About us

Gardiner Associates ... ... is the UK’s major provider of inter-agency fire investigation training to police and fire authorities. The company ethos is that training should be delivered by people who possess and practice intrinsic skills in the subject areas that they teach. To that end, from its launch in 1996, Gardiner Associates has assembled a multi-disciplined team of practitioners. These professionals, who are amongst the most highly experienced and skilled in their disciplines, bring to the classroom and the training ground a wealth of practical insight and technique. The team continues to provide a range of 'best value' training options. Representatives of the majority of British fire and police authorities and forensic science laboratories have already attended our training programmes and in the past the Forensic Science Service has used our practical training facilities to assess and accredit its own scientists.

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Best value
Our Team
Our Clients

Best Value

Gardiner Associates (GA) is an Institution of Fire Engineers ‘approved’ training course provider.

Many of our established courses and other training events are validated for Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

The GA team has long fostered the inter-agency team approach to fire investigation and organises its training courses and other events accordingly.

All of the training programmes are designed, developed, presented and overseen by members of a very experienced team of practitioners and experts.

All of our training events are inter-active and draw not only from personal experiences and modern publications, but also at times from those who wrote the books.

Whilst we acknowledge the existence and the technical level at which various electronic training packages are aimed, for the specialist field of work of the experienced practitioners we prefer to draw from the same recommended reading list and present all of the subject areas in person.

The training programmes keep pace with the latest developments in the field

Our fire ground is one of the most comprehensive facilities dedicated to fire-investigation training and related activities outside the USA. (See Practical Facility below)

Syndicates now have access to purpose built fire investigation vehicles.

Student/trainer ratios are often as low as 3:1

Our courses are challenging, enjoyable and rewarding.

Our fees are very competitive

Our pioneering inter-agency training initiatives have been acknowledged in both the 1999 Home Office Arson Scoping Study and CACFOA fire investigation strategy reports. We are an IFE approved 'fire investigation course' provider and our core programmes are CPD validated. As national training protocols develop, we intend to seek further approval status from the relevant bodies for all of our training programmes.

The Team

	Stan Ames – consultant in fire behaviour, formerly with the Fire Research Station for 28 years.
	Jack Deans - retired senior fingerprint officer with 35 years in the Metropolitan Police.
	John DeHaan - independent fire investigator. Formerly ATF and California Dept. of Justice. Author of ‘Kirk’s Fire Investigation’.
	Paul England - formerly 36 years with Hertfordshire fire and rescue Service. 30 years as fire investigator.
	Mick Gardiner - formerly 27 years in the fire service. 11 years as a fire investigator. Author of FM Global’s ‘Guide to Fire & Arson Investigation’.
	Clive Gregory - formerly a fire investigator with West Midlands Fire Service + Star, the first canine accelerant-detector in the UK
	Mike Kelter - formerly 25 years in the fire service. 15 years as a fire investigator .
	Alan Munford - Formerly 36 years with Cambridgeshire & Lincolnshire Fire Services. 25 years as a fire investigator.
	Jim Munday - forensic scientist - formerly with the Metropolitan Police Fire Investigation Unit and Forensic Science Service. Author of ‘Safety at Scenes of Fire and Related Incidents’.
	Rebecca Pepler - Former Vice-President of the Forensic Science Society. Manager of Forensic services at M-Scan Ltd. Formerly a forensic chemist (Tayside Police; a fire/explosion/incident investigator (Burgoynes); and a Senior Lecturer (forensic science & chemistry at APU).
	Bob Smith – formerly 17 years as a Scientific Adviser to the London Fire Brigade.
	Sue Smith – administrator, formerly with ICI and Wyeth Laboratories.
	Ron Stocks - former Detective Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police Laboratory with 30 years service.
	Nick Stuart – instrumentation, visual aids and I.T. engineer.
	Mick Cloonan - retired Scientific Support Manager having served 36 years with the Metropolitan Police Service
	Jack Malooly - Consulting Fire and Explosion Investigator. Retired from the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as a Senior Special Agent after 31 years service.

	The team is regularly supported by a range of knowledgeable speakers from organisations such Bureau Veritas, the Inns of Court School of Law, M Scan and the University of Strathclyde. We are also occasionally supported by guest instructors from overseas agencies.