The multiple award-winning event and venue security specialists’ ongoing expansion across England, Scotland and Wales has meant that the company’s internal structure has progressed from two to three regions.
Breaking these down to Northern, Midlands and Southern regions will allow the company to better support client services throughout the country, and to allow further expansion into 2012.
The newly-created Midlands region will be managed by Richard Church who has worked for the company for 16 years.
Ieuan Fury moves from his post in Wales to become the area manager for the West Midlands, while Joe Milner takes the step up from senior operations executive to the role of area manager for the East Midlands.
Replacing Ieuan in the Wales and South West office will be Martin Lewis, who moves up from operations executive. Previously, Lewis was part of Showsec’s Management Training Academy and becomes the first graduate to be promoted to area manager.
This promotion underlines Showsec’s commitment to education and training for its security personnel to boost professional and personal development throughout the company.
The Northern region’s management structure will stay the same with Alan Wallace remaining as regional manager. Steve Reynolds will continue to be regional manager for the Southern region
Richard Church commented: “This expansion marks an exciting time for Showsec. As we move forward, the new management structure means we are better placed to offer clients bespoke security offerings with in-depth local knowledge supported by strong central resources and the company’s national network.”
Showsec returns to Trafalgar Square for Maslenitsa
Showsec secured the whole of London’s Trafalgar Square on 6 March, ensuring the safe ingress and egress of 100,000 Russians as they celebrated Maslenitsa.
The traditional Russian festival Maslenitsa, which is held at the beginning of spring, is celebrated across Russia and, for the third year running, was held in the UK capital’s iconic square.
With an abundance of food, live music and a televised stage which was streamed live to Russia, the Maslenitsa Festival saw a constant stream of visitors throughout the entire day.
Showsec’s security operation was managed by senior operations executive Dayo Adelugba, who oversaw all 120 SIA ‘badged’ security personnel across the high profile site.
“Ensuring crowd safety across London’s prestigious Trafalgar Square requires us to work closely with the GLA and Westminster Council,” explained Adelugba, “in order to provide the safest environment for all visitors at this non-ticketed festival, and also ensure the number of people on site didn’t exceed the 9,000 capacity at any one time.”
He added: “The logistics of guaranteeing a speedy ingress while ensuring that prohibited items were not bought into the site meant we needed several different entrances. In order to achieve this and to secure the site, we spilt the square into four sections managed by operational supervisors Simon Howard, Paul Burrows and Yez Stuart.”
All sections had entrance and exit points where Showsec’s security specialists provided “exceptional customer service” while working alongside the control centre staff to constantly monitor the total number of people on site.
Showsec’s female staff members shine on International Women’s Day
In a security industry that has traditionally been thought of as male dominated, Showsec is striving to change and progress attitudes with their growing number of SIA licensed female security professionals.
The company’s management team continues to lead the way with women security specialists managing security operations in venues and at events as well as taking key roles within the training and development centre.
Showsec’s South Coast area manager Tracey McCarthy has seen an upsurge in the number of women-only security teams being requested across the South East, as she explained to SMT Online.
“Only recently I was asked if we could provide an all-female security team for an upcoming live event. We are now in the final stages of planning and, since accommodating this request, I have had several calls regarding similar services.”
McCarthy is presently working with the senior management to make this service available nationwide, and is available to discuss individual requirements for an SIA licensed, women-only security service.
Louise Stockden is a recent Showsec Academy success story. Stockden was appointed as a London operations executive in November soon after graduating from the Showsec Academy.
The detailed, specialist industry knowledge teamed with the practical experience she acquired through her training has enabled her to effectively plan, implement and manage the security for events such as the Military Tournament’s 56,000 visitors at Earls Court last December.
Training and education is paramount to a new breed of security specialists, and Showsec has recently hired a full-time course writer, Julie Ellis, who is helping with the development of new courses and delivering existing ones.
The training department comprises of state-of-the-art facilities and a wide selection of accredited courses including, among others, conflict management, physical intervention security, counter-terrorism and close protection.
Showsec has always been an equal opportunities employer and encourages all its members of staff to achieve the highest standards of security through training and education.
