Herts firm makes American acquisition

A company based near Hatfield that specialises in testers for smoke detectors has acquired an American manufacturer of fire pump, standpipe and hydrant testers.

Detectortesters, located in Welham Green, has taken over The Hose Monster Company, based in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

The award-winning British company employs 160 people and supplies its product ranges in more than 140 countries, with its own American warehousing site in New Jersey.

Detectortesters CEO Robert Campbell said: “We are excited to welcome The Hose Monster Company into the Detectortesters Group. Throughout their 30 years in business they have been constant innovators who have sought to improve standards within the industry.

“Their ambitions and values match strongly with our own, and we are very much looking forward to collaborating with the talented team in Illinois to strengthen the business even further. This is our third acquisition in recent years, and we look forward to other similarly exciting additions that will complement our customer offerings in the future.”

Hose Monster CEO Mike Tobey said: “The partnership with Detectortesters is a hugely positive development for everyone connected with The Hose Monster Company. This partnership will enable us to reach the global fire protection community in a way we could not before – bringing our reliable, accurate, and efficient flow testing products to new corners of our planet and in the process making the world a safer place.

“I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish for our customers with the addition of Detectortesters’ advanced engineering and technical development expertise. They are well positioned to take what we have done with the new Smart Monster line and supercharge its capabilities.”

Detectortesters is a portfolio company of Inflexion Private Equity Partners.