We trialled a number of Britannia P50 extinguishers on some of our more difficult sites - especially those in the 3rd world countries - where we couldn’t guarantee the standard of local firefighting equipment. We had a few gaps in regular cargo containers that were going out, so the transportation costs were minimal

Sending steel bodied extinguishers would have created a servicing and environmental nightmare as management preferred to send ‘traditional’ fire extinguishers and scrap them locally annually! 

I won and we sent a few on this pilot trial. Months later I travelled to the African continent with a manager who remained totally opposed to my composite plan, but was overruled.  It looked like it might be a tricky trip as we had fallen out over the issue. So I was relieved to see Heathrow Airport was full of them which reassured him and meant our journey would be a bit less fraught!

The idea was, if they were successful abroad, we would replace the 2,000+ other extinguishers on our UK estate and more overseas. I really liked them but was reluctant to spend/risk £120,000 without a trial. The trial was successful, but only budget restraints delayed the immediate roll out of the P50s. I left the firm before a decision was made so don’t know if they ever bought them

I won’t go on about the advantages or disadvantages, but simply refer you to a supplier who has all the details on their website 

https://www.safelincs.co.uk/p50-service-free-fire-extinguishers/

Thanks all for the info.