Rotherham-based marquee and gazebo supplier gains patent for CSI tent covers. Gala Tent, the UK’s leading supplier of marquees, party tents and pop up gazebos have recently gained an important new patent which may pave the way to ensure crime scenes are more secure and evidence more water-tight than ever before.
The patent joins the ever-growing list of innovations that have been secured by the company over the past two decades and could be one of its most universally important ones yet.
Gala Tent CEO Jason Mace said, “A problem associated with conventional CSI tents is that when a crime scene is attended, it must quickly be protected from anything which can contaminate the evidence, such as onlookers or the weather. Usually, a pop-up tent will be quickly deployed to protect and mask the scene, and any DNA is captured for processing and preserving. Once the scene is cleared, the tent is then taken to laboratories to be completely cleaned, to remove any traces of DNA, before they can be used again. However, on occasion criminals have suggested that DNA may still be present from previous crimes on the tent, therefore the evidence is contaminated.”
The patented covers, invented by Gala Tent’s in-house engineer and product development director Andrew Scott, have been created with speed of deployment and total cleansing in mind. Instead of a separate canopy and sidewalls, that can be found on classic CSI tents, the covers invented and patented at Gala Tent are distributed as a single piece of material that can be added to a frame and zipped up extremely quickly, masking the scene effectively. Once the scene is cleared, the covers can be then placed into a sterilising bag and cleaned within the confines of that bag, and an indicator will denote whether the materials are free of contaminants and have not been tampered with.
Andrew Scott said, “At Gala Tent, we pride ourselves on our ability to innovate when a request comes our way. This solution didn’t exist until we were asked if we were able to source something, so we invested in the development and here we are with a hugely important product that might revolutionise crime scene integrity.”
Founded in 1999, Gala Tent has grown to sell over 15,000 tents and marquees each year, along with around 90,000 event accessories and furniture products. In the UK, Gala Tent is a preferred supplier for the general public and organisations including the military, NHS and the emergency services nationally.
