Mark Whiteling, Chief Financial Officer at Interserve Group Limited has resigned to pursue a career as a non-executive director at Connect Group PLC, a magazine and newspaper distributor. This resignation follows the commencement of the "Pre-Pack" administration of Interserve Plc. Despite Interserve Plc going into administration, all company subsidiaries of the Parent company remain fully operational. Since the 18th March, when the company was sold to it's creditors and the administration process began, Interserve's business divisions have been consolidated through a major restructuring...

Perpetuity Research, an independent research company specialising in crime and security research has been commissioned by ICTS UK & Ireland to conduct a study into the experiences of women working in security. Specifically to better understand any barriers that exist to women progressing in the industry and how those barriers could be overcome. If you are a woman undertaking security tasks or managing staff that undertake physical security tasks, Perpetuity Research would like to hear your views. The survey is anonymous, takes approximately 10 minutes to fill in and provides the opportuni...

A Chester man has been convicted of working as a door supervisor with a forged SIA (Security Industry Authority) licence. Philip Evans was sentenced at Chester Magistrate's Court on Thursday 04 April, having pleaded guilty to the offence at a previous hearing on 12 March. The court sentenced Mr Evans to a 112-month community order with an unpaid work requirement of 170 hours. He was also ordered to pay costs of £882, plus a victim surcharge of £85. Evans had been working as a door supervisor for the security company Loc 19 Chester. His deception was uncovered in January 2018 when Evans tu...

On Friday 29 March Mr Shamin Uddin former director of SAS Training Academy of Telford, Shropshire, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court to eight months' imprisonment for falsifying examination papers for individuals seeking to get a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. He is also required to pay £2,000 court costs payable within 12 months. The sentence brings to an end a four-year process initiated by the SIA that investigated malpractice at SAS Training's operations in Barking, East London, its headquarters at Wednesbury in the West Midlands and in Inverness, Scotland. The Honou...

On 01 April 2019 changes came into effect following the review of the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) for private security businesses. This is the culmination of a root and branch review of the scheme, during which the SIA consulted extensively with approved contractors and the wider private security industry. Evidence from the consultation suggested that the SIA didn't need to make fundamental changes to the scheme. However, it was clear from the responses that there were opportunities to make improvements. The SIA published a refreshed ACS standard and new self-assessment workbook, as o...

Entries are open for the inaugural Tackling Economic Crime Awards (TECAs). The TECAs are independent. They have been designed to acknowledge companies, initiatives, individuals and teams who have made an outstanding contribution to tackling economic crime, including any area of fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption. The awards are free to enter and open to anyone working in the UK - operating in the public, private and third sectors. Commenting on the awards, founder Professor Martin Gill said “these awards are different: judges are nominated by fraud specialist associations and...

A South Wales man has been ordered to pay £300,000 at Cardiff Crown Court for continuing to work as a security director despite having lost his Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. Billy Jones, of Pontypridd, was director of BJ Securities Ltd and was proved to be operating his business without a licence when SIA investigators undertook an inspection at an Elvis festival in Porthcawl in June 2016. Jones had pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates' Court in December 2017 and had been sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to undertake 200 hours unpaid ...

An unlicensed door supervisor, and the boss who deployed him with a fraudulent licence, have been convicted of offences under the Private Security Industry Act (PSIA) 2001 and the Fraud Act 2006. On Tuesday 26 March, Michael Flood of Pulford Road, Winsford, pleaded guilty at Crewe Magistrates' Court to fraudulently amending his Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. Vance Garner of Stone Manor Lane, Hartford North, also pleaded guilty to supplying two unlicensed door supervisors (including Flood) to The Vaults pub in Middlewich, Cheshire. On 26 January 2018 Flood was found to be wearing...

The National Security Inspectorate’s (NSI) annual Summit gathered over 250 approved company representatives and key industry stakeholders on 21st March at the Vox in Birmingham. Supported by IFSEC and attended by senior representatives from the SIA, NPCC, the NFCC, and a host of other key industry bodies, the Summit provided an opportunity to both strengthen and build effective sector partnerships. The opening session included updates from the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, the Managing Director of the FPA and an update on the Apprenticeship Standard for the security and fire sectors. S...

Held this year at Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) in the City of London, the Annual Chartered Security Professional (CSyP) Presentation Dinner not only celebrated another successful year of admissions but paid tribute to the outgoing Chairman of its management committee, Lord Alex Carlile CBE QC. After an eight-year term as Chairman of the Chartered Security Professionals Registration Authority (CSPRA), Lord Alex has stepped down from his role and passed the torch on to Security Institute President, Baroness Ruth Henig CBE CSyI. CSPRA is the committee which was established to oversee th...