November issue! Where did the year go? Stay safe around those fireworks, because you know they can have a nasty habit of backfiring on you.
No fireworks in this month’s gossip, or none that I can share that is. Did you see that Simon Banks has The Banks Foundation (TBF) and it has bought 49.9 per cent of Skills for Security, the skills and training arm of the BSIA that the association owns. TBF will allocate all generated income to activities centred around encouraging young entrepreneurs by advancing their careers through training, salary support and start-up funding. Simon has been a long-standing advocate of supporting and mentoring young people into the fire and security and electrotechnical sectors. TBF is not-for-profit, designed to give something back after a lifetime career in the security industry. Under the new ownership, employees of the training body will also become shareholders of Skills for Security, something Simon has done before with the other companies he has set up helping a number of people become millionaires. Simon said: “I’m passionate about helping young people realise their potential, whether through apprenticeships, entrepreneurship or both. TBF provides an important boost for young enterprise by seeking out people that have something you cannot teach, or are blocked from demonstrating their abilities by standard academia. By creating wealth in our sector, we will ensure we attract the very best talent and move the security sector forward, benefiting the entire value chain.”
They’re at work in 13 schools and colleges; some 700 students aged from 14 to 18 are encouraged to turn £1 into £10, that into £100 through audited trading and so on. This initiative seeks out resourceful candidates that may think differently about business and opportunities. David Scott, Managing Director, Skills for Security, said: “This is such a positive step and will allow us to scale-up our training operations nationally. We are well used to Simon’s involvement as he’s been our hands-on chairman for some time.”
Norbain have launched a refreshed brand identity, including a new logo. They tell me the company has changed significantly in recent years and these improvements better reflect the company’s ethos. The rebrand comes at the same time as they release their latest catalogue for 2022/23 – with another way to find the range of products from all their suppliers. Managing Director Mark Field says: “Our aim is to make our customers’ lives easier by taking the time to understand what they need. We want to ensure we provide great service at every stage and believe that delivering this starts with our employees.”
Partnerships
Cloudview, a cloud-based video-intelligence-as-a-service, has a Premium Partnership agreement with Dynamic CCTV, a supplier of Hikvision CCTV systems in the UK and Ireland. Yu Ning, Managing Director of Dynamic CCTV, said: “This announcement is significant for Dynamic CCTV as Hikvision does not currently offer cloud storage capabilities in the UK or Europe. Cloudview being a UK company offers 100 per cent cloud-based UK data residency and 100 per cent UK-based technical support. For Dynamic CCTV installers and customers, this agreement creates new opportunities as it unlocks untapped potential to cloud-enable existing legacy Hikvision CCTV infrastructure as well as to offer new customers extended storage and analytic capabilities.” And 360 Vision Technology, the UK manufacturer of high definition radar and thermal PTZ imaging cameras, has a partnership with Building Defence Systems (BDS), to provide 360’s industrial cameras in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and wider region.
People
Now to people, and it’s nice to see people being rewarded for years of service. At Vicon, Guy Nixon has been promoted to Managing Director, EMEA. Guy started there in 1985 as a technician, and moved into sales support as a technical sales advisor. In 2003 he was promoted to Technical Services Director, and ultimately Managing Director. Pam began at Vicon as a sales coordinator, and since then has held a variety of roles, including team leader and purchasing manager. She has managed the processing and supply of projects, from single franchisees to enterprise applications, across EMEA. Hence her recent promotion to Director of Inside Sales. She said: “The new structure is a breath of fresh air, and everyone is very upbeat. Our aim now is to increase Vicon’s market share with our excellent solutions and customer service.”
Ali Tremasi, pictured, has joined access control manufacturer Inner Range as a pre-sales technical consultant. His role includes designing integrated access and security systems for would-be customers, consulting on potential system designs and seeing that integrators and end-users understand what the company can deliver. The company’s flagship product is Integriti, an integrated access control platform, meaning multiple integrations with third party systems must work for customers. Tremasi will work with Inner Range’s sales team, listening to customers and suggesting solutions that work for site users as well as system operators. Tremasi was a technical engineer for Hikvision.
