A new survey conducted by Reliance Security Services and Storage Handling Distribution magazine in February 2009, suggests that more than three quarters of the warehousing and logistics sector believes that the current economic downturn will raise the level of crime affecting their businesses. The survey asked security managers and those with responsibility for security in logistics businesses across the UK, what their concerns were in the current environment, what provisions they already had in place and how these might change given the ongoing difficult trading circumstances.Key findings: E...

Rogue wheel clamping firms could soon find themselves subject to tough new regulations, the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced today. The Home Office will look at proposals for introducing compulsory licensing to tackle the limited number of wheel clamping companies whose dodgy practices include: excessive penalties for releasing clamped cars; towing cars unreasonably quickly after being clamped; hidden, missing or confusing signs warning drivers that clamping takes place; and a lack of any appeals process for drivers. Currently, any individual undertaking wheel clamping must hold a frontl...

SectorGuard plc, a leading provider of total security solutions, has announced the completion of the Acquisition of Legion Group plc as announced by the Company on 11 March 2009. The Company is also pleased to announce that it has successfully raised £1.98 million via a Placing, as also outlined in the announcement on 11th March, the proceeds of which have been used to reduce the SectorGuard term debt on completion of the acquisition of Legion. Legion Group WebsiteSectorguard Website...

Advance Security has been awarded a contract to provide security services to Arvato’s distribution centre in Milton Keynes. Arvato is a leading name in business process outsourcing, and the services arm of global media company Bertelsmann AG.  With warehousing and fulfillment locations across Europe the company offers an end-to-end global logistics service as well as customised global outsourcing for supply-chain management. Advance, which specialises in the provision of security to the supply chain industry, won the contract via a competitive tender process following Arvato’s decision to...

During Birmingham’s Saint Patricks Day festival on Sunday [15 March] the Security Industry Authority, West Midlands Police and Trading Standards officers found all security staff inspected were working legally with SIA licences. In random visits to licensed premises around the Digbeth festival, 11 doormen were checked all held valid SIA licences.  Investigators also checked wheel-clamping sites and found three operatives working legally with SIA licenses.Sharon Roberts, an SIA Head of Investigation said: I was pleased with the very positive outcome and would like to thank our enforcemen...

The SIA is hosting its third annual stakeholder conference, The SIA Journey: have we gone far enough?  This will be held on Thursday 21 May, at Manchester Central. The SIA is inviting stakeholders to participate in this years event, which will provide an opportunity for the private security industry and those who work with it, to come together to share their views on the future of regulation. This years seminar topics are: The future and standards of the Approved Contractor Scheme; SIA strategy and approach to communication and customer services; The future of the private security industry -...

MITIE, the strategic outsourcing and asset management company, has secured a National Employer Service (NES) contract to fund a series of training programmes as part of its Skills Pledge. The training will help its people across England to develop their skills, including literacy and numeracy. The Skills pledge is a government initiative to try to combat the findings of the Leitch report in December 2006, which stated that: more than 1/3 of adults do not hold the equivalent of a basic school-leaving qualification; 17 million have difficulty with numbers; and 5 million are not functionally lite...

New legislation on corporate manslaughter has dramatically raised the potential costs to businesses that fail to adequately protect their staff and customers. That was the stark message from Nicole Vazquez, a consultant with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which campaigns to raise awareness of the issues around lone workers. Ms Vazquez, addressing an audience of business delegates at a Reliance Security Services conference in London on 3 March 2009, cited the example of the Hatfield train crash in which four people died. Network Rail was fined around £3m for the accident, but recent changes to legis...

The British Security Industry Association’s Annual Apprentice Installer Awards showcase the high standards and professionalism of young apprentices in the private security industry, and are a unique opportunity for young rising stars to be acknowledged as part of an unmissable event. Tim Geddes, BSIA Security Systems Section Chairman and Chairman of the Judges, comments: “Each year these industry awards recognise the huge strides young apprentices are making towards a successful career within the security industry, demonstrating professionalism, commitment and vast potential in their role...

SSAIB is again expanding its inspection and auditing team with the addition of Lynn Watts-Plumpkin as Scheme Manager and Dave Roscoe as ARC Specialist and Inspector. Lynn is primarily responsible for the management and development of SSAIB’s involvement in the Monitoring Schemes and the Security Guarding Schemes, including the SIA Approved Contractor Scheme and the Private Security Authority (PSA) Contractor and Employee Licensing Schemes, which operates in the Republic of Ireland. Lynn’s experience and qualifications will enhance SSAIB’s expertise in ISO 9000, Environmental Management a...