In his third article for Infologue.com, Bill Freear, Managing Director of Pilgrims Group Ltd asks the question, “What real benefits does your security provider bring you?”
Bill continues: “When you get down to the basics, security manned guarding providers who win new contracts are taking the same personnel supplied by your previous supplier, paying them the same Terms and Conditions (As dictated by TUPE) and in many cases using exactly the same Assignment Instructions to run the contract with. In some cases clients have become so demoralised by the lack of effective input and management, they pay for the supplier to provide a management team which the client then manages and trains as if they were its own employees. Why do they do this, any sensible person would ask? Because the pressure on costs means that obtaining a lower price contract is more important than ensuring the company is actually capable of adding any benefit to the pot.
“The reality is in most cases the only differences company A can bring to company B is the external management and training benefits. Of course technology can bring many benefits but if you are going to obtain such benefits from your manned guarding provider they need to be experts in all technologies, have detailed understanding of your policies and procedures, be able to dovetail with the physical security requirements and then train the guards on how to support all of the above. Technology informs and creates greater capability but it does not respond when things go wrong.
“If the only thing you are changing when you tender is your supplier management team, would it not make sense just to compare what you have with what the bidding companies are offering? Why not just state what price you are prepared to pay and ask the suppliers to outline what you will get for that?!
“Surely management input and training should add up to tangible benefits for you, if not why change?
“Also consider; if a company can offer real benefits and something new, why rule them out because they are a £30m turn over company and not a £50m turnover? If they offer you real return on your investment and you are concerned that they would be too reliant on your payments, why not ensure your payments are on time? The right supplier for you is out there, make sure you find them. You really can get the service you’re looking for!
Read previous articles written by Bill:
Manned Guarding Supplier or Risk Management Company for 2012?
What’s Intelligence for?