Accepting the challenges

There cannot be many practitioners in the security industry who didn’t consider 2006 to be the most tumultuous 12 months of their career! Regulation was brought in to the contract guarding sector, and things will never be the same again.

The reasons for Government intervention have been well documented. For most practitioners that regulation is welcome, but there is still colossal change ahead. With the estimated number of contractors being whittled down from 2,500 to around 200 over the next few years, that is going to make a big difference to service providers and clients alike. 75% of the 400 retailers responding to the recent Reliance Security Services/Security Management Today (SMT) Regulation Survey (‘Points of view’, SMT, October 2006, pp35-36) stated that they now expect to see a higher quality service from their security personnel, while more than 80% believe that education and training of security staff will improve.

Another effect of regulation has been some short-term wage inflation as the numbers of Security Industry Authority (SIA)-approved personnel has failed to keep pace with demand. In the same Reliance/SMT survey, 44% of retailers said their security costs had risen as a result of the regulatory changes. Grumbles directed at the Regulator for the 200,000-plus operatives who required vetting and training, etc were misplaced, coming from an industry that reacted far too late for the Authority to have any chance of keeping up with the pace.

Matters are now on an even keel, but there are lessons to be learned on both sides of the fence. For example, I would strongly advise security companies operating north of the border to send their operatives’ Application Forms early, thereby avoiding any recurrence of the problems that bedevilled England and Wales. Applications are being accepted by the Regulator from next month.

Higher prices are not solely an inevitability of any shortage in qualified staff. They are also a direct reflection of the estimated £400 million of investment the security industry has ploughed in to making regulation work. It is now up to the clients as much as it is the service providers to make better use of security staff who are better trained and more highly motivated than ever before.

Town centre management

We have also witnessed the growing deployment of town centre management teams, part of whose role is to co-ordinate security in a given area. This has meant close liaison with shopping centre security teams (wherein traditional uniformed security personnel are increasingly being replaced by officers in smart civilian wear, and who are taking on a far more proactive customer service role), which has led to greatly improved relations among all agencies involved with town centre security projects.

Another development likely to become increasingly important in the future is the wider use of technology. CCTV operations are beginning to dominate certain aspects of guarding. This trend can only continue as customers gain a better understanding of some of the topical issues relevant to (and surrounding) the security market.

One of those issues is the wider policing family. Police service resources are thinly stretched. Senior police officers state that they would welcome a greater role for private security in maintaining law and order. Certainly, the emergence of Police Community Support Officers has had an enormous impact on police thinking in relation to the application of particular skills to particular tasks.

Senior police officers are beginning to question the wisdom of constables being stationed on guard duty when trained and licensed private security staff could do the job just as well, in turn freeing police officers to look after other, perhaps more important tasks. While this suggestion will find resistance in some quarters, I think the views we have already heard being expressed on this matter will find a wider audience as the threats to law and order demand a more flexible and varied approach to policing the UK.

It’s a challenge that Reliance Security Services and, I believe, the rest of the security industry is ready and willing to accept.