In his latest blog for Infologue.com, David Ward, Managing Director at Ward Security, discusses the service delivery. David Writes: "In times of change or evolution, innovation is crucial, especially in the business environment where a failure to innovate can leave a business looking dated and unable to capitalise on emerging opportunities. Even the most traditional and respected of brands recognise this and, while ensuring they stay true to their core values, will always be looking for ways to adapt their offer to better serve the evolving marketplace. "Yet while innovation is crucial to...

Lynda Moore, a Partner in the Consultancy, FM Contract Watch writes for Infologue.com about staff turnover. Lynda writes: “The turnover of staff in Contract Security has always been a hot topic of conversation and the true figures and costs to the industry may never be known. "The cost should not be measured in just financial terms, but also in terms of the loss of operational knowledge, as a newly recruited Security Officer is simply not as knowledgeable and productive as an experienced Officer, who has been at the same site for many years. "Prior to the introduction of SIA licensing,...

Peter Webster, chief executive of Corps Security, a regular Infologue.com blogger, discusses Policing. He writes: "A few weeks ago there was an incident at Corps Security that could have cost us a significant sum of money. Our Chief Financial Officer received an email, purportedly from me, asking how to arrange payment to a third party. Plausible though it sounds, the email was also peppered with pleasantries, so he immediately knew that it couldn't possibly be from me! After we established that it was an attempt at cyber fraud, we wrote back asking for the name of the person to pay and th...

Sarah Smith, ‎Head of Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) at Mitie Total Security Management discusses what makes QHSE “good”. Sarah writes: "In my last blog I discussed how safety culture comes from engagement and leadership from the top. But it’s important to address what we mean by safety culture? "Surely we mean the business has the right values and culture to operate successfully, which means safety is built into everything that everyone does. Security should not be a nice to have, but a fully integrated service. "We put the security and wellbeing of our Mitie st...

In his latest blog for Infologue.com, David Ward, Managing Director at Ward Security, discusses the General Election. David Writes: "In the run-up to the General Election, Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) across the UK are being bombarded with questions from tens of thousands of electors, as well as countless requests for support from charities and industries should they be elected. One such industry approach to PPCs has been put out by the Police Federation concerned about further cuts to policing. "The Federation is clearly deeply troubled, and the email to PPCs lays out a st...

Jason Towse, managing director of Mitie’s Total Security Management business, reflects on the business reaction to one of Britain’s biggest thefts. "The recent Hatton Garden robbery has left everyone with questions as to how such an audacious heist could have taken place. "The timing and bypassing of the reinforced metal door points to a professional gang of robbers – with many concluding they must have had inside knowledge. "Yet for many business owners the biggest concern is that an intruder alarm went off but the Metropolitan Police didn’t react. "Some are speculating: doe...

Peter Webster, chief executive of Corps Security, a regular Infologue.com blogger, discusses a top down approach to security. He writes: "It is a constant source of amazement to me just how many UK organisations adopt a silo mentality when it comes to their security provision. They source their intruder alarm, CCTV, access control, fire detection and alarm monitoring services from different providers and when key holding, manned guarding and alarm response services are also considered it can mean that there are several different contracts in place, with every provider operating completely i...

In his latest blog for Infologue.com, Stuart Lodge, Chief Executive of Lodge Service, discusses alarm response. Stuart writes: "At the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit between April 2 and 5, it is reported that thieves used heavy cutting equipment to get into the vault and broke into some 70 safe deposit boxes, stealing an estimated £60 million to £200 million worth of gems and cash. "As a major security incident, what lessons can we learn from it? "The methods the thieves allegedly used were not new and appear to be quite ‘low-tech’: methods that one would expect could be effectively c...

David Dickinson, former British Security Industry Association Chief Executive, who led the security industry through the crucial regulatory transition phase from 2002 to 2006, writes his fifth column for Infologue.com and discusses the cost of labour churn. David writes: There has been much comment of late about margin erosion, competitive bidding practices and similar topics, but one point that I have not seen covered in any depth is the size of the licensed services sector.  Infologue’s annual industry (and therefore market-size) makes interesting, if dismal reading.  S...

Lynda Moore, a Partner in the Consultancy, FM Contract Watch writes for Infologue.com about improving the perception of security services. Lynda writes: “There are very few industries that are as transparent with their charges as the Security Industry.  What other goods do you purchase where there is a breakdown of the service charge to the last penny? “It is quite acceptable for almost every other industry to make a reasonable profit, but for some reason it is frowned upon in contract security.  With the heightened terror threats, clients are demanding more and more from their contra...