Acio

Aico builds on Scottish success with connected home technology

More than half a million social homes in Scotland have Aico smoke alarms installed, highlighting the company’s long-standing presence in the UK social housing sector and the strong relationships it has built across Scotland.

Aico has been a market leader in domestic fire and carbon monoxide (CO) protection for more than three decades. Its alarms are manufactured in Shannon, Co Clare, by parent company Ei Electronics, giving Aico the backing of one of Ireland’s leading manufacturers of home life-safety products while maintaining its dedicated focus on the UK market.

More recently, Aico has expanded its offering into connected home and environmental monitoring technology, responding to the changing needs of housing providers and the increasing importance of data in managing homes effectively.

“We work with upwards of 90% of social housing providers across the UK,” says Aico Regional Director Tony Boyle. “Our products are manufactured in Shannon and shipped to our UK base in Oswestry, Shropshire. From there, our route to market is through a network of more than 2,000 electrical distribution partners across the UK.

“It’s a model that has worked very well for us, but a big part of Aico’s success comes down to the relationships we have built with housing providers, distributors and installers over many years.”

A strong relationship with Scotland

That success is particularly evident in Scotland. There are around 600,000 social homes across the country, with Aico smoke alarms installed in more than half a million of them.

“Scotland has always been a very important market for Aico,” says Boyle. “We’re proud of the trust that has been placed in us, and we’re conscious that those relationships have been built over a long period of time. We never take that trust for granted.”

Scotland and the wider UK have high standards when it comes to domestic fire and home safety, and the regulatory environment has continued to develop in recent years.

“Scotland has been very progressive in this area,” Boyle says. “Legislation was introduced requiring homes to have interlinked fire alarms and carbon monoxide protection where appropriate. That focus on safety has helped drive higher standards across the sector.”

Attention is now increasingly extending beyond fire and CO protection to wider environmental conditions within homes, particularly damp and mould.

The tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale in 2020 brought the potentially devastating consequences of prolonged exposure to mould into sharp focus and has led to greater attention being placed on how housing providers identify and respond to these risks.

Aico has responded by developing a suite of environmental sensors capable of monitoring factors including temperature and humidity.

“We’re seeing strong interest in Scotland in environmental monitoring,” says Boyle. “The technology can give housing providers much greater visibility of conditions across their properties and help identify potential issues at an earlier stage.

“For us, it’s about providing useful, actionable information. If we can help housing teams understand what is happening across their stock and make better-informed decisions, that delivers real value.”

The move into connected homes

Environmental monitoring forms part of Aico’s broader expansion into connected home technology.

“Social housing providers are managing large and often complex portfolios, so having better information available to them can make a significant difference,” Boyle explains.

“Our connected technology can provide remote visibility of assets and environmental conditions across properties. In some circumstances that can avoid an unnecessary journey to a property; in others, it can help identify where attention may be required.

“It’s about giving housing providers the information and insight they need to make informed decisions and manage their stock more effectively.”

Aico significantly strengthened its capabilities in this area through the acquisition of Bristol-based Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider HomeLINK, which is now fully integrated into Aico.

This brings together Aico’s established fire and CO protection expertise with connected technology, environmental monitoring, data and analytics, creating a complementary platform across its range of devices.

Aico is already seeing significant interest in its connected solutions in Scotland. West Dunbartonshire Council has committed to a stock-wide rollout of the technology across circa 12,000 homes.

“We’re very encouraged by the response we’re seeing in Scotland,” says Boyle. “Every housing provider has different stock, priorities and challenges, so our role is to listen, understand what they need and help them get the greatest practical benefit from the technology.”

Relationships built over decades

Boyle attributes Aico’s success to the quality and reliability of its products, backed by Ei Electronics’ manufacturing expertise in Shannon, together with the relationships Aico has developed with housing providers, electrical distributors and installers over many years.

“Product quality is fundamental to what we do, particularly when you’re talking about life-safety products,” he says. “Having that manufacturing capability and expertise within the wider Ei Electronics group is a real strength for Aico, but the relationships we build and the support we provide in the UK are equally important.

“We’ve worked alongside organisations and industry partners for a very long time. Our approach has always been to listen, understand the challenges facing the sector and provide support rather than simply supply a product.”

Training and education have also been central to that approach.

Aico has provided free training to thousands of electricians over the years and also delivers City & Guilds Assured training courses from its Oswestry headquarters.

“We believe that when you’re providing safety-critical products, you have a responsibility to support the people specifying, installing and managing them,” says Boyle. “That’s why training and education have always been such an important part of Aico.”

Support from Enterprise Ireland

Enterprise Ireland has also played an important role in supporting Aico’s activities in Scotland and strengthening the connection between its Irish manufacturing base and the UK market.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the Enterprise Ireland Scotland team,” says Boyle. “They provide us with valuable market intelligence, make introductions and are constantly looking for practical ways to support us.

“They understand the market, they’re proactive and they’re always on the ball. They’ve been a very good partner to Aico.”

Looking ahead, Boyle sees significant potential for Aico to build on its established fire and CO protection business as connected home and environmental monitoring technologies become increasingly important to housing providers.

“We’re proud of what Aico has achieved in Scotland, but we also recognise that our success has only been possible because housing providers, distributors and installers have chosen to work with us over many years,” he says.

“We want to continue earning that trust. Technology will continue to develop, regulations will evolve and the challenges facing housing providers will change, but our approach remains the same: listen, work in partnership with the sector and continue developing products and solutions that help create safer, healthier homes.”