Panic alarm button and sounder plates image gallery
Sounder and panic alarm in bronze antique
Sounder and panic alarm in matt white
Sounder in antique brass
Panic button in bronze antique
Sounder and panic alarm in jordan bronze
Panic button in polished chrome
Sounder in antique brass
Sounder in matt black
Sounder, Renaissance screwless plate in Umber
Panic button, Renaissance screwless plate in Sienna
HRH The Princess Royal presents The King’s Awards for Enterprise winner trophy at Focus SB
HRH The Princess Royal presents The King’s Award for Enterprise crystal trophy to MD Gary Stevens, Alex Lloyd Zoom Photography Ltd
In April of 2023, Focus SB was honoured to achieve a first ever King’s Awards for Enterprise for International Trade. On Wednesday 22nd November, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited Focus SB where she formally presented our Managing Director Mr Gary Stevens with The King’s Awards for Enterprise engraved crystal winner trophy for our achievement in International Trade.
The Princess Royal arrived at Focus SB’s main factory in St Leonards on Sea and was welcomed by Mr Graham Peters, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex who presented her to distinguished guests Mr Richard Bickersteth, High Sheriff of East Sussex; Councillor Peter Pragnell, Chairman of East Sussex County Council and Councillor Margi O’Callaghan, Mayor of Hastings before Mr Gary Stevens welcomed Her Royal Highness and invited her into the building where he presented The Princess Royal to some of Focus SB’s senior management team: Mr Roger Kemp, our recently retired company chairman and owner; guest Mrs Suzi Baker, PR and social media consultant; Technical Manager Mr Mark Curtis; Head of Strategic Partnerships Mr Duncan Ray; guest Mrs Andrea Randall-Smith, CEO of Little Gate Supported Employment and our General Manager Mr Chris Turner.
The Princess Royal was then invited on a tour of our Napier Road factory by Mr Chris Turner, flanked by Mr Gary Stevens during which she was given electrical accessories product manufacturing process demonstrations and introduced to trainees and apprentices by each departmental group manager, introduced by General Manager Mr Chris Turner; HR and Customer Aftercare Manager Mrs Jo Cloute; Assembly and Warehouse Manager Mrs Val Chandler; Finance Manager and Company Secretary Mr Andrew Lanworn; Sales and Marketing Manager Mr Steve Moss; Operations Support Manager Mr Rob Little and Sales Office Manager Mrs Terri Hoey.
Demonstrations included both traditional and robot technology, hand finishing including spray painting and component hand assembly. Manufacturing processes included demonstrations by Senior Specials Machinist Mr Damian Hoey (laser marking); Specials Machinist Mr Adam Simpson; Engineering Operative Mr Roland Caughey and Senior Engineer Mr Nick Howe (CNC machining of brass plates); Engineering Operative Mr Neil Matthews (partnership products assembly); Finishing Supervisor Mr Trevor Saunders, Finishing Assistant Supervisor Mr Miguel Stock Delgado and Finisher/Sprayer Operative Mr Rob Secord (robotic polishing cell, polishing shop, degreasing, auto lacquering finishing line, hand spray painting); Assembly and Warehouse Manager Mrs Val Chandler and Senior Assembler Miss Jo Kellaway (assembly and packing); Finishing Operatives Mr Shane Jones and Mr Ash McHugh, Engineering Operative, Mr Alan Barrett (hand finishing).
Her Royal Highness greeted employees from each department, including apprentices and trainees (with their job coaches) from Little Gate Supported Employment, after which she proceeded to one end of the factory where all staff were assembled for a formal presentation of The King’s Awards for Enterprise winner trophy to Mr Stevens introduced by Mr Andrew Blackman, Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex.
to HRH The Princess Royal
The Lord-Lieutenant welcomed the attending guests and invited The Princess Royal to give a short speech of congratulations and present The King’s Awards for Enterprise engraved crystal trophy to Mr Stevens, who accepted the award on behalf of Focus SB, giving a short speech of thanks. He then invited Mrs Terri Hoey to present Her Royal Highness with gifts comprising a Sussex trug containing a beautiful floral arrangement of locally grown flowers from Sussex Cutting Garden, part of the Flowers from the Farm organisation which champions British flowers (growers in the group supplied cut flowers to the florist chosen for The King’s coronation) presented with honey from a beehive sponsored by Focus SB at SW Honey Farms and a wreath of flowers grown and handmade by the trainees at Little Gate Farm. Sussex Cutting Garden also provided an attractive floral arrangement to decorate our reception area for the occasion.
Our MD then invited The Princess Royal back to Focus SB’s reception to unveil a commemorative plaque manufactured by us to mark her visit.
Design industry guests joining Focus SB to share in this prestigious moment for the company included Mr Grant Pierrus, Interior Style Hunter and Mrs Sophie Harper, editor Hospitality Interiors magazine who delighted in joining us in celebrating this very special occasion!
With former Chairman Mr Roger Kemp and Senior Engineer Mr Nick Howe given a special mention during his award acceptance speech, Mr Gary Stevens commented: “It was an absolute honour to host HRH The Princess Royal at our factory in Hastings and to receive our King’s Award from her. I think she spoke to virtually every member of staff and was very knowledgeable. What a year for Focus SB and me personally, getting to meet The King, a Princess and a Duchess! We were delighted to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to Focus SB to present us with our King’s Awards for Enterprise for International Trade trophy in person. This visit rounds off one of the most exciting years in the company’s history.”
He continued: “It’s a huge honour for an SME based in Hastings to have the recognition of a King’s Award, one of the most prestigious awards a company can be bestowed, but in addition to that, meeting The King at Buckingham Palace and then to have a visit from The Princess Royal is a huge boost and reward for every single employee at Focus SB, without whom, none of this would have been possible. I have been in manufacturing of electrical products all of my career and I started off as a 16-year-old technical apprentice and have worked my way through various businesses from technical to marketing, sales and general management and I have been an MD of two manufacturing companies, including currently with Focus SB.”
An Export Champion for Southern England (Department for Business & Trade 2023/24 Export Champions programme), Mr Stevens concludes: "I am passionate about manufacturing and introducing more young people into manufacturing and encouraging them to take up apprenticeships, I would like to think that we are doing our bit here at Focus SB by working with local educational establishments, employment agencies and local charities to fulfil that goal, and that my own journey can act as a beacon for those young people who may be thinking about a career in manufacturing and what can be achieved. After all, manufacturing accounts for 2.6 million jobs in the UK and we are the 8th largest manufacturing country in the world!”
at Buckingham Palace
Focus SB is one of 148 organisations nationally to win a prestigious King’s Awards for Enterprise (announced Friday 21 April 2023), with the company recognised for its excellence in international trade. A total of 149 Awards are made with one company being recognised with two awards.
Employing 65 people, Focus SB Ltd was set up in 2000 and is a manufacturer of wiring devices. In 2017 we made history in our industry when we became the first and only European manufacturer to gain CQC factory accreditation to supply and sell wiring accessories directly from Europe to mainland China, also gaining full CCC licence for all of our products for the Chinese marketplace.
Mr Gary Stevens, Managing Director says: “Winning The King's Awards for Enterprise is not only an endorsement of the hard work that we have done in building our export market, but it is also one of the highest accolades a business can achieve. To provide some perspective, only two companies from East Sussex were awarded the Queen's Award title in 2022, and only one of those was for International Trade. I’m thrilled that this year sees us flying the flag for East Sussex in the first ever King's Awards for Enterprise! For an SME like Focus SB, this award could potentially help to support our strategy for global reach and accelerate our growth in overseas markets, future proofing our business.
"Over the years, Focus SB has been associated with supplying its products to heritage buildings, including some Royal residences and now, having received this prestigious award, it feels like the icing on the cake and recognition by the highest in the land for all the hard work that the company has achieved!”
Mr Stevens continues: “Focus SB looks set to provide real prospects to resident job seekers in the local community and Hastings area, which is one of the more deprived coastal towns in Sussex, despite being one of the richest in culture and diversity.” Read about our MD's experience on meeting His Majesty King Charles III at the Buckingham Palace Reception for King’s Awards winners.
Visit our company story to view a full gallery of images of the royal visit.
HRH The Princess Royal presents The King's Award for Enterprise for International Trade winner trophy at Focus SB on Wednesday 22nd November 2023
Gary Stevens welcomes HRH The Princess Royal to Focus SB
Roger Kemp, retired chairman meets HRH The Princess Royal
Rob Little meets HRH The Princess Royal
HRH The Princess Royal meets apprentices and trainees
HRH The Princess Royal meets Andrew Lanworn, Finance Manager
General Manager Chris Turner introduces Adam Simpson
Meeting Steve Moss and the sales team
Meeting apprentices and trainees
Terri Hoey meets HRH The Princess Royal
Senior Engineer Nick Howe demonstrates the Cobot and CNC
Meeting apprentices and trainees
With Neil Matthews, engineering operative
Andrea Randall-Smith CEO of Little Gate Supported Employment
Trevor Saunders introduces the robot polishing cell
Meeting apprentices and trainees
Roland Caughey explains brass machining
Trevor Saunders explains finishing processes
Trevor Saunders, Finishing Supervisor
HRH The Princess Royal meets young employees
The King's Award for Enterprise for International Trade is presented
Terri Hoey presents gifts
HRH The Princess Royal unveils plaque
The Focus SB team outside one of our factories
Made in the South East Awards Winner
Anni accepts award from judge Mr Paul Hetherington, strategic advisor BRE Group
Supply Chain Warehouse Operative Anni Sanders wins 'Apprentice of the Year' in the Insider Media Made in the South East Awards!
Anni attended the tenth edition of Insider’s annual awards on 30th November 2023 with her parents and our Assembly Manager, Mrs Val Chandler, and was delighted with the news when it was announced she’d won ‘Apprentice of the Year’ at the ceremony held at the Hilton London Gatwick.
Anni who successfully completed her apprenticeship in early 2022 was thrilled to receive her certificate last March and then to go on and win the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award in 2023 was the icing on the cake! Trained in goods inward/despatch, stores and assembly, Anni’s role involves taking deliveries, checking for damaged/missing items, storing goods, moving stock by various methods, picking/packing orders, getting goods ready for dispatch, maintaining stock records, health and safety, manual handling and using all forms of documentation throughout these areas.
Mr Paul Hetherington, strategic advisor BRE Group commented: “Being a judge at these was really difficult, great to see the worthy winners so happy. Especially the one I presented for Apprentice of the Year to Anni Sanders of Focus SB.”
Mrs Val Chandler, assembly manager Focus SB said: “It was a great night! We at Focus SB are trying to bring on the next generation to keep doing what Focus is good at. Anni is an absolute pleasure to mentor and has taken everything that has been shown on board and learns something new every day. It's bringing the confidence out and working within a team which is not an easy thing to do when you are always doubting yourself. I say let there be more Annis!”
Anni’s proud parents Mr and Mrs Sanders attended the awards with our Assembly Manager Mrs Val Chandler last evening, with Mrs Saunders thanking us for our support for Anni on her career journey: “ Thanks you Focus SB for being such a great employer and helping Anni reach her potential, and special thanks to Val Chandler.”
The compere for the evening was Mr Philip Cunliffe, Insider Media regional business editor, with the event sponsored by Cardinal Global Logistics, Crowe UK and HSBC UK, with the networking booklets sponsored by EMC.
About her apprenticeship Anni said: “I was interested in starting an apprenticeship at Focus SB because it was the path I wanted to go down and something different than going to college, every day here is never the same and I like that.” Read more about Anni and other Focus SB apprentices in our blog post ‘Spotlight on apprenticeships’.
STOP PRESS: We congratulate Supply Chain Warehouse Operative Anni Sanders on her second success in the Insider awards ‘Apprentice of the Year’ category, achieving ‘Highly Commended' in the Made in the UK Awards. Visit news to read about Anni’s achievement in June 2024.
We welcome applicants via our successful apprenticeship and graduate training programmes. If you are seeking a new career opportunity please contact Mrs Jo Cloute telling us a bit about yourself along with a CV (if available).
Focus SB achieves shortlisted for Innovation of the Year
We’re proud to achieve Shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category in the Made in Britain Impact Awards 2023 for our patent pending Renaissance screwless electrical accessories range.
Launched at this year’s Decorex, Renaissance is a high quality low profile screwless plate made from solid brass, featuring distinctive square corner detail and 18 months in the making is an evolution of a classic design. Available in bespoke sizes in five exclusive finishes Ochre, Roma, Sienna, Umber and Canvas, this attractive low profile solution is achieved by cleverly conceived pocketed, clip and divot design details to the rear of the plate with hidden fixings for a superior flush electrical installation.
Unrivalled on the luxury electrical hardware market, the design-first Renaissance product was conceived with sustainable processes and materials key to its development and longevity as a construction product. Modern and crafted to last in-house from highest specification recycled solid brass, the Renaissance flat screwless plate demonstrates the best in human artistry and traditional craftsmanship, complemented by custom CNC and Cobot technology showcasing outstanding precision engineered qualities.
Delighted with the news, Focus SB MD Gary Stevens, who was proud to win ‘Rising Star’ in the very first Made in Britain Awards last year for his passion and commitment to sustainability says:
“This recognition in the Made in Britain Impact Awards is a welcome reward for the whole team who have worked so hard to bring the Renaissance product to fruition. When I set our in-house technical design team the brief in 2021, I knew it would be challenging because what I wanted didn’t exist! The concept was to design a true flat screwless plate with square corners, rather than a formed, or dished plate, or one that sits inside a frame in two pieces, or sits on a visible plastic frame, like the majority of available products on the luxury market. We are proud to be a member of the Made in Britain campaign which champions and supports the very best of British business and plan to continue pushing forward with rigorous investment in our people and processes for a sustainable manufacturing future for the company, and as a King’s Awards for Enterprise winner and Department for Business and Trade Export Champion do our bit to boost the UK plc export economy!”
Made in Britain CEO John Pearce said: “We’re delighted that the second year of our Impact Awards has attracted such an inspirational number of nominations from across the UK manufacturing sector. Made in Britain is made up of remarkable British companies and it’s an honour to have brought together such an esteemed panel of judges to select those deserving of special recognition this year, across our ten 2023 Impact Award categories.”
The awards were featured by The Manufacturer magazine with the Innovation of the Year category judged by James Fudge, Head of Operations at Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), John Mathers, Chair, British Design Fund and Robert White Founder & CEO White Motorcycle Concepts.
Visit our RENAISSANCE dedicated website to view a product inspiration image gallery and download our Lookbook from the Product information section.
Content updated 22nd July 2024.