-optimized.jpg){kind=avatar}
It’s only human, that some leave it until the last minute to do something no matter how much it means to them – and that’s true too of entering Professional Security Magazine’s annual WiS (Women in Security) awards, Magazine MD Roy Cooper writes.
Since the early 2010s we’ve been celebrating the achievements and contributions of women across the security sector; whether front-line professionals or leaders and innovators. A drum roll please! The five categories are: Business Manager,ย Contribution to Industry,ย Technical,ย Security Manager and Front-line. It’s free to enter, online through the WiS part of our website; but you have to put fingers to the keyboard, deadline is July 17. No exceptions, because we have deadlines of our own to meet, for a panel of distinguished industry women (all past WiS winners) to go over the entries and pick 15 finalists for the judges from industry bodies to then choose winners from. All in time for the awards dinner and ceremony on Wednesday, September 16.
Criteria
Judges will consider:
โข How nominees contribute to the wider security profession beyond their job specification; and
โข Why the nominee deserves this prestigious recognition.
What makes a nomination stand out?
The strongest nominations go beyond a job title or list of responsibilities โ they shine a light on the impact the nominee has made. Tell us how this person has gone above and beyond โ whether through leadership, innovation, mentoring, operational excellence, or quietly changing lives behind the scenes.
Stronger nominations usually include:
โข Specific examples or achievements;
โข Why their work mattered or made a difference;
โข Personal impact on others or the industry; and
โข Evidence of leadership, courage, or creativity.
As I keep telling people, someone who just turns up on time and smiles isn’t going to win, due to the entries that show women who go ‘above and beyond’ whether to help other security workers or the wider public.
Evening
Now in its 14th year, the awards night has become a fixture in the UK security calendar, honouring individuals and inspiring others to follow in their footsteps. This yearโs presentations take place at the Underglobe in London, a venue beneath Shakespeareโs Globe Theatre, a special riverside setting as anyone who’s been can tell you. Take a look at the gallery of pictures from the 2025 night.
Co-host
Co-hosting the evening with me is Figen Murray, who needs no introduction to Professional Security magazine readers, but here’s one anyway – herself a WiS winner, in 2022, she campaigned for years for Martynโs Law, the legal duty on premises and events to take steps to counter the threat of terrorism, after the loss of her son Martyn Hett in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. Her tireless work has led to world-first legislation – the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, a lasting legacy now in UK law and due to come into force in 2027 (latest news in the August 2026 edition of the magazine).
Judges will pick an award of their own, in the name of Baroness Ruth Henig, a chair of the SIA who died in 2024. Last year’s was given posthumously to the former BSIA chair Dame Julie Kenny.
