Somalia In Mogadishu, a suicide bombing near the national intelligence headquarters reportedly killed four people. Some Al-Shabaab fighters were also killed in the encounter. This was one of many attacks in a new campaign by Al-Shabaab, which purposely coincides with Ramadan. Gerry Northwood OBE, COO of leading maritime security company MAST, said: “It is clear that Somalia is someway from the levels of political stability desired by the International Community ahead of elections next year, and the Federal Government lacks the ability to enforce law and order. The country remains a permiss...

The International Professional Security Association (IPSA) has extended its growing influence in the UK security services sector by taking the lead in the European & British Standards, writes Infologue.com publisher, Bobby Logue.  Justin Bentley, the Chief Executive of IPSA, will be representing UK interests at the first meeting of a new European standards committee which is meeting for the first time in Vienna at the start of July.  IPSA member, Lynn Watts-Plumpkin, who is a Director and General Manager, IQ Verify Ltd, has recently been appointed the chair of the influential British...

LONDON, England/LAGOS, Nigeria: 11 June 2015 – International security specialist, Pilgrims Group Limited, has further increased its ability to provide safe passage for clients working in West African waters by upgrading a former US Coast Guard cutter with state-of-the-art anti piracy facilities. The vessel, MV The Judge, was acquired by Pilgrims in the USA three years ago and has recently been refitted to install state-of-the-art navigation and anti-piracy equipment, expanding its personnel capacity to twelve crew members. Corporate clients, including oil companies, geological surveyors an...

BSI, the business standards company today publishes independent research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) demonstrating the economic benefits of standards to the UK and to individual UK businesses. The research which is an update to a Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) 2005 study - shows that standards continue to play a crucial role in the UK economy. The study incorporated an econometric analysis measuring the contribution of standards to UK labour productivity between 1921 and 2013 and a comprehensive survey of 527 companies in seven key sectors2 as well as ...

Libya The UN has announced the official Libyan Government is heading towards bankruptcy. As a result civil servants, over 50% of the country’s employed workforce, have not been paid for 2 months. If police and military services start to strike, this will only increase the chaos engulfing the country and allow ISIL to make further progress. In addition, the majority of oil and gas installations are government owned and run so ports may close due to strikes. A bulker berthed at Ras Lanuf’s non-oil port to discharge cement but found the port closed with NOC, Libya’s National Oil Company, ...

The International Professional Security Association (IPSA) held its 2015 Annual General Meeting this week at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, London. The occasion marked the completion of Mike White’s four years as Chairman of the Association and included the election of the Association’s International Council, who appointed Mr Stuart Naisbett as the new Chairman. Stuart Naisbett has been an active member of the Association since the early 1980’s, originally in the London and South East Region and then on the International Council, whilst working as a security controller at...

SSAIB, the UK and Ireland’s leading certification body – now boasting some 1700 registered firms – will be returning to IFSEC at the London ExCeL venue on stand F1375, the same location as its stand last year. For 2015 SSAIB’s staff will be led by new Chief Executive Alex Carmichael, who took over the reins from Geoff Tate in March. SSAIB-registered companies include businesses providing electronic security, intruder alarms, manned protection, fire detection systems, as well as services such as telecare monitoring systems for the social alarms sector. Throughout IFSEC, Alex and his te...

Loomis AB’s subsidiary in the UK has reached an agreement to acquire the retail cash handling operations from Cardtronics UK as part of Cardtronics strategy to divest of a non-core business. The purchase price amounts to GBP 18.2 million, including GBP 3.7 million of fixed assets. The purchase price corresponds to approximately SEK 237 million. The acquired operations have annual revenue of approximately GBP 13.5 million (SEK 176 million) and will add customers within the retail segment. Loomis will also take on a majority of staff and vans whilst Cardtronics will retain a proportion to su...

Emprise Services plc, a leading support services provider, has appointed Mark Beadle as chief executive and Howard Sharp as chief financial officer, as well as making a number of other key appointments. Mr Beadle’s specific business aims are to grow the core businesses of specialist cleaning and security under the larger Emprise brand. Mark Beadle said: “Emprise has a terrific track record of delivering first-class service to an impressive client list. I am delighted to have joined Emprise at this very exciting time for the company and as the new CEO, I am proud to be leading this majo...

On 19th May, at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court, two unlicensed directors of a security company were sentenced for offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Both pleaded guilty to the offences. Helen Roberts (36), of Melbourne Terrace, Bradville, Milton Keynes, pleaded guilty to three offences; working as an unlicensed director of a security company; failing to provide the SIA with information; providing false information to the SIA. Simeon Stewart (35), of Leven Close, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, pleaded guilty to two offences; working as an unlicensed director of a security c...