Fire merger in Massachusetts

WALTHAM, Mass.—Norel Service Company announced March 1 it had acquired National Fire and Security of Shrewsbury.

“It was a natural combination that allowed us to pick up new product lines and several well-qualified employees,” said Tom Norton, president of Norel.

Terms of the deal, which was in the works for about one year, were not released.

In business since 1971, Norel installs, tests and services fire alarms, and provides testing and servicing of sprinkler systems. It has actually been a customer of NFS' distribution services for several years.

An engineered systems distributor that's been in business since 1996, NFS worked with electrical contractors and other service companies like Norel, Norton said. “Now we're able to continue to sell to other electrical contractors, and service our existing customers,” while adding new product lines carried by NFS, Norton said.

Jack Nelligan, former president of NFS is now vice president of sales and training for Norel. In addition to Nelligan, the acquisition added two sales people and five technicians to the 25-person Norel staff. The NFS technicians have extensive knowledge of the systems the company distributes such as Gamewell-FCI, Siemens, Silent Knight, CooperNotification, Gentex, Space Age and Advanced Fire Systems.

“Those technicians are working with the Norel technicians to share their knowledge of different systems,” Nelligan said. 

The new company expands offerings to Norel customers, Norton said, with broader technical support, more product lines, as well as expertise in access control and CCTV.