A career spent on both sides of the enforcement desk. The perspective that comes from that is not something that can be learned from a course — or bought cheaply.
There is no shortage of fire risk assessors. What is scarce is the combination of deep sector knowledge, genuine qualifications, and the kind of experience that only comes from years of working at the sharp end of fire safety regulation — on both sides of the enforcement desk.
SimplyNeat Fire Solutions Ltd is built around that combination. The work Brian takes on reflects the experience he brings — organisations that understand the value of a credible, defensible fire risk assessment, and that recognise the difference between a report that genuinely addresses risk and one that ticks a box.
That difference matters most when scrutiny arrives — whether from an enforcing authority, a solicitor, an insurer, or following an incident. A fire risk assessment that holds up under that scrutiny is worth considerably more than the cheapest one available. It is also worth considerably more than a well-intentioned one produced by someone without the background to know what scrutiny actually looks like.
What sets SimplyNeat apart
Brian spent over two decades as a fire safety enforcement officer and A31 signatory with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service — progressing from Sub Officer to Group Manager through a continuous fire safety career. He created and led one of the earliest dedicated fire safety enforcement and prosecution teams in the country. He understood the enforcement decision-making process from the inside.
Critically, he also identified a structural flaw in how that power was being exercised. The original process allowed principal officers — with no fire safety background, who had never attended site — to sign Enforcement and Prohibition Notices. Brian wrote the paper that changed it: A31 signatory authority placed at Group Manager level, with the expertise and site knowledge the decision required. The authority he held was the authority he had argued needed to exist at the right level.
That background informs every fire risk assessment SimplyNeat produces. Not because every client is facing enforcement — but because knowing what a defensible assessment looks like from an enforcer's perspective is the standard every assessment should be written to.
Brian's career extended well beyond Hampshire. As CFOA's liaison lead between government departments — the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform — during the Red Tape Challenge, the Better Regulation programme and negotiations that led to the introduction of the Primary Authority Scheme, he operated at the intersection of fire safety regulation and national policy.
As Programme Support Officer for CFOA's Integrated Data and Research programme, he represented CFOA at the Federation of European Union Fire Officers — working on the ambition to support enforcement and operational decisions based on evidence rather than convention.
That breadth of experience — from frontline inspection to national liaison to international representation — gives Brian a perspective on fire safety regulation that very few independent assessors can match. It goes well beyond what any qualification alone can provide.
EngTech GIFireE NFRAR IFSM DipNSA (L10SCQA — Level 6 equivalent). These are not box-ticking memberships or one-day certificates. They represent a sustained, career-long commitment to professional standards in a sector that is changing rapidly — and where the stakes of getting competency wrong are already documented in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Article 18 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) already places a legal duty on the Responsible Person to appoint a competent person to assist in undertaking preventive and protective measures. Competence is defined as sufficient training, experience, knowledge and other qualities to properly fulfil that role. That duty applies to all premises within scope of the FSO — not just higher risk buildings.
The sector is now moving decisively towards formal regulation. British Standard BS 8674, published in 2025, sets out the framework for competence of individual fire risk assessors. The government's consultation on the fire risk assessor profession, published in March 2026 and open until 18 June 2026, proposes mandatory competency requirements and a regulated profession — acting directly on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 recommendation. The direction of travel is unambiguous: competency will become a statutory requirement.
Brian's qualifications and third-party registrations — NFRAR, IFE Fire Risk Assessors Register accreditation in progress — are the objective evidence of competency that Article 18 already requires, that BS 8674 formalises, and that forthcoming regulation will mandate. Clients who instruct SimplyNeat are not waiting for the regulatory landscape to catch up. They are already commissioning assessments from someone who meets the standard that is coming.
A fire risk assessment is only as valuable as the action it drives. A report that creates anxiety without direction, or that states generic findings copied from guidance rather than specific observations from the premises in front of the assessor, does not meet the standard of suitable and sufficient under Article 9 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) — and it does not genuinely serve the Responsible Person.
Every SimplyNeat fire risk assessment is written to a clear standard: findings proportionate to actual risk, recommendations actionable and calibrated to the specific premises and operation, a risk rating that reflects reality rather than liability management, and an action plan the Responsible Person can actually implement.
The test is not whether the report covers Brian — it is whether it genuinely helps the Responsible Person understand and manage their risk. That is the standard every SimplyNeat fire risk assessment is written to. It is also the standard Brian applied when he was on the other side of the desk.
Who we work with
SimplyNeat works with clients who have made a considered decision about the kind of fire risk assessment they need — and the kind of assessor they want to instruct. That is not always the largest organisation or the highest-value instruction. It is the client who understands that a credible, defensible fire risk assessment is not a cost to be minimised — it is a professional service with real consequences if it falls short.
That is not an arrogant position. It is an honest one. Brian's time and expertise are finite. The work he takes on reflects the standard he applies to it.
Typical clients
An honest position
Deliberately credible. Proportionate by design.
The fire risk assessment sector is filled with providers offering low fees and fast turnaround. In Brian's professional opinion — informed by years of enforcement experience and reviewing assessments from the other side of the desk — not all of them produce work that would withstand scrutiny from an informed enforcing officer or a court of law. Ultimately that judgement rests with the enforcing authority and, if it comes to it, with the courts. But the question of whether a fire risk assessment is suitable and sufficient under Article 9 of the FSO (as amended) is not a matter of opinion — it is a legal standard.
Brian's career was spent, in part, making exactly those judgements. He understands the difference between a fire risk assessment that meets that standard and one that creates the appearance of compliance without the substance.
SimplyNeat's fees reflect the expertise and accountability behind the work. They are not the lowest in the market. They represent fair value for a service that is worth having — produced by an assessor who will stand behind it.
Get a QuoteGet in touch for a no-obligation discussion. We endeavour to respond to all enquiries within one working day. SimplyNeat is a sole practitioner practice — if Brian is on site or unavailable, there may occasionally be a short delay.
Common questions
Because fees reflect the expertise and accountability behind the work, not a race to the lowest quote. In Brian's professional experience — informed by years of enforcement work reviewing assessments from the other side of the desk — not every low-cost, fast-turnaround assessment would withstand scrutiny from an informed enforcing officer or a court. SimplyNeat's fees aren't the lowest in the market; they represent fair value for a report from an assessor who will stand behind it.
Brian spent over two decades as a fire safety enforcement officer and A31 signatory with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, progressing from Sub Officer to Group Manager, and identified and helped fix a structural flaw in how enforcement authority was exercised nationally. That's a perspective very few independent assessors have — knowing what a defensible fire risk assessment looks like from the enforcing side, not just the assessing side.
Article 18 of the Fire Safety Order already requires a competent person; British Standard BS 8674, published in 2025, now sets out what that competence looks like for individual fire risk assessors; and a government consultation on regulating the fire risk assessor profession — acting on a Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 recommendation — closed in June 2026 proposing mandatory competency requirements. Brian's qualifications and registrations are the evidence of competence that standard already requires and that regulation is moving to mandate.
One written to be used, not filed away: findings proportionate to the actual risk identified, recommendations calibrated to the specific premises and operation, a risk rating that reflects reality rather than liability management, and an action plan the Responsible Person can genuinely implement. The test isn't whether the report covers the assessor — it's whether it actually helps the Responsible Person manage their risk.
Track record
30+ years' fire safety experience · Every assessment personally conducted by Brian — no subcontracted assessors