John Clifford, the Director of Operations of the National Security Inspectorate (NSI), who died suddenly whilst on holiday in Brazil, had recently announced to colleagues his intention to retire at the end of July and that he was looking forward to enjoying more time with his family and on trips abroad.John started his career in the police force in Liverpool where he quickly rose to the rank of Sergeant prior to a move to the West Midlands Constabulary.  John was to spend the rest of his police career with the West Midlands Police rising to the rank of Chief Inspector.  During his time w...

MITIE Group PLC (‘MITIE’) is pleased to announce that it has been given preferred bidder status by Rolls-Royce for the facilities and energy management of its European properties. Subject to contract, this will be MITIE’s largest pan-European agreement and demonstrates MITIE’s capability to meet the needs of Rolls-Royce across its European property portfolio.It will include facilities management, energy management and the delivery of services including engineering and fabric maintenance, security, cleaning, catering, waste management, document management, reception, pest control an...

While combating terror and providing security, the government will reduce the intrusion by the state into peoples’ lives and give impetus to integrating our society on the basis of equality, responsibility and shared values; Baroness Pauline Neville Jones, the Home Office Minister of State responsible for security and counter-terrorism, told the audience at the Homeland Security and Border Conference Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in London last week.“Security abroad and at home are part of an inseparable continuum in which the different threats and dangers interact.”“The es...

The Security Industry Authority has today published a Customer Service Commitment designed to ensure licence applicants are fully informed about the standard of service they can expect from the SIA. The commitment is based on two long-term objectives that shape everything the SIA wants to achieve: delivering a service that meets the needs of customers; and delivering valueThe commitment sets out service levels that applicants can expect. The SIA aims to:Process correctly completed application within six weeks from the date received. Answer all calls to the contact centre withi...

Rentokil Initial plc, one of the world's leading providers of business support services, has announced the acquisitions of Knightsbridge Guarding Holdings Limited and Perception UK LLP for a total cash consideration of £6.9 million. Both businesses will become part of the Company's Initial Facilities Services division and will enable it to strengthen its position in the UK's integrated facilities market. The acquired businesses generated combined revenues of £33.8 million in the last financial year. Rentokil Initial is one of the largest business services companies in the world, operatin...

Nikaro, the national key holding and response service network, has partnered with Omni Security Services to offer canine units as part of its service offer. The Nikaro network is made up of over 200 nationally based service partners to deliver a multitude of key holding and associated security services locally. This recent addition of Omni Security will serve to further expand Nikaro’s services and the canine units will be used in situations when the additional deterrent of a guard dog and dog handlers are required.The partnership will also secure the provision of specialist search dogs,...

The SIA’s annual conference was held yesterday [15 June] at The Kings Fund, London. Titled ‘A Common Purpose – Raising standards in the private security industry’, the event aimed to encourage further development and progress by the industry, including examples of business best practice and the latest news from the SIA. The conference was well attended with around 200 delegates including enforcement partners, security providers and buyers of security. SIA Chairman Baroness Ruth Henig opened the conference and spoke on how everyone in the private security industry can work together mor...

The Security Industry Authority has changed its licence processing targets to reflect the continuous improvements it has made in this area. Previously, the SIA aimed to process 85% of licence applications from UK and EEA nationals within 33 working days, and 80% of all licence applications (UK, EEA and other) within 40 working days. The SIA now aims to process a minimum of 80% of all correctly completed applications within 30 working days, irrespective of the nationality of the applicant. The latest licence processing figures highlighted: April 2010, 94% of all applications were processed wi...

A new study by psychologists at the University of Leicester has identified dimensions of personality seen in persons prone to shoplifting. Three characteristics in his study stood out: Being male; unpleasant and antisocial; and disorganised and unreliable. The study also found that younger and outgoing people are more likely to pilfer from stores or commit minor fraud. In a paper published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, entitled, ‘Shoplifting, unethical consumer behaviour, and personality’, Dr Vincent Egan of the University of Leicester’s School of Psychology and...

The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has published a new guide to aid the healthcare sector in the use of access control systems. The guide is aimed at hospitals and residential care homes and explains how access control technology can better protect these sites, which are increasingly being targeted by criminals. Mike Sussman, Chairman of the BSIA's Access Control Section, comments: "Healthcare premises tend to be widespread and have large transient populations making it all the more easier for people to access the site. With high value items stored on-site such as computers an...