The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has launched a new Health and Safety Forum, dedicated to providing networking and information sharing opportunities for health and safety professionals working in the private security industry. Launched at Chelsea Football Club on 19th November, the forum aims to facilitate the sharing of information and best practice, galvanising BSIA members’ commitment to health and safety into positive action while informing them of the latest developments in relevant legislation. The launch event was sponsored and hosted by VSG and featured brief presen...

Active Response Security Services was announced as the ACS Champion 2014 at last night's Security Excellence Awards in London [27 Nov]. Active Response is based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The 'ACS Champion of the Year' award is open to all approved contractors and seeks to identify those that have taken exceptional steps to further the spirit of the SIA’s Approved Contractor Scheme. Active Response Security Services is currently approved by the SIA for security guarding and key holding. SIA Chief Executive, Bill Butler, presented the ACS Champion award to Active Response Managi...

A security boss has been sentenced for providing unlicensed security guards to a prestigious housing development in Prestbury, Cheshire. Gary Ford (42) of Westall Court, Buxton, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty on 11 November to three security offences. On 17 November, Ford was sentenced at Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court to a 12 month community order and a requirement that he completes 300 hours of unpaid work. The court awarded the Security Industry Authority £10,000 in costs, to be paid at £100 a week. In May 2013, SIA investigators visited the site of two discreet luxury houses in Prestbur...

The Security Institute (SyI), the UK's largest membership body for security professionals, launched its Manifesto for Professional Security on the 18th November at the Churchill War Rooms. "Our vision is to make professional security more effective: recognised and respected for the value it delivers to society, to organisations in both the public and private sector, and to individual members of the public. We believe that professional security has the opportunity and the responsibility to play a full role in addressing the challenges and security risks of the future. Our vision is that the ...

BSI, the business standards company, today launches PAS 7000, a universally applicable supply chain information standard for suppliers and buyers at organizations of all sizes around the globe. PAS 7000 Supply Chain Risk Management- Supplier prequalification helps answer three key questions relating to any organization’s supply chain partners: Who are they? Where are they? Can they be relied upon?  The standard draws on the collective expertise of 240 professionals drawn from global industry associations and organizations, and it addresses product, process and behavioural criteria fo...

Doug Hewitson, the Managing Director of G4S Secure Solutions (UK) discusses first impressions and customer service. Doug writes: "It’s often said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Indeed, far too many companies discover this to their cost, when the wrong customer experience damages their reputation and their profits. In light of this, companies with front-line staff of some description will almost certainly be investing in customer service training to ensure they know exactly what is expected of them and can ensure customers are treated in the way they expect....

On Friday [17 Oct] at Sheffield Crown Court, two security directors were sentenced for committing 29 private security offences. Under company names Dragon Security Solutions and Goodfellas Nightspot Barnsley, the two supplied unlicensed security guards to unsuspecting customers across South Yorkshire over a nine month period. Neither of the directors held Security Industry Authority licences to work in private security. Ian Lindsay of Market Street, Rotherham, and Martyn Cook of Philip Avenue Nuthall, Nottingham, had pleaded guilty to the offences at Rotherham Magistrates’ Court on 15 July...

The British Security Industry Association has announced the launch of a new Health and Safety Forum, dedicated to sharing industry best practice and promoting the importance of health and safety for industry practitioners, their employees and their customers. Launched in light of the growing importance of health and safety within the security sector, the forum has been created in response to demand from BSIA members. In a recent survey conducted by the Association, 93% of respondents expressed a keen interest in participating in such a forum, which aims to deal with important issues ...

Police forces and local and national Government departments can now hire experienced former police officers as support staff from security consultants Lodge Service. Assignments range from crime investigation and fraud audits, to data recovery and intelligence analysis. The service is managed by former police officers and is coordinated through the Lodge Services intelligence centre in Redditch, Worcestershire, with a former Deputy Chief Constable on Lodge Service’s advisory board. “ It’s recognised by the police and Government that accredited private sector sources can provide them w...

The £536 million annual turnover Cordant Group, has been ranked 15th in the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 league table, which ranks Britain's mid-market growth private companies with the largest sales. The Cordant Group was also ranked the largest employer, with 30,000 employees in the Top Track 250 league table. Cordant Group owns Advance Security which was ranked seventh in the Infologue.com Top 25 UK Companies in the Regulated Security Sector 2013. Established in 1957 in the security services sector, the majority of Cordant’s income is now derived from its recruitment b...