After four-and-a-half years in post, John Saunders has decided to resign from his position as chief executive of the Security Industry Authority, the industry Regulator

John Saunders – the chief executive of THE Security Industry Authority (SIA) – has shocked the industry and the Home Office by tendering his resignation to the Home Secretary, Dr John Reid. An official announcement was made on the morning of Wednesday 11 October (SMT was advised of the news prior to this at the SIA Research Forum’s inaugural meeting) before Saunders chose the 2006 Security Excellence Awards Ceremony that evening to inform the industry (‘The Stars of Security’, pp12-15).

In an open letter to the private security sector (which we have reproduced on pp18-19 of this month’s edition), Saunders pointed to an “incredibly demanding and difficult” time spent building and developing the Regulator’s ability to implement licensing and the Approved Contractor Scheme.

He is pleased to have fulfilled a promise made way back in 2003 – to “do regulation with and not to the industry” – and is very proud of what his team members at 50 Broadway have achieved to date. “There is, of course, much still to do, and an exciting and demanding future agenda lies before the industry,” Saunders told SMT.

Saunders will not leave office immediately. The Terms and Conditions of his contract specify a “lengthy” handover period, which he suspects will come to a close in January or February next year. When questioned by SMT as to why he is leaving, Saunders stated that the initial set-up work for the SIA is done, the systems are in place and the first phase of regulation complete. It’s now time, he feels, “to fulfil some ambitions still held” outside of the business world.

Saunders was appointed chief executive at the SIA in 2001, his business acumen having been gained in the world of commercial and corporate banking where he worked for nearly 20 years in the UK and USA. In 1992 he joined the national Business Link Network and, as chairman of the National Forum, worked with the DTI and several partners over an eight-year timeframe to establish the Network and overhaul Government-backed support services to business.

John was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to the Business Link operation.

Source

SMT

Postscript

SMT would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to John and commend him for the remarkable work he has done on behalf of the industry.

John Saunders has kindly granted SMT an exclusive ‘exit interview’, so look out for that in a forthcoming edition of the journal.