With the first signs of economic recovery beginning to show, Geoff Zeidler, Chairman of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), explores the possible implications on the UK’s private security industry and the needs of its customers. "Can we hope that 2014 is finally the start of economic recovery? Certainly, all signs seem to be pointing this way: the stock market has reached record highs, with good growth and inflation figures and increasing business confidence demonstrated by a rise in mergers and acquisitions. If this is indeed the beginning of the end for the downturn, what...

Bob Forsyth, the Managing Director of MITIE Total Security Management (TSM) discusses sustainable buying. Bob writes: "The security sector has come a long way; we’re witnessing more joined up services, innovation in technology bringing greater effectiveness and efficiency, and there are signs of economic improvement. "In theory, all looks positive for our sector; but in reality, this remains to be seen. Ongoing improvements may not necessarily happen unless security professionals start to build sustainable plans and work to a longer-term vision and strategy. "Of course, the recession...

Rog Hatlem, CEO of AOS writes his first of a new series of blogs exclusively for Infologue.com. Rog Writes: "In the current climate, cost appears to be the main focus when deciding on a security provider and indeed the price is the determining factor in total isolation of any other criteria such as quality. "As CEO of AOS, a leading quality security company, and at the forefront of the sales process, I am frequently disappointed that winning a security contract appears to be connected to how low you can drop the price. In my opinion, this focus on price and price alone is extremely damag...

I’m Peter Webster, chief executive of Corps Security, and this is where I examine the issues affecting the security industry. My thoughts and opinions are intended to generate debate and whether you agree or disagree with them, you’re welcome to post your comments below. "For many years I have been an avid campaigner against the use of integrated service bundling or, as it is also known, total facilities management. I firmly believe that security is quite unlike any other service that a facilities manager has to procure and that only a specialist can provide the best possible sol...

Infologue.com Workplace contributor and labour lawyer of Beers Solicitors, Paul Housego discusses changes to Tupe in his latest article. Paul writes: "Tupe has changed again. There are some new regulations which change things in several important respects, mainly for transfers on or after 31st January 2014. "Perhaps the most important one is that the transferors obligation to give the transferee employee information now has to be at least 28 days before the transfer, rather than 14. With clients wanting to change contracts swiftly, 14 days was hard enough. There are not many cases where ...

Paul Tennent is Managing Director of Tavcom which in 2014 is celebrating 20 years as the leading international provider of accredited security systems training. Like his father Mike Tennent, the founder and CEO of Tavcom, Paul passionately believes that formal training programmes leading to accredited and recognised qualifications, as well as CPD structured points through vocational assessment and project work, is a winning formula to ensure that people of all skill levels can be effective and successful in their workplace. In this article Paul provides a brief overview of the Surveillance C...

John Briggs, Operations Director of First Security In his latest blog for Infologue, John Briggs, operations director for First Security, discusses the new business licensing laws that come into effect in April 2015, and the impact on businesses for non-compliance. "As of 7 April 2015, any business providing security services, whether directly or through third parties, will need to hold a new Security Industry Authority (SIA) business licence to continue to trade as a security provider, or they will be committing a criminal offence. "At present, there are around 750 companies in the S...

“Contract security services… an expensive luxury?... nice to have but are they critical to the business? … are they value for money?” Every day, there are questions like these raised in boardrooms around the UK as companies evaluate their security needs.. In deciding whether to retain an existing in-house team or use a contractor, the major question has to be this: why do we need security; what are the benefits? What are the costs? Key criteria for comparing in-house and contract services, and the candidate service providers, are as follows:- 1.    Capability to address ...

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power, and this is very true in the world of security. As an industry we are charged with providing safe and secure environments for our customers, protecting both people and property. Intelligence is therefore critical to strategically and tactically designing the most efficient and effective security solutions. This is the view that we have set out in our recent white paper, available here. If we understand security to be the prevention and mitigation of risk, we need to ensure we have the intelligence to do so and – more importantly – the ability ...

David Rubens Managing Director of InfraSafe Security International (ISI) Having spent the last twenty-two years running my own one-man consultancy, I started a new chapter in my life in December when I was offered the position as MD of the start-up international division of a US security technology company, InfraSafe. InfraSafe is a privately-owned company that has developed close relationships as a trusted partner of various US government agencies, with two separate divisions covering advanced security management technology and access control & visitor management systems.  They have ...