Zonegreen Makes Move to Boost Growth
Zonegreen, part of the Sentric Safety Group, has relocated to a purpose-built 500 square metre facility within the city’s Davy Industrial Park, which has been its home since 2009.
Zonegreen, part of the Sentric Safety Group, has relocated to a purpose-built 500 square metre facility within the city’s Davy Industrial Park, which has been its home since 2009.
Zonegreen, part of the Sentric Safety Group, has relocated to a purpose-built 500 square metre facility within the city’s Davy Industrial Park, which has been its home since 2009.
Rapid development has driven the office move, as a larger space was needed to accommodate the firm’s growing team. In the 15 years it has been based at Davy Industrial Park, staff numbers have increased 125%, from eight to 18 and some 2,700 orders have been received for its depot safety systems, more than 1,000 of those placed in the last four years alone.
The new premises will allow Zonegreen’s design and engineering experts space to demonstrate their technical expertise to customers, whilst also providing efficient workspaces for its support teams.
Welcoming Visitors
In January, Zonegreen invited customers and colleagues to see its new premises. It held its very first open day to celebrate the move and showcase its growing success.
Visitors were able to tour the new presentation spaces and engineering laboratory, which will welcome customers for conferences and testing, as well as explore the integrated offices and warehousing, where its advanced safety systems are designed and built.
Colleagues from Sentric joined the Zonegreen team to greet attendees from a range of companies, including Alstom, RTS and CBRE. Demonstrations were also held to illustrate how the firm’s flagship Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPS) and innovative Points Converter technology work in practice.
Christian Fletcher, Zonegreen’s Head of Engineering, said:
Making this move a reality has required a great deal of time and effort. Customers and products are at the heart of our relocation and we were honoured so many took time out of their busy day to visit us. We are really settling into our new premises. They give us the facilities and technology to foster greater collaboration with the wider Sentric family and we will be using the space to continue to grow and develop products that we know can save lives.
A Reputation for Excellence
Zonegreen is the world-leading expert in depot protection and interlocking solutions. Its technology is used in the world’s most advanced depots, as far afield as Australia and the Middle East, to reduce the risks faced daily by rail maintenance staff.
DPPS automates safety procedures to remove the margin for human error, allowing the safe and efficient control of vehicles in the depot environment.
Staff using the latest version of the system are issued with contactless RFID cards that can be programmed with various levels of authorisation. When beginning work in an area of risk, they log on to road end panels that prevent Network Rail-approved derailers from being lowered, stopping vehicles from entering the occupied road.
DPPS is one of the safest systems on the market, boasting independent certification to prove its compliance with both the hardware and software requirements of SIL 2 – a reliability assessment of the relative risk reduction. It is also the most thoroughly tested and proven in use, offering a low-risk option to depots looking to improve their working environment.
Pulling manual hand points and the dangers associated with traversing ballast to reach them, are some of the greatest hazards faced by maintenance staff. Zonegreen developed Points Converter to directly address this risk, without causing major expense or disruption for depots.
The technology automates existing manual hand points, allowing them to be switched remotely from a controller located conveniently within the facility. This removes the risks of falls and handling injuries associated with the force required to operate a manual point. It also increases the ease of operations, eliminating many stop/starts from train movements.
Points Converters do not compromise the integrity of manual points and are supplied with an event logging system that allows the depot manager to keep a record of operations, offering full traceability.
Better Together
Joining the Sentric Safety Group in 2023 brought Zonegreen together with other international brands and experts. These organisations are dedicated to protecting people in hazardous working environments. This transition has proven to be incredibly successful and is enhancing its reputation worldwide.
Gemma Houghton, Sentric’s Head of Rail, said:
Zonegreen is an excellent ambassador for our group, demonstrating how technology can be used to automate safety procedures, reducing the risks faced by rail maintenance staff. We are very proud of the progress the firm is making and its new premises reflect the hard work and innovation that is fuelling its growth.
