MITIE task

Upon my arrival at MITIE Security’s Shand Street offices, just a stone’s throw from London Bridge, it soon becomes apparent that Jeff Flanagan is a man in demand. Our meeting was due to start at 10.30 am prompt, but by the time the company’s UK managing director had fielded several telephone calls – and spoken to some of his management team about the increase in licensing costs announced that morning by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) – we eventually convened in the Boardroom over a coffee closer to 11.00 am.

Born in Cardiff back in 1960 – Flanagan celebrated his 47th birthday the day before our meeting – it transpires that this softly-spoken, engaging professional was the first person from his family to head for university. Having flirted with architecture, the young Flanagan became entranced by the famous bridge builders – Brunel among them – and, having taken to maths and science at school like a duck to water, he graduated from Imperial College, London in 1982 with a First Class BSc (Hons) degree in civil engineering.

Not surprisingly, on graduation Flanagan found gainful employment as an engineering consultant with Rendel, Palmer and Tritton (designer of the Thames Barrier). He primarily worked on site investigations for nuclear power stations, but was then seconded to build a major North-South road in his beloved Wales.

Indeed, it was on this project – during a “cold, wet and uninviting day” in the valleys – that Flanagan readily admits his calling in life began to shift markedly in career terms.

Change of career emphasis

“I was still massively interested in architecture and engineering,” states Flanagan, “and duly completed Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules and the like, but I found that the career progression was not as quick as I’d hoped for. To be honest, the job wasn’t challenging me anywhere near enough.”

In a complete about-turn, Flanagan left engineering in 1984 to work for the renowned accountant KPMG. A little over two years later, his penchant for numbers saw him qualify as a chartered accountant.

Seconded to the CB Development Corporation for a 12-month stint analysing investment projects, Flanagan then found himself ‘shipped’ to Toronto from 1988 through to 1992. “That was a hugely character-forming experience,” he chips in. “There is a whole different culture and different set of values over there. It tends to make you more resourceful and, I guess, a little more self-contained.” It also turned Flanagan into a huge fan of American Football – a natural extension of his love for rugby, one suspects – and, in particular, the Chicago Bears.

Having worked mainly on mergers and acquisitions during his Canadian ‘adventure’, Flanagan eventually came back to London and carried on that trait until 1996 when he “jumped ship” to become the finance director at the Executive Group (a business harbouring both cleaning and security functions).

“We only served the London region, and provided security services mainly to blue chip offices,” explains Flanagan. “The company was built on 168 contracts. The calculated turnover was £2.5 million in 1997. By the time MITIE bought us in November 2003, though, that figure had risen to £14 million.”

Wasn’t it a huge culture shock moving from a professional, world-renowned consultancy to an industry with, perhaps, not quite the same kind of image and quality of personnel?

“People close to me thought I had lost the plot,” suggests Flanagan with a huge smile and chuckle. “Intelligence was the norm in the accountancy arena, and all of a sudden that mental support structure was no longer there. At KPMG there was huge strength in depth, and a certain style about the business.”

However, Flanagan has noticed a positive sea change within the security sector these past ten years that was long overdue.

Our biggest task, and I would say the industry’s biggest task, is how to identify and harness the next generation of talent. It’s one of our defining goals at MITIE Security

“The quality of the people coming into our business is improving year-on-year,” he comments. “Our biggest task, and I would say the industry’s biggest task, is how to identify and harness the next generation of talent. It’s one of our defining goals at MITIE Security. Licensing is an excellent step in the right direction, so too the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS), but there must be a sustained drive towards CPD and structured career development. I’m very much in favour of compulsory CPD. You reap what you sow.”

Managerial philosophy to the fore

One wonders what managerial philosophy the smart-suited Flanagan lives by, given the fact he has dipped a toe in three very distinct and different business sectors?

“Every person in your team is different. As a manager, you must always remember that,” asserts Flanagan. “What motivates the individual? Teamwork is great for building morale, but there comes a time when trust must be placed in the employee. I like to give people autonomy, trust and respect. My managerial style is the complete opposite of dictatorial, which is the worst. Every manager must lead by example, and be prepared to be judged on deeds, not words.”

As a company, the bulk of MITIE Security’s staff is, of course, comprised of licensed security officers. No less than 11,000 of them, in fact. On that note, Flanagan is quick off the mark in pointing out that regulation cost the business £220,000 direct as it didn’t seek to recover any money from the client base. That outlay will surely have to be recovered from customers at some point, but what will/can they expect to receive in return?

“The problem we face is a simple one, but it’s far from simple to crack,” sighs Flanagan who, by his own admission, is firmly supportive of industry regulation and the work of the SIA to date. “When licensing first appeared, it was perhaps easier to justify what additional benefits clients would receive for their money. Now, there has been a further rise in licence costs from £190 to £245. The clients are not receiving any added value this time around. This hike in price is not going to be matched by a rapid improvement in service quality. That’s fact whether we like it or not, and it’s going to be very difficult indeed to lay this cost in front of the client and justify it.”

Following on that theme, Flanagan believes the next 12 months will be very different to the last. To date, his biggest task has been the integration of MITIE with the Rentokil Initial guarding business it bought. The company is now operating on one rostering and scheduling system – designated iSAMS.

The SIA audit for what was the old Initial operation was conducted last September, while the overarching MITIE Security business has just been subject to inspection. John Wright (former managing director of Trident Safeguards, and now director of MITIE's London region security business) told Flanagan the SIA audit was “the most comprehensive” he’d ever been through. That’s as it should be.

If the integration of staff, systems and procedures was the theme for last year, what is going to dominate the MITIE agenda in 2007?

“Consolidation,” explains Flanagan without a moment’s hesitancy. “We need to press for intellectual buy-in of the MITIE philosophy, and the opportunities it offers for equity partnership. Our new chief executive, Ruby McGregor-Smith [like Flanagan, a chartered accountant by training] is very much into team-based working. There are broad corporate objectives here. Of course there are, but there’s also an entrepreneurial feel to the company. People must be given their wings when the time is right.”

Flanagan is also insistent that there’s going to be a push in support of the systems side of the business. Avid readers will recall that, in May and June 2005, MITIE acquired two electronic security specialists – Bishops Stortford-based Intruder International and Watch Systems (part of The Watch Security). Both businesses have now amalgamated under the MITIE Security Systems brand, with Bruce Hiscock joining the concern last September as its forward-thinking managing director.

Integrated solutions provider

One question posed to virtually every guarding company supremo by Security Management Today (SMT) is this: “If we were to ask any of your officers for whom they work, would you prefer them to say your company’s name or the name of their current client?”

We really need to understand what the boundaries are before we can commit to any substantial involvement [in the wider policing family]. To my mind, the whole Police Community Support Officer promotion by the Government has merely served to muddy the waters

Flanagan’s answer is swift and to the point. “I want them to say they work for MITIE.” Carrying on the theme, Flanagan is massively keen that MITIE Security evolves as a business, in turn becoming a truly integrated security solutions provider that values its people.

Flanagan is adamant that good security provision is not – and should never be – driven by price. “The bigger corporations might prefer to procure their security via the facilities management route, but the ultimate decision should always be made by a proven security professional. They are the real managing agents, and always will be. They are sophisticated enough to know that security must be viewed as a discipline in its own right.”

In terms of the wider policing family – or the extended security family to which many commentators are now beginning to refer – where does MITIE Security sit? “We really need to understand what the boundaries are before we can commit to any substantial involvement,” retorts Flanagan with a furrowed brow, before adjusting his glasses. “To my mind, the whole Police Community Support Officer promotion by the Government has merely served to muddy the waters.”

Flanagan currently lives in Bromley with his wife, two young daughters (aged six and two respectively) and his four-year-old son. “I want to see more Bobbies on the beat in my town, not PCSOs.”

Flanagan readily admits that it’s not easy to define what low-level policing tasks could be engulfed by private security contractors. “Either way, training in the private sector would need to be enhanced,” he states. “Our officers need to be able to understand clearly what they can and cannot do in the eyes of the law. With security officers’ profiles already much higher than they were, if the crime rates rise and terrorism carries on haunting us there is going to be a significant rise in insurance risks.”

Speaking of insurance, Security Management Today has often wondered whether or not the insurance community could be playing a bigger part in helping to ramp up standards in the security sector? Flanagan is swift to develop that point.

“If we could find some way of linking standards in the security sector with insurance premiums that would be extremely beneficial. The British Security Industry Association could perhaps promote an insurance scheme strictly for security companies. Why not, indeed? Preferential rates might be offered for demonstrably outstanding commercial practice. There would also be a correlation with the bottom line of the business.”

The message going forward

Jeff Flanagan is very much in favour of “upping the perception” of security in the commercial marketplace. “Words are one thing, though,” he counters. “It’s what you do to back-up the rhetoric that really counts.”

MITIE must be doing something right because the company has recently secured contracts worth in excess of £12 million with the likes of major High Street retailers Marks & Spencer and Somerfield.

A regular subscriber to The Economist and The Investors’ Chronicle – not to mention an avid reader of The Times and The FT – Flanagan has bought-in to the Internet age “with determination and fascination”. He absolutely loves technology “and the power it has to enhance the business process”. For Flanagan, the Internet is an amazingly powerful tool that he simply couldn’t live without.

As if by divine intervention, the very second Flanagan utters the word “Internet” his BlackBerry simultaneously buzzes and lights up... Another urgent e-mail beckons (so, too, a contract meeting on the other side of the City scheduled to start at 2.00 pm).

The security world is most certainly a fast-moving environment in which committed individuals like Flanagan are beginning to thrive. Long may this trend continue.