I have had Hawthorns and Whites. The Hawthorns, the arch would break the glue and squeak but that was after wearing them in a lot of fires. The Whites have never done that. Both have been great boots and comfortable.
The Nick's, I hear great things about and would give them a shot for sure. I am on my 3 set of Whites.
Whites has different soals that you can put on them, and if they don't need to be fire rated you will save a bit more that $100 on them.