over 14 million people with water, expects to save more than £500,000 by protecting sites from threats that include terrorism, organised crime, pollution, sewage, theft and vandalism.
Steve Roberts, Marketing Manager at Zaun, said, “We’re incredibly proud to be part of Thames Water’s project to revamp its security systems. As a result of the London Tideway project we have built a strong relationship with Thames Water, and the trust it has in our products and services is plain in the selection of Zaun as a long-term partner.”
The London Tideway initiative aims to create a cleaner and healthier river Thames through major engineering schemes including upgrades to major sewage treatment works in London, the construction of the Lee Tunnel and the proposed Thames Tideway Tunnel. Zaun was one of the key security solution providers in this project, designing, manufacturing and installing fencing for several locations.
Roberts explained that Zaun assesses each project on an individual basis to ensure the most suitable products are installed. This ensures the specific requirements of the site and the client are met.
“Each site is different, so our team takes steps to assess which of our products best suits the requirements of a project,” he said. “When it came to the London Tideway venture we ascertained that our ArmaWeave was the most suitable fencing to secure the sites we worked on as it met all of the environmental, security and client requirements.”
Zaun’s ArmaWeave fencing is the highest rated single panel fencing solution, according to Roberts, and it is capable of resisting attempts to cut through from hand, powered and non-contact tools. In addition, the tight mesh pattern stops people climbing, limiting intrusion attempts, and as ArmaWeave is woven not welded, higher tensile steel can be used in the manufacturing process.
Being a woven fence also allows ArmaWeave to be raked, so there is no need for stepped panels on undulations or slopes, reducing installation costs.
The ArmaWeave fence has been awarded the Secured by Design accreditation, the initiative of UK Police to ‘design out crime’, demonstrating Zaun’s dedication to ensuring all of its products and services are tested and accredited to the highest standards – something else Roberts insisted contributed to the company’s inclusion in Thames Water’s framework.
As well as stringent internal standards and testing, Roberts explained that products from Zaun are put through independent testing regimes recommended by leading security and government bodies such as the Home Office.
Other schemes and independent tests include Publicly Available Specification (PAS), the Transport Research Laboratory and RedBookLive, run by the Loss Prevention Certification Bureau (LPCB) and tested independently at the Buildings Research Establishment, which has become the de facto standard in the water industry.
Zaun works well in large frameworks such as the one set out by Thames Water, Roberts said, thanks to its unique approach to design and installation and the fact that all Zaun products integrate easily with other features in any security solution.
Roberts said, “Zaun is unusual in having a large, dedicated research, development and design team that works to develop products and solutions to specific problems and requirements from clients. We also have contract managers and installation teams dedicated to any given project. They see to it that the best solution is put into effect and that it integrates wholly with the overall security solution at the site.”
Zaun manufactures a range of steel mesh fencing, gates, bollards and turnstiles that are all designed to integrate with other elements of a security solution, including concrete blocks, electric fencing, CCTV, electronic access control and more.
This new partnership with Thames Water will see the perimeter specialists, who have had a very successful few years with key projects including the 2012 Olympics, prove their mettle as the leading fencing provider in the UK.
