stevehammSteve Hamm has been sworn as the new International President of the Institution of Fire Engineers at the IFE’s 92nd Annual Conference and AGM.

In his opening address as International President, the former London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner said it was “an absolute honour and a privilege to wear the chains of [the International President’s] office for the first time”.

The new President said that there are “many things to achieve in the next 12 months and beyond”.

“It’s a particular privilege to represent this Institution at a time where our role and destiny for the future is in our own hands in terms of how we can shape the organisation in a way to be a sustainable and significant part of the fire sector in the future.

IP Hamm also acknowledged the work done by his two predecessors as chair, Grant Lupton, and as International President, Neil Gibbins, saying that their efforts in establishing the IFE’s Strategic Plan put the organisation in good stead as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2018.

This past work formed part of Steve’s three key goals going ahead for the organisation:
• Continuity – “It’s very important that in this day and age of rapidly changing media that as we have a cyclical changing ambassadorial role of International President there is connectivity to the past and future, so I will build my idea on what Neil has done and with plans that Brian [Davey, International President elect] has in mind.”
• Business planning – “With 2018 fast approaching, this anniversary gives us a real chance in terms of leadership and development of the organisation to set out our stall for the following hundred years. Having a clear and written down strategic plan, gives us a great platform to go forward with and the next step is developing the actions which sit beneath those overall targets.”
• Growing role of the future IFE in wider fire sector – “There’s an opportunity for us to really cement our place in the fire community. A major strength of the IFE is its international dimension, with over 9,000 members giving us an immensely powerful voice to be able influence and set the agenda in the fire sector so we need to harness this to its maximum.”

IP Hamm is a former Assistant Commissioner with London Fire Brigade, a Fellow member, Chartered Engineer and a member of the IFE’s Board of Directors.

For the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2012 he undertook a Gold Command role in London and was involved in the work required to ensure that specific measures for the games were correctly planned, implemented and tested.

He also has a broad experience base in strategic operational command and has attended a number of high profile events in London, including the civil disturbances of 2011 and the Vauxhall helicopter crash in Central London in 2013. In 2014 Steve was heavily involved in the command and control arrangements for the flooding that affected large parts of the UK.

The new International President has more than 25 years of experience in the Fire and Rescue Service following a period of service in the Royal Air Force and he is a Chartered Fire Engineer. He is also a director of London Fire Brigade Enterprises Ltd.