Fire Research Group becomes Halliwell Fire Research

FIRE RESEARCH GROUP BECOMES HALLIWELL FIRE RESEARCH

Halliwell group of companies continuing to expand its services in Australia and New Zealand

PRESS RELEASE

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – DECEMBER 2023: Fire Research Group (FRG), the leading applied fire research consultancy, has rebranded to become Halliwell Fire Research. The business has adopted the renowned loss consulting brand Halliwell as it joins its growing international network of specialist services. The move comes six months after the acquisition of FRG by Halliwell parent company, the global claims services provider McLarens. It also follows the launch, in June 2023, of Halliwell Australia & New Zealand following the rebrand of Australian forensic investigations outfit GKA Investigations Group (GKA).

As Halliwell Fire Research, the business, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, will continue to provide its market-leading expert advisory and applied fire research services across Australia, New Zealand and internationally. The team draws upon staff with 30-40 years of research expertise in fire science and engineering to offer expert witness and advisory services to lawyers, loss adjusters, insurers, and developers and building owners across the commercial and public sectors. With a focus on major fire-related losses and compliance defects, key specialisms include incident reconstruction, risk analysis, building and material defects, specialist modelling, human behaviour analysis, and product and system testing.

The rebrand marks the latest expansion of the Halliwell group of companies, which is building a multifaceted offering around fire-related risk and damage, alongside other loss consulting services.
The team will form a key service line in the Halliwell group, alongside the Halliwell Forensic, Engineering and Construction services lines in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Halliwell Forensics in the UK and Ireland, which offers complementary forensic fire and technical cause and origin investigations services. It will also support Halliwell in the USA which offers engineering, architecture, industrial loss, and construction services.

Per Olson, Director of Halliwell Fire Research commented: “We have built a unique, market-leading business which is at the forefront of fire research and modelling for the insurance, legal and related sectors. Joining the renowned Halliwell group of companies provides us with a platform to expand our offering in terms of both service lines and international reach and this is a great opportunity for the team.”