Sam Malins, Chief Executive Officer at Reacton Fire Suppression, breaks down the key developments driving Reacton’s momentum and the priorities set for the year ahead
The world of fire protection often begins with a simple but powerful motivation – a desire to prevent loss before it happens.
For Reacton Fire Suppression, that motivation has become a defining part of its culture and communication: a passion to protect.
The company’s mechanically operated systems are now installed across industries and continents, protecting everything from vehicles and heavy machinery to precision manufacturing equipment.
Over the past year, Reacton has strengthened its UK headquarters, expanded its international footprint and continued to grow its presence in markets including the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.
As the company looks ahead to Intersec Dubai 2026 and the next phase of its global development, it remains guided by the same principle that has shaped its journey from the start – designing reliable fire-suppression systems that work when it matters most.
In this conversation with IFSJ, Sam Malins, Chief Executive Officer at Reacton Fire Suppression, reflects on the past year, discusses current priorities and shares what continues to drive the business forward.
What have the past 12 months involved for Reacton, and what is the company focused on now?
The past 12 months have been about putting a clear sales focus in place and driving growth after several years of concentrating on building our approvals.
We have divided the sales side of the business into two parts, vehicle systems and clean agent systems, because we want the sales cycle to be as straightforward as the products themselves.
On the vehicle side we cover on and off road vehicles and heavy plant.
That includes mining equipment, quarrying equipment, waste and recycling machinery and on road fleets such as busses and military vehicles.
We also protect taxis.
In the UAE alone we protect more than 4500 vehicles, including 3000 busses and 1500 taxis.
That has been a major focus for us.
The clean agent side covers electrical control panels, CNC machines, wind turbines and a wide range of industrial applications where a clean agent is required.
So overall, the year has really been about growth and simplifying the sales structure so customers can reach the right product quickly and easily.
What does Reacton’s passion to protect mean to you personally, and how does it guide the company?
We started Reacton about 15 years ago with a clear intention to protect assets in a commercially viable way.
Fire suppression should be affordable for everyone.
It should not be something where you have to think twice because of the price point, especially when the aim is to protect people and assets around the world.
That thinking has guided us from day one.
We have worked hard to gain approvals while keeping the systems affordable.
We are proud to have the smallest approved dual agent system in the world and the smallest approved powder bus system.
By getting high performance into the smallest possible system, we can offer strong pricing and very high quality.
How do you maintain Reacton’s sense of purpose as the business grows across international markets?
It starts with hiring the right people.
We put a lot of effort into finding people who share our values and are passionate about getting our products out into the world.
Inside Reacton we feel like a family or a friendship group, and that is part of how we work.
When I move through the business that is how it feels, and I think that culture carries through to everything we do.
When we win big contracts to protect large fleets the whole team gets excited.
The excitement comes more from knowing those fleets will be protected properly than from the monetary rewards behind it.
That reinforces the purpose all the time.
It also helps that we have always focused on getting the pricing structure right.
When we win work because the systems perform well and the pricing is fair, that momentum feeds the passion to keep pushing forward.
What steps have strengthened Reacton’s global presence, and which regions are driving the strongest growth?
Reacton is strategically positioned around the world.
Our headquarters are near London, we have facilities in Phoenix, Arizona and a sales office in Dubai.
Being close to customers means we can support them properly, and that is the model we want to expand.
We have also added a representative in India to support that region.
We look at where our competitors are strong on price but weaker on performance, because that is where we know we can make the biggest impact.
From our testing we know our systems perform extremely well, and when you combine that with competitive pricing and strong approvals, we can go in and take market share with confidence.
The major growth areas for us are the United States, the Middle East and India.
We also have projects in Africa, Indonesia and Australia.
We protect the world’s largest open gold mine in Uzbekistan and work very closely with our distributors there.
We have strong relationships with distributors everywhere, and the closer we work with them, the more grounded we are in their markets and the better support we can give to their customers.
How does your expanded UK headquarters and manufacturing base support quality and responsiveness worldwide?
We moved into our 12,000 square foot Essex facility in 2017.
Over the years we added mezzanine after mezzanine until we simply didn’t have the space to expand.
It became much larger than it started, but we eventually outgrew it.
We could not hold enough stock before manufacturing, and once products were manufactured the goods out area was always in the way.
We have now moved to a 36,000 square foot building in Witham, and it is an incredible facility.
It feels like it was designed for us.
We have a separate CNC machine shop, a dedicated manufacturing line and a separate goods out building.
The space gives us room to grow, and I believe it could support six to eight times our current volume.
There is no mezzanine yet, so we could add one and effectively double the floor space.
It also has a large outdoor area for product testing and for managing articulated vehicles and container deliveries.
What trends or challenges are shaping fire suppression demand across transport, construction and manufacturing sectors?
Electrification is the biggest trend.
As more vehicles become electric, it becomes even more important to protect the electrical components.
People ask whether we protect electric vehicles, and the answer is absolutely.
A lot of EV fires start in electrical components outside the battery, so we protect those components to help prevent fire ingress into the battery.
We are seeing strong growth in clean agent systems across the electrified transport sector.
At the same time diesel vehicles will remain in use for many years, and we are seeing countries now demand fire suppression on busses as standard.
That is driving growth as well.
There is also a shift where large global corporations buy smaller operators, and those corporations often mandate fire suppression across all their fleets, which increases uptake.
Another big factor is certification.
We are the only company with a UL direct clean agent system, and that gives customers confidence because it is a very high level of certification for electrical control panels.
What elements of Reacton’s origins or ethos remain central to how you design and refine your systems?
Reacton comes from the heavy plant industry, especially the waste and recycling sector.
From the beginning we had a vision to bring affordability to asset protection because we had our own assets and knew what was needed.
We are very passionate about making sure people do not have to think twice about protecting their equipment.
We also have a circular economy approach through the group.
We own Fireward, our UK distributor, as well as the waste operator, which means we get live feedback straight from the field.
Reacton designs the system, Fireward installs it and the operator provides immediate operational insight.
That creates a fast loop, allowing us to test improvements quickly and refine the products in real conditions.
This has become a core part of how we develop and improve our systems.
What will be Reacton’s main focus at Intersec Dubai 2026 when meeting partners and customers?
We want to keep things simple and showcase the two sides of our product range, the vehicle systems and the clean agent systems.
We also use Intersec as a gathering for our team.
Our representative from India will be there, our colleague from the United States will come over and the UK team will be there, so it is a great way to start the year together.
We really value time with existing customers.
Alongside the stand we have a separate room for the full three days where we will present what 2026 and 2027 will look like for Reacton.
We will run a presentation each day, covering updates and future plans.
It also gives new prospective customers a chance to see everything in one place.
What are Reacton’s priorities for the year ahead, and where do you see the strongest opportunities?
After about a year and a half of focused selling we have seen strong growth.
In 2026 we are looking forward to adding new approvals and products to the range.
These include a new UL approval, an updated AS 5062 approval and approvals for specific regions.
We think this is the right moment to expand that part of the offering and give distributors more certified options for their customers.
We also have new products coming.
One is a heavy duty pneumatic linear detection tube designed for very harsh climates.
We have a new driver indication system coming in early 2026, which brings more features than before.
There are a couple of other products in development that we will talk about later.
Because growth has been strong, 2026 is about adding more products and more approvals to support the next phase.