The third UK Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) event took place at the Royal Lancaster in central London on 28 February 2019. Over 450 security professionals gathered to celebrate the very best from across the sector with dinner and a presentation event hosted by Susannah Fish OBE QPM - former Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police; national gun crime lead and national lead for Business Crime, Private Security Industry Liaison, and Information Sharing. OSPAs founder Professor Martin Gill commented “The OSPAs provide an independent platform to showcase excellence and outsta...

Advances in technology and the Internet of Things have changed the way we live and work, so too they are changing the way security operates – ‘traditional’ security measures are evolving and becoming more advanced and in some cases interconnected. But what is the impact on offenders? Perpetuity Research is undertaking a study, interviewing offenders to understand how they react to this ‘new’ security. In addition, they are conducting a survey of security professionals, launched today, to ascertain their views on the types of changes taking place, whether this is likely to impact on...

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has awarded a major digital services contract to The IT service provider: Version 1, who will take over support for STeP, the SIA’s online licensing system, in May 2019. Version 1 was established over 20 years ago; currently constituting a 1200 strong team with offices in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and India; they specialise primarily in digital and cloud services. The SIA’s contract with BT, the original supplier of STeP, is due to come to an end on 26 May 2019. The tender for a replacement supplier was sent out to eligible providers using ...

The National Security Inspectorate (NSI) has welcomed the British Security Industry Association’s (BSIA) recently published “Cyber Secure It - Best Practice Guidelines for Connected Security Systems," promoting the importance of secure connections throughout the supply chain in order to protect against cyber security threats. The new guidelines outline a risk-based framework for manufacturers, installers, monitoring centres, maintainers and other stakeholders involved in the manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and inspection of such systems, for the benefit of e...

Interserve, one of the Top 30 largest Security providers in the UK has reached an agreement with its creditors to deal with its rising debts. The firm's lenders which include RBS, HSBC and BNP Paribas have agreed to help reduce its debts from £600m to around £275m by issuing £480m of new shares, to be swapped with its creditors for debt amounting to 97.5% of its entire share capital. This deal is subject to the approval of Interserve's current shareholders and will be finalised within the next few weeks. Debbie White, CEO of Interserve in a Press Statement said: "This proposal has b...

IFSEC Global has announced its judging panel for the 2019 edition of its Security and Fire Influencers, with Labour peer Lord Toby Harris and National Basketball Association (NBA) security chief Jerome Pickett starring. Lord Harris has previously represented the Home Secretary in overseeing the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terror work. Subsequently a member of the Police Counter Terrorism Board, he has a keen interest in policing, cybersecurity and counter-terror. Pickett, who joined the NBA last month as executive vice president and chief security officer, is an expert in crisis manage...

In 2018 we have seen some dramatic changes in the Top 30 List of regulated security companies, which chiefly includes MITIE Plc’s acquisition of Vision Security Group from Compass Plc. In other news, Cardinal Security was bought out of financial difficulties and administration by Amberstone Guarding Ltd, allowing Amberstone to preserve Cardinal's customer base and workforce. Furthermore, Securitas acquired the MK group and Kingdom Security has acquired Keyline Chartered Security. Meanwhile, Interserve announced their first Deleveraging Plan in November 2018 in a bid to restructure their ris...

The National Security Inspectorate (NSI) has announced its annual Summit will take place this year on 21st March 2019 at The Vox Conference Centre in Birmingham. Approved companies can now register on the NSI Summit Website. In its sixth year, this highly popular, informative and free to attend one-day event offers an opportunity for approved companies to gain insights on industry developments, products, technology and business from recognised experts and security industry leaders. It’s a quick and convenient way to obtain practical, tangible ideas and hear expert perspectives on the latest...

As of today (Monday 14 January) the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has launched a new consultation to help determine the content of the next generation of compulsory qualifications for licenced operatives in the private security industry. This new consultation starts today and will run for four weeks until Monday 11 February 2019. To have a say on the draft specifications for the licence-linked qualifications, please visit the consultation website. Following an initial consultation last year the SIA has been working closely with expert working groups to inform the content of these draft s...

Following the departure of James Kelly in November 2018, today the BSIA has announced the appointment of Mike Reddington as the new BSIA Chief Executive. He will be taking up his new role as of Monday 21st January 2019. Mike has worked in the security industry for over 25 years. Beginning his career in electronic engineering & systems installation Mike then moved into sales and marketing. This led to him rising into senior roles for a variety of leading blue chip organisations, such as Honeywell and ADI. Since 1994 Mike has been in Executive & Director-Level positions for a wide va...