David Burrill OBE, Mike Cahalane and Lieutenant Colonel Colin Finch were announced as winners of this year’s Imbert Prizes at the Association of Security Consultants’ Annual Luncheon.

Lord Peter Imbert – Patron of the Association of Security Consultants (ASC) and former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service – used the Association’s Annual Luncheon to honour David Burrill OBE (head of security at British American Tobacco), independent security consultant Mike Cahalane and Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Finch with Imbert Prizes for 2006.

The Imbert Prize “seeks to bring together strands of professionalism in a way that moves us forward towards security’s acceptance as a profession in its own right... The professions are dedicated to those liberal arts and sciences with which the public identifies them. Thus The Imbert Prize is designed to point the public in the direction of arts and sciences that professionals operating in the security sector need to sustain in order to establish security as a professional discipline – in other words, knowledge, experience and service.”

The Dissertation Award

An award of £1,000 is made for a selected dissertation submitted by an academic institution to be judged by an independent panel including Lord Imbert of New Romney, the ASC chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. The 2006 Prize goes to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Finch PARA for his dissertation entitled: ‘The Privatisation of Security: Introducing Professional Standards and Accredited Qualifications to Private Security Companies’.

Most notable contribution

The ASC is keen to encourage the development of ideas for the advancement of risk and security management in the UK, which is reflected in the second Imbert Prize for the person making the most notable contribution in the security industry across the preceding year (as nominated by ASIS International, the BSIA, IPSA and members of The Security Institute).

This year’s ASIS International nominee was Peter French, chief executive of SSR Personnel and regional vice-president of ASIS in Europe. French was sponsored by Stuart Lowden, current ASIS chairman in the UK. The BSIA nominee in 2006 was John Saunders, chief executive of the Security Industry Authority, who was sponsored by the Trade Association’s chief executive David Dickinson. Nominated by The Security Institute was David Burrill, sponsored by Institute chairman Bill Wyllie. Burrill was the overall winner.

Independent consulting

The Imbert Prize for the ASC member that has made the most significant contribution to independent security consultancy in the preceding year (as adjudged by the ASC Awarding Panel) was bestowed upon Mike Cahalane, who richly deserves this accolade for constant dedication to the cause.

The ASC Luncheon was attended by over 100 guests this year, including Patrick Mercer MP OBE and guest speaker Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary.

Source

SMT