A Company Well Connected
HF’s Fire & Security Division was commissioned to design and install a comprehensive Fire Alarm and Intruder Alarm system at the MacPhie food factory in Glasgow. The project required sophisticated solutions to protect both the production facility and associated office and outbuilding spaces, while meeting the client’s strict safety and security standards.The client requested a P1 grade Addressable Fire Alarm System for the full protection of the production facility. This system was designed to cover ground floor and first-floor offices as well as attic space above the main factory production areas and all additional outbuildings on the site.
Linked to the main fire alarm system was a new aspirating smoke detector system (FAAS) covering nearly 1,700m² of production space. This system was carefully engineered to operate effectively in the factory’s blast freezer, which operates at -25°C, ensuring no area was left unmonitored.
The fire alarm infrastructure included a main control panel with three loops and over 150 devices, incorporating two dual-channel FAAST units. Each FAAST unit featured four detection zones, providing complete coverage of the production hall and ensuring early detection of any fire hazards.
In addition to fire protection, we installed a Grade 2 Intruder Alarm System. Grade 2 systems offer enhanced security through more sophisticated technology, providing robust protection against experienced intruders. This level of security was deemed ideal for a commercial site like MacPhie, securing multiple entry points across the building and supporting the factory’s operational safety.



Our Fire & Security division were commissioned to install a new Fire Alarm System and Intruder Alarm System for the MacPhie food factory in Glasgow.
The client requested a P1 grade Addressable Fire Alarm System to be designed and installed for the protection of production facility. This new fire alarm system was installed to cover the ground floor and first floor offices, the attic space above the main factory production areas as well as all of the additional outbuildings on the site.
Linked to this fire alarm system in the main building was a new aspirating alarm system that provides coverage across the entire production area – nearly 1700m²! This aspirating smoke detector system (FAAS System) was designed to also cover their blast freezer which operates at -25°C.
The fire alarm system included a main control panel with 3 loops connecting over 150 devices including the aspirating system with two dual channel FAAST units, each with 4 detection zones set up to provide complete coverage of the main production hall.
Finally we installed a Grade 2 level of Intruder Alarm System. Grade 2 alarm systems offer an additional level of security over Grade 1 systems thanks to more sophisticated technology and are a more reliable set up. Grade 2 alarms offer more of a challenge for burglars who posses some level of experience and knowledge in what they are doing. Grade 2 alarm systems protect against multiple entry points in a building and are far more suitable for many commercial properties such as this.
Project Challenges:
Installing the aspirating smoke detector system across the production area and blast freezer was a design challenge. However, as ‘A Company Well Connected’, we were able to draw on the experience and skills of our Mechanical division and their commercial freezer installation work to design an aspirating system that would work properly through these areas.
The HF Group of companies offers clients an unsurpassed level of genuinely in-house capabilities and senior-level hands-on management from initial planning to final handover. For our customers, it gives them the opportunity to tap into a wide range of services and a team of consultants with a skills base and command of technologies which are second to none. We have diversified and developed abreast of industry advancements and have grown into a group of world-class companies leading the way in next-generation technologies; and all with a family continuity at management level which is rarely seen. Faced with today’s business challenges – recessions, pandemics, takeovers and mergers, this is testament to HF’s truly outstanding approach.
Hugh M Fulton – Group Chairman says:
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