Happy Halloween, and take it carefully on Bonfire Night, because those fireworks are dangerous. In fact, why not ditch the fireworks as it’s just money going up in smoke and come to Professional Security Magazine’s end of the year party.
Yep we are heading to the Radisson Red on Bath Road outside Heathrow Airport for Security TWENTY 25 London. That’s the last of the series of ST25 roadshows (get your diary ready for 2026 dates!). ST25 London’s running on Thursday, November 6, but I just invited you to come along to the party night on the Wednesday at the same hotel venue. We have a live band, free street food and a free bar, and do you fancy yourself as a bit of a Robbie Williams or Gary Barlow, or indeed Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift? The band will let you sing with them, if you’re no good they might turn your microphone down lol.
Let’s round up last month, the Women in Security (WiS) Awards was a great night as always and everyone that attended had a great night. Congratulations once again to all the winners, finalists and in fact all those that were nominated. I’ve said it before so let me say it again, to be nominated for an award makes you a winner because someone has taken the time to put in a complete that nomination for you. Talking of nominations! We, Professional Security Magazine, have become a finalist in this year’s Security Excellence Awards so wish us luck for Park Lane on December 1, after doing this for 35 years it’s nice to be nominated.
So to the gossip
Let’s start with Mayflex. Jason Cooke joins from Wavestore where he was a regional sales manager. He has also worked at Pelco as a channel account manager. Jason will be looking after accounts mainly in the south east of England. Matt McLernon joins meanwhile from Veracity UK where he was the UK sales manager. Prior to that he worked at Lilin UK as a BDM (business development manager). Matt will be looking after the Midlands and south Wales. Francesco Bellavia, Director of Sales for Security at Mayflex, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jason and Matt to the team, both have been in the security industry for many years and have a wealth of experience, a focus on customer service and the desire to succeed, which is the perfect fit for our ‘driven to deliver more’ philosophy.”
As part of what’s described as a long-planned succession, Sepura has appointed Chris Barnes as CEO, succeeding Steve Barber, as from October 1. Based in the Cambridge technology hub and UK-owned, Sepura provides telecoms products to public safety and business-critical customers. As for Chris’ experience, most recently he was CEO for six years at Tracsis plc, a software and technology business specialising in the transport sector. Before that, he held a number of senior positions at Ricardo, an automotive engineering, test and consultancy business. At Hörmann UK‘s Perimeter Protection Systems (PPS) division they’ve appointed Mark Wood as Perimeter Protection Systems Manager. Based at the company’s Coalville base, he brings 17 years of experience in perimeter security, with a focus on Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM). The voice alarm and emergency audio and alarm systems business Vox Ignis has appointed Mark Piert as its new Northern Regional Sales Manager. Mark joined the company in September 2025 with a sales and customer remit across the north of the UK, and the island of Ireland; the company offers Unicorn Voice PAVA (public address), Lexicomm EVC, AssistCallPro safety alarms and InEvac lockdown systems. Liverpool-based Mark is well known in the UK fire industry having spent nearly 30 years in engineering and sales roles for many well-known manufacturers.
Acquisitions
Ranger Fire and Security has acquired a fire safety firm B-Safe Group, pictured. Cork-based B-Safe dates from 2019, building on fire safety experience that dates back to 1983, offering fire extinguisher service and supply, and further services, such as consultancy. In particular, the company serving corporate clients from local businesses to some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Ireland. B-Safe offers specialised courses on fire awareness and use of fire extinguishers, fire warden courses, emergency response team training and first aid and manual handling training. Ranger says this buy will add to its service offering across Ireland. They say they’re committed to becoming the one stop shop for fire and security service needs across Ireland, and the acquisitions aren’t planned to stop there. B-Safe Group will be able to cross-sell and use Ranger’s technology platform. The Group will continue to be led Managing Director Damien Byrne, Director of Portables, Fire Alarm and Emergency Lighting consultant Jason O’Brien and Director of Operations and Suppression Aiden Bolster. All will remain with the business.
