Hollywood themed ‘Oscar’ night gives our excellent winners the chance to be stars in the security world – and raise cash to help security professionals who fall prey to illness.

There was no doubt that this year’s Security Excellence Awards was centred around Hollywood ... Marilyn Monroe and Captain Jack Sparrow greeted guests as they arrived at the Hilton in London’s Park Lane.

In line with our quest to give guests a night out to remember, this year we themed the awards as “Destination Hollywood” with star lookalikes, paparazzi photographers, clapperboards and film theme music. And as the Security Excellence Awards are now regarded as the security industry “Oscars”, this year’s theme seemed particularly appropriate. But behind the glitz was the serious purpose of honouring all those who had demonstrated excellence in security during the past year. Now in their eighth year, the awards encourage professionalism and excellence in every sector of the industry ... from installation to guarding, from manufacturers to their products.

Organised by Security Installer, its sister publication SMT, and online publication Platform, the event was hosted by publisher, Adrian Newton, and my co-editors Brian Sims (SMT) and Ron Alalouff (Platform).

Providing the entertainment was radio and TV presenter Jeremy Vine and giving keynote speeches were Vernon Coaker, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Policing, Security and Community Safety, and John Saunders, chief executive of the SIA. Our chosen charity this year was Hear4U, a rehabilitation project designed to offer members of the security profession who have health problems the chance to return to work as quickly as possible.

For the third year running, young apprentice installers who had competed in the Apprentice Skills Challenge, staged at IFSEC, received their trophies in front of an audience of industry VIPs representing all the major UK organisations.

In fact, anyone who is anyone in the industry now attends this black tie event which goes on getting bigger and better as each year passes.

This year’s attendance was a record 750 guests dining in style ... and the event also broke records for the number of entries received and the number of sponsors.

We have already decided our theme for next year so look out for details of the 2007 awards which could see you or your company among the excellent in the industry.

Our excellent winners

A record number of entries to this year’s awards made it a daunting task for the judges. The trophy winners were:

Best Security Installer
Siemens Building Technologies

Best Security Training Initiative
Wilson James

Best Guarding Company
VSG

Best Security Partnership Initiative
Raid-control Trust

Best Security Consultant
Arup Security Consulting

Best Security Innovation
Connexion 2 Ltd

Best Event Security Team
Showsec

International Achievement Award
VIDEF Security Consulting

Best Customer Care Initiative
Siemens Building Technologies

Best IT Initiative
Chris Lewis Security Services

Best Integrated Security Solution
G4S

Best Security Manager
Trevor Gannon – Credit Suisse

Best Security Manufacturer
Dedicated Micros

Sponsoring the awards

Our sponsors this year were:
ACPO CPI – which manages the Secured Car Parks project and National Architectural Liaison Officers Conference.
British Security Industry Association – the major trade association of the security industry.
BT redcare – the UK’s foremost provider of remote monitoring services.
Dedicated Micros – innovative producer of CCTV recording and monitoring systems.
G4S Security Services – the largest UK security company employing 15,000 people.
Kings Security – ISO 9001:2000-accredited installer offering local and national service.
MITIE Security – provider of bespoke security solutions to prestigious blue chip clients.
Over-C – offering web-based applications for clients in the security guarding sector.
Panasonic – supplier of a single source contact for CCTV, EAS and source tagging systems.
Prima Corporate Wear – leading supplier of corporate clothing to the security sector.
Security Industry Authority (SIA) – The body set up to manage licensing and regulation of the private security industry.
Southern Monitoring Services (SMS) – Market leader in the provision of remote monitoring services.
Skills for Security – The skills and standards-setting body for the industry.

Apprentice Skills Challenge

With the growing awareness that Modern Apprenticeships are a good way to tackle the engineering skills shortage, the Apprentice Skills Challenge was staged at IFSEC 2006. Now in their sixth year these “skills olympics” are sponsored by BT redcare in association with Skills for Security, The National Security Inspectorate (NSI) and Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB). The competition is designed to recognise the best up and coming apprentices and features teams of apprentices battling it out with each other to see who can do the most technically sound installation work. This year nearly 60 apprentices from a variety of age groups took part in the event at the NEC, Birmingham.

The finalists were:
Overall winners, Nicola O’Higgins and Billy Hopkins
(Chubb Electronic Security)
Gareth Sunderland and Jonathan Pearce (Initial Fire and Security);
Jonathan Underwood and Robert Hanlon (Securi-plex).

Source

Security Installer