This year, Howler turns 40. To mark the occasion, we’ve made a short film telling the story of who we are and where we came from – in the words of the people who lived it.
It’s a story that starts in 1986, when founder Ian Askew began selling and servicing fire extinguishers – working first from a shed at home, then a garage, then a small unit in Boscombe with a trade counter downstairs and an office above.
The turning point came in 1995, with the first battery-operated fire alarm for construction sites – a better way to raise the alarm than the rotary handbells still in use at the time. That invention took us national, and it’s the moment the Howler brand was born.
The years since have brought a steady run of milestones: our first radio-linked systems, the move to our current home in Wimborne, the launch of ProLink in 2017 and SafetyHub in 2019, and the 2022 rebrand that made Howler orange the most recognisable colour on site.
Through it all, we’ve stayed a family business – one that now protects construction sites, fit-outs and shipyards across the UK and beyond, and one with a simple aim: to be the UK’s #1 in Temporary Fire Safety.
Alongside the film, we’ve refreshed our About Howler page with a full company timeline and the complete transcript — you’ll find it all here: https://howleruk.com/about-howler/
Forty years on, our thanks go to every member of staff who has helped us along the way, and to the customers who have kept us going. Here’s to a bright future.
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