Inaugural Security Matters Webinar focuses on future roadmap for security guarding

The COVID-19 pandemic has, for the time being at least, fundamentally changed the way in which the majority of us work on a daily basis. Many business professionals are now even more heavily reliant on technology and remote working than ever before in order to ‘get the job done’. However, in some disciplines – security guarding being one of them – that simply isn’t possible.

Myriad business premises are, in most instances, empty at the present time and a trained and alert physical presence is still necessary on site to protect the property within. Not surprisingly, this scenario has placed the discipline of security guarding firmly under the spotlight, with several key industry organisations in our sector – among them the BSIA, the NSI and the SSAIB – determinedly pushing for ‘critical/key worker’ status for front line security guarding personnel as a direct result of the pandemic.

Is that push for due recognition going to have a markedly positive effect on the sector going forward when we eventually emerge from the COVID-19 ‘lockdown’?

The industry and its client base needs to grasp the nettle now and open up the debate around what guarding looks like at the present time and, perhaps more importantly, by doing so purposefully help to frame and underpin what security guarding should and must look like as a discipline in the years ahead.

With this premise in mind, the inaugural Security Matters webinar on Thursday 28 May at 10.30 am seeks to discuss the desired roadmap for guarding in the second half of 2020 and beyond, touching on key issues including the changing nature of security services provision on the ground, the part played by regulation (ie the Security Industry Authority’s Approved Contractor Scheme and the much-discussed proposal of business licensing), the core subject of training and skill sets (with a view towards meeting ever-changing buyer expectations) and, further, the perspective of those end users and what they demand of security companies to suit their own business requirements.

In short, what must the discipline of security guarding be doing now in order to safeguard its future progression and development?

Framing the debate

*Register for the inaugural Security Matters Webinar on Security Guarding - The Roadmap https://events.streamgo.co.uk/Security-Guarding-The-Roadmap/register?redirect=%2FSecurity-Guarding-The-Roadmap

Security Matters has brought together a stellar cast of industry professionals for this inaugural webinar: Jason Towse, Stephen McCormick and Tony Cockcroft..

Joining the Expert Panel is Jason Towse, managing director of business services at Mitie, the largest security provider in the country and one that's really setting the benchmark in terms of the industry's response to COVID-19.

A calculated risk taker with significant industry knowledge, Towse continues to champion the drive for the use of technology and converged services, while at the same time leading a large and complex organisation in today’s fast-paced business environment

For his part, Stephen McCormick was appointed director of service delivery at the Security Industry Authority (SIA), the industry Regulator, back in April 2009, becoming director of operations and standards in April 2013.

McCormick originally joined the SIA as interim director in January 2009 and was previously the director of strategy and business development for shared services at the Home Office, leading on the design and creation of the (then) new shared services business organisation and the deployment of a portfolio of services to the core department and its agencies.

McCormick also led the work to develop the Home Office and Justice Sector plan aimed at maximising the potential and impact of shared services development across multiple organisations totalling approximately 350,000 individuals. He originally joined the Home Office in December 2003 and led on the creation of the Corporate Change and Reform Programme while working for the Permanent Secretary.

Further, McCormick has worked in the UK and European telecommunications industries. Prior to joining the Home Office, he was CEO of an application service provider based in Brussels and has also been director of channel development and customer care for BT Belgium and a senior operations manager within BT UK.

Tony Cockcroft is vice-chairman of the British Security Industry Association and chair of the Trade Association's dedicated Security Guarding Section.

He's also the director of Independent Contractor Security Ltd, the business providing security guarding, patrols and alarm response and key holding services.

Cockcroft was elected as Security Guarding Section chair in 2015, being elected by the Board as vice-chairman of the Trade Association in 2019.

*Register for the inaugural Security Matters Webinar on Security Guarding - The Roadmap https://events.streamgo.co.uk/Security-Guarding-The-Roadmap/register?redirect=%2FSecurity-Guarding-The-Roadmap

**The Security Matters Webinar Series is kindly sponsored by The Security Event which runs at the NEC in Birmingham on 22-23 September 2020. To register for the show visit https://www.thesecurityevent.co.uk/