Reliance security’s latest survey of shopping centre security is nothing if not comprehensive. The outcome is based on replies from no less than 253 of UK plc’s largest malls, 62% of which were found to contract-out their security requirements, with 33% boasting in-house guarding teams and 5% combining the two strands. This breakdown doesn’t make for surprising reading, being representative of the wider industry (the in-house sector numbers having been halved since 1993).
Reliance found that responsibility for security mostly lies with centre managers (71%). Where security is contracted, a typical agreement runs for either a year (39% of contracts surveyed), two years (20%) or three (34%), with very few centres (5%) signing up to a five-year contract or ongoing arrangement.
Health and Safety training
Alongside customer care, the focus on Health and Safety training continues to sharpen, with almost all (95%) security teams employing officers who have completed first aid training. In addition to this, nearly 30% of centres surveyed stated that on-site security officers had been trained in the use of heart defibrillators. With 48% of centres reporting incidents of heart attacks on the premises over the past 12 months, this is an area deserving of due consideration.
When it comes to the British Council for Shopping Centres (BCSC) training course aimed at customer relations/security staff (‘Living on the frontline’, SMT, August 2001, pp28-29), only 8% of respondents are using the material provided. While 40% are considering using it, 35% of those questioned were unaware of its existence. Tellingly, nearly 20% of centre managers rely on their security contractor or in-house courses for bespoke retail training.
SMT is fully supportive of Reliance Security’s belief that the BCSC’s training guide – which ultimately leads to a BTEC intermediate qualification – will become the accepted training standard for all shopping centres. Hopefully, it will also be endorsed by the Security Industry Authority as part of its criteria for security officer licensing.
Incidents and exclusion notices
The security officer’s role within the shopping centre environment has become increasingly multi-faceted as centre managers and retailers strive to provide the highest levels of care and safety to their customers. As well as aiding heart attack victims, security teams have had to confront verbal abuse, mostly attributable to disorderly youths (97%), lost children (92%), potential threats from groups and gangs (81%), drug-related incidents (73%), physical abuse (69% of centres claimed this had been perpetrated), car crime and car theft (56%), fire (50%), bomb threats (33%) and racially-incited incidents (32%).
Nearly three quarters of centre managers questioned have placed social exclusion orders on given individuals to try and stem the rising tide of crime and anti-social behaviour.
Working partnerships and solutions
On the whole, working partnerships with external organisations – for example the police, the local council and the town/city centre managers – are revealed in a positive light. The survey found that 94% of shopping centre teams have good working relationships with the local Boys in Blue, 78% enjoy similar arrangements with their local council, 70% with town/city centre managers and just less than 70% with regional retail crime initiatives.
What’s also readily apparent from this survey is that the move towards total security solutions is growing, a wide range of services now being provided alongside manned security by many contractors. Some of the most popular include CCTV installation and maintenance (52%), car parking services (40%), reception facilities (23%) and information desks (12%).
Although remote surveillance outside of normal trading/opening hours is increasingly being used by businesses in other sectors, 73% of shopping centre management teams reported that they wouldn’t reduce their night-time manned security cover in favour of an electronic solution.
While only 4% of centres operate joint Control Rooms with town centre management, 16% benefit from electronic access to town centre CCTV images, with 67% enjoying a verbal link via radio or telephone. The majority of centres (a substantial 85% of them, in fact) have a radio link system in place.
The future for retail services
Top of the list as far as the direction that security provision within major shopping centres is expected to take in the years ahead is the increasing customer service orientation required by security personnel (27% of respondents cited this one), allied to a demand for specific customer service training.
While 10% of shopping centre management teams expect to increase security manning levels, 20% also expect to increase, upgrade or re-evaluate their CCTV systems. Given the growing trend towards outsourcing of services to one supplier – the aptly-named ‘one-stop shop’ scenario – a number of centre managers also envisage elements like cleaning, building maintenance and security becoming the responsibility of a single service provider.
