For security professionals, the passing of each day post 11 May has engendered an ever-increasing feeling of hope and expectation. Hope that the Private Security Industry Act, now enshrined in law, will pave the way for an improvement in the working conditions of an industry that employs no less than 300,000 embattled individuals. Expectation that the Act finally allows the security industry and the police to work together as one in fighting crime and disorder. And that the security sector’s downtrodden image is at last elevated in the eyes of the public to a status of true professionalism.
What form the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will take remains to be seen. The Home Office’s dedicated Implementation Team is still dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, but what we do know is that the manned guarding sector is in for a radical shakedown.
All officers, line managers and company directors in the contract sector will now be subject to licensing (a process that’s due to commence in 2003). There’ll no longer be any room for manoeuvre when it comes to vetting and criminal records checks. Consistent and effective training of officers will be compulsory if contractors intend to stay in business.
Some commentators have reacted to the news with more than a little trepidation. There have been rumblings concerning the licence fees. Who will pick up the tab? Why hasn’t the in-house sector been included in the legislation? Surely this leaves the door wide open for those who fail to make the grade in the contract sector to return via the back door? Only time will tell.
Thankfully, many contractors, factions of the police service and indeed the majority of local authorities are adopting a far more positive stance. None more so, perhaps, than those parties involved in Trafford Guardsafe – a voluntary registration and licensing scheme for security officers working in the Trafford Borough of Manchester. A scheme that, in effect, is implementing the terms and conditions of the Private Security Industry Act before the SIA has shown its public face, let alone begun the onerous task of ‘cleaning up’ the UK’s manned guarding industry.
The Trafford Park Security Initiative
To understand the context in which the Trafford Guardsafe scheme is set, there’s a need to examine its roots. These are firmly fixed in the Trafford Park Security Initiative (TPSI), a programme devised by Greater Manchester Police (GMP), the Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council (TMBC) and Trafford Park Business Watch.
Vigorous campaigning of officials presiding over the Home Office’s Crime Reduction Programme led to Westminster mandarins bestowing a substantial GB pound 465,000 grant upon the TPSI with one aim in mind – combating crime (and the fear of crime) among the 1,600 companies residing on Manchester’s Trafford Park Estate. Many of them big name players – Asda Stores, Kelloggs, Procter & Gamble and TNT International to name but a few.
Campbell Latchford, project manager for the TPSI, takes up the story. “Fighting crime ranks among the top three priorities for small and medium-sized businesses operating on the Trafford Park Estate,” opines Latchford. “It’s an issue that demands constant attention, as it can have a significant impact on economic regeneration in the area.”
In recent times, Latchford has been working closely with Trafford Park’s two area police officers – PCs Nigel Brown and Steve McKinney – and Business Watch general manager Paul Smedley in offering businesses a number of advisory services.
“We’re finding that local businesses are desperate for advice on the value and effectiveness of crime prevention measures,” adds Latchford. “A central tenet of that advice involves us talking to business leaders about crime risk assessments and diagnostic checks on their premises. Building security is always a top priority.”
PC Nigel Brown has been another major driving force in getting Trafford Guardsafe off the ground. His previous Superintendent at the Stretford sub-division of GMP, Adrian Lee, was nothing less than a vigorous supporter of all worthy crime-fighting schemes, and helped Brown no end in his bid to establish a Commercial Crime Initiative back in 1997.
A small-scale scheme was set up to target shoplifters operating in the Stretford Arndale Centre. In practice, Brown – whose background is in CID work – would produce a booklet every three months for store managers. A booklet containing photos and names of repeat offenders and suspected thieves who could be targeted. The scheme worked well.
Soon after, the magnificent Peel Holdings-owned Trafford Centre was erected as the glistening retail hub of Trafford Park. Not surprisingly, store owners in the Centre were keen on combating retail crime.
“Since I began working on the Trafford Park project, I’ve tried to help businesses by giving managers a bi-monthly briefing,” comments PC Brown. “I tell them what type of offences are occurring, where they are happening and at what times of the day so that they can review all aspects of security.”
One incident, though, sent Brown’s mind racing. “Car theft on the Trafford Park Estate is a constant problem, whether it be by forced entry or as a result of key theft,” he says. “One particular stolen car was thought to have been involved in a series of incidents on the Park, so we gave the number out to all companies involved in the crime-fighting initiative.”
Within 20 minutes security teams on the Park had spotted the vehicle coming in and out of the perimeter no less than three times, and the police were able to apprehend the criminals. “That’s when I realised that working more closely with the private security sector could be really beneficial,” comments Brown.
With this in mind, PC Brown spoke to Joe Mann – head of trading standards and licensing at TMBC – as well as George Mensah (pictured opposite) and Geoff Deane, the pro-active partners at Widnes-based security company Noble Security Services, about the possibility of setting up a voluntary registration scheme for all security personnel working within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. New Superintendent David Ryder gave the idea his blessing, and the Joint Security Industry Council’s chief executive Mike Welply was then brought in, as Brown neatly states, “to tell us all we needed to know about the Private Security Industry Act.”
Armed with part of the Home Office grant – the final piece of the jigsaw – and a ‘seal of approval’ from the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), SITO and the International Professional Security Association (IPSA), Guardsafe was officially launched to local businesses on 23 October.
Trafford Guardsafe in context
As stated, Trafford Guardsafe is a voluntary registration and licensing scheme for all security officers employed in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford. There are over 100 security companies – including Securicor, Initial, Reliance, The Corps and, of course, Noble – operating on Trafford Park alone, employing no less than 2,500 officers tasked with mobile patrol or retail outlet/industrial site guarding duties.
In addition, the Trafford Centre’s owners employ a dedicated in-house guarding team – otherwise known as The Red Coats – to guard the vast Mall areas.
Trafford Guardsafe involves applicants being vetted and screened, and then attending a three-day, SITO-approved training course run by ISO 9002-registered contractor Noble – a member company of both the BSIA and JSIC.
In essence, the course encompasses the Basic Job Training Programme for static and patrol security officers. Areas covered include the roles and responsibilities of the security officer, customer service instruction, safety skills (in the event of fire hazards, etc), searching of suspects, patrolling, security systems and report writing.
The training also includes time spent with GMP tutors, who explain the rudiments of the TPSI and the Commercial Crime Initiative. Police tutors also offer instruction on crime reduction and evidence gathering techniques, collating witness statements and the basics of intelligence submissions.
On completion of the course and the relevant examinations, officers are then registered with the local authority, and subsequently issued with an ID badge and certificate. That said, there will always be much encouragement for officers to take their training with Noble (itself an approved SITO NVQ assessment centre) to ever-higher levels. Progression to the recognised Professional Security Officer course is a good case in point.
In what is the first initiative of its kind in the UK, then, the basic aims of the scheme are to: raise standards within the private security industry, provide a recognised training/qualification route for security personnel, introduce local authority registration of ‘fit and proper persons’ to work in the industry, support local businesses with a quality-assured security workforce, improve partnerships between the police and local businesses, engage security personnel in targeted crime reduction initiatives and, of course, reduce crime in Trafford Borough.
A Noble outlook on security
“The essential elements of any modern police officer’s kit are his or her radio, body armour and handcuffs. In the future, I’d like to see that extended to encompass a good working relationship with a given private security company upon which they can rely and trust implicitly.” In view of such a comment, it’s little surprise that Noble Security Services’ 37-year-old senior partner George Mensah – alongside co-founder and fellow Liverpudlian Geoff Deane – has been a major driving force behind the Trafford Guardsafe scheme.
Formed as recently as January 1996, Noble operates static and patrol guarding, key holding, CCTV monitoring, risk assessment and commissionaire services for a host of clients in the medical, educational, commercial, industrial and retail arenas. Employing just 75 guards, the firm initially made a name for itself in May 2000 when – having gained Investors in People status in double-quick time – a mere eight weeks after opening the company up to scrutiny – it joined forces with Norwich Union’s insurance and risk services divisions and Liverpool-based independent insurance broker Clement Gallagher & Co to launch Secure.
Secure is a service aimed at offering businesses a combined security and insurance package. In practice, Noble offers physical security and crime prevention advice – in the form of a risk assessment – to all interested Norwich Union clients. Companies who jump on board will then be offered discounted premiums on their insurance. “What we’re doing is forcing end users to put their house in order,” says George Mensah. “If they do it’s a win-win situation. Reduced claims on insurance will mean rebates for businesses.”
For Mensah and Deane, trying to educate the end user has often meant banging their heads against a collective brick wall. “Look at most GB pound 5million-plus turnover companies and what do you see?,” adds Mensah. “All the directors drive the best cars, and wear the best watches. When it comes to their security provision, though, they’re always looking for the cheapest option. We often ask business managers what they would do if they were burgled. They glibly say they’re insured. What sort of answer is that? Sadly, I can’t see the American atrocities making much of a difference to that mindset.”
If there is a difference to be made, however, Noble look like the company to make it. “Geoff and I have known each other for around 20 years,” adds Mensah. “We used to work on security contracts at fairgrounds, but we could see even then the poor state of the industry.”
Mensah adds: “Staying small has been our core strategy. It has allowed us to build stable foundations. Now that those foundations are set, we plan to turn this industry upside down.”
Enacting the Act
Emotive words, then, but the proof of the pudding can be seen in Trafford Guardsafe. “All those early days of working 12 to 14 hours every day, seven days a week are finally coming to fruition,” adds Geoff Deane. Over 70 contractors in the Borough have already enquired about joining the scheme and, as SMT went to press, the first official Guardsafe training day had been set for 29 November.
You can’t help wondering how two eminently likeable Scousers running such a small operation have managed to pip some of the industry’s major players to the post in terms of putting the ethos behind the Private Security Industry Act into practice. “It’s simple really,” suggests George Mensah. “I would rather wear Wellington boots and be seen to be looking after my officers than put on a tuxedo and talk about them.”
Deane chips in: “Guarding contractors have to show more willing now. They must forget about realising huge profits, and plough more back into their business and the industry they serve. They need to spend as much time as possible educating end users to go for quality over price.” Like Mensah, Deane feels much of the industry’s ills can be traced back to the insurance equation. “If the end user pays top prices for a quality security service, chances are they’ll have far less security breaches and thus make less claims on their insurer,” stresses Deane. “Initial outlays might hurt, but the long-term benefits are plain to see.”
How might Guardsafe develop further in the years to come? “I’m keen to talk to other Borough Councils about how they might implement a similar security initiative,” adds George Mensah. “First, we want to broaden the scheme to cover the whole of Manchester, then the north west. I’m more than willing to talk to the ‘Top 10’ contractors about implementing Guardsafe in London and the south as well.”
PC Nigel Brown is encouraging Peel Holdings to put its Red Coat guards on the scheme, while Mensah and Deane are actively targeting the business community to make sure everyone is on board as soon as possible. “Security is one of the most important things in the world,” says Mensah. “Our mission is to make sure clients are aware of that. They must plan ahead for every type of security risk.”
Geoff Deane believes that tangible results from Trafford Guardsafe will be available in 10-12 months’ time. The omens are excellent.
Guardsafe is a prime example of what can be achieved by a sincere security company and a trusting police force. Without doubt, this degree of co-operation must be demonstrable across the UK if the public and end users alike are to have full confidence in the level of protection such endeavours can provide.
