Sector authority, Chuck J. Lewis, has joined multi award winning Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd as their new CEO. Mr Lewis, who took up the position within the Fire Curtains Group in early November brings with him an abundance of more than three decades of direct experience from the smoke and fire curtain sector having previously worked with Coopers Fire and latterly the IFC Group at both Management and Director level.  Mr Lewis was a co-author of both PAS 121:2007 and BS 8524:2013 series, and became the recipient of UK’s prestigious inaugural Passive Fire Protection Award for Member Contribution in 2018, awarded by the Association for Specialist Fire Protection who cited ‘consistently excelling in his chairmanship of Technical Task Group 7 (Active Fire Curtains) and going over and above the normal duties required for this role’. Speaking on his appointment Mr Lewis said, “I have watched the Fire Curtains Group and, in particular, Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd with interest.  Their Managing Director, Simona Pillay, represented on Technical Task Group 7, introduced me to Arthur Calow, Chairman of the Group, where they discussed their growth and development ambitions for their Group and, specifically, Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd. “I’m excited for this new challenge in my career and the plans set in motion that Simona and Arthur shared with me over the course of our discussions, which were  interesting and come at an extremely important time for the sector. “I’m very much looking forward to leading Smoke & Fire Ltd into this new decade and contributing to the growth and development of the company and, indeed, the Group as a whole.” This news follows on from the purchase of Intumescent Chemicals – a specialist in indicative fire-resistant testing and the research and development of intumescent liquid flame retardants (LFRs) – by Fire Curtains Group at the end of 2019.