How do I get to work in the Fireworks Industry?

Attracted by the glamour of a cold wet dark field in November? On average we get an enquiry on this topic at least twice every week and after big displays like London’s NYE, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, or the recent Legoland documentary that featured our team, we get many more.

Essentially if you don’t mind hours travelling, followed by hours in often harsh conditions, for 20 minutes of excitement followed by several more hours undoing the work you did, and 30 minutes with a rake collecting the debris, all for really modest pay then Fireworks is just the job for you! The firework community is full of dedicated, mostly trained and skillful enthusiasts who do it as a passion/hobby/interest and for many people just a few times a year. The industry only supports a relatively small number of full-time business owners and employees.

Like all firework companies we are dependent on the good will and enthusiasm of our team and we try to make them feel as valued as they are by us.

If you do have a burning interest in professional fireworks then your best bet is to look on the British Pyrotechnists Association members page and find a company within a practical distance with who to gain some training and experience. As any professional company who is seriously interested in recruiting the right people does, we pay a training rate to anyone who comes to us regardless of their experience because we think it is the right thing to do and crucially they are then automatically enrolled into our insurance scheme. We will always buddy trainees up with an experienced firer who will show them the ropes, supervise and teach and ensure their safety at all times.

At the end of it we tend to get one of two responses – glad I tried it but not what I thought it would be or I am hooked, how can I get on more displays.

During quieter months it is difficult to get new people onto the three shows required to attend the BPA Firer Course we run but we do our best. We provide training free of charge although some companies do run courses you can pay for (the prerequisite 3 displays for Firer level qualification is the same regardless of whether you pay for the course or not).

It can be quite difficult to get the attention of firework company owners so the thing we always advise is a CV. It doesn’t matter to us if you have never set foot near a firework but we like to know something about you and your motivations. We hope this helps and please do not be afraid to contact us, it might be the start of something new, exciting and incredibly rewarding.