Derry's Hunter Apparel appointed to six national firefighter PPE framework lots
Family-owned Springtown firm achieves landmark appointment to protect frontline UK firefighters through a single-source lifecycle framework
Derry's Hunter Apparel Solutions Limited (Hunter) has been appointed to six lots of the NFCC National Firefighter PPE Framework, covering the complete firefighter PPE ensemble under managed service, its lifecycle care and specialist decontamination. The full offer will be at the Emergency Services Show this month.
Located in Springtown Industrial Estate, Hunter Apparel Solutions is a fourth-generation, family-owned business established in 1936.
The framework is the national arrangement through which UK fire and rescue services can procure firefighter personal protective equipment, managed provision, lifecycle care and specialist decontamination. It is sponsored by the National Fire Chiefs Council, and the contracting authority is Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority.
The six lots appointed are: Lot 1, Full and Partial Managed Service; Lot 3, Firehoods; Lot 6, Footwear; Lot 7, Lightweight PPE; Lot 8, Cleaning, maintenance and repaiir; Lot 9; Specialiist decontaimination.
Under Lot 1, Hunter provides the complete ensemble, fully or partially managed, structural and lightweight PPE, helmets, gloves, boots and Hunter's own FireHunter® X-treme Gold hoods. Head-to-toe supplied, tracked, inspected, repaired and cleaned on a cost-per-firefighter basis, with weekly collection and delivery.
Firehoods, footwear and lightweight PPE can also be bought outright under Lots 3, 6 and 7. Lifecycle care and specialist decontamination sit under Lots 8 and 9, and a service that buys its own PPE can use those lots without taking a managed contract. This means Hunter’s award-winning services HunterCARE® and Deconology® are available to all.
Lot 8 Cleaning, Maintenance and Repair is delivered through HunterCARE®, covering inspection, care, repair and cleaning. Every interaction is digitally recorded against the individual garment and visible to the service through HunterPAC®, with inspection, cleaning, repair and end-of-life control aligned to BS ISO 23616:2024.
Lot 9 Specialist Decontamination is delivered through Deconology®, Hunter’s LCO₂+ decontamination service and winner of a British Safety Industry Federation Safety Solution award in 2025. It works without water and without high temperature, in a short cycle with no additional drying, meaning kit is kept in service, ensuring resilience. Deconology® is now available to all UK Fire and Rescue Services, and can decontaminate to 99% efficacy, including even the waterproof membrane, which cannot be decontaminated using water.
Hunter and Texport® are co-exhibiting at the Emergency Services Show, NEC Birmingham, Hall 5, stands G60 and G62, on September 16 and 17 2026. The framework guide and framework ensemble will be built head to toe, as it would be issued to a firefighter, and there to pick up and handle.
“Being named on six of the Lots reflects Hunter’s last nine decades of doing one thing properly, protecting the people who protect everyone else. What matters now is what we do with the opportunity.
“Every fire and rescue service in the UK now has a direct, compliant route to the full lifecycle of firefighter protection through a single supplier, and we intend to earn that trusting relationship service by service.” - Simon Hunter Esq M.B.E., Chief Executive Officer, Hunter Apparel Solutions Limited.