The late Baroness Ruth Henig declared at the very first Women in Security (WiS) Awards that they would become the ‘Oscars of the security industry … and just like the Oscars … the WiS Awards created an Academy. This year we had our annual meeting for the winners and finalists of the dozen years so far.
The venue was courtesy of Mitie at the Shard, and the canapes and fizz/wine were sponsored by Professional Security Magazine. Originally the Academy was set up only for the winners and finalists of the WiS Awards … but WiS organiser Liz Lloyd attended a golf day and the ladies from that event wanted to be involved with this awesome platform and movement. So, we listened and a social media arm of the WiS was formed on LinkedIn and WhatsApp which is open to all WiS networking members.
However, the Academy each year will now have an AGM – this is where people that have supported the Academy and the actual board and judges, with winners and finalists will get together. All Academy networking members can sign up for their membership certificate on the WiS page on the Professional Security Magazine (PSM) website where winners and finalists can also apply for a ‘mark’ which will promote their status on social media as ambassadors of the Academy. It was at this year’s event that we recognised one of our early supporters for all his work within the profession.
In 2010 I presented the idea of the Women in Security Awards (known as the WiS Awards) to all the industry lead bodies that I had been involved with during my career as a security systems business owner and industry influencer. It took about 18 months to persuade all concerned … but there were two stand-out people that absolutely got it, and were incredibly supportive from day one. They were Baroness Ruth Henig, who sadly died this year, who was a former chair of the Security Industry Authority (SIA); and Simon Pears, Global Head of Security for Sodexo, and former principal co-founder of the 2020 new IPSA; the oldest established security trade association in the UK.
So it was with outstanding pleasure that at the last WiS Academy AGM Roy Cooper, Managing Director of Professional Security Magazine presented Simon with a commemorative bottle of boxed Champagne. After the event I caught up with Simon and asked him how he felt, about the presentation. Simon replied: “I was very surprised and honoured. I have always been a great believer that the industry should be accessible and available to everyone and it is sad that there is still under-representation from women in the sector, therefore celebrating Women in Security for the great work that they do is an ideal opportunity to showcase their expertise, experience and to continue to promote that this industry gives incredible career opportunities and that their involvement is essential, rewarded and most importantly recognised. I always feel slightly embarrassed in receiving any recognition in this regard, as these women are the ones on the front line, excelling at what they do, and providing real service within the environments that they serve.”
While knowing Simon to be genuinely self-effacing I explained that from the perspective of a Woman in Security who started a business in 1985, that attitude did not prevail, and it took men like him to effect the change that we now experience as far as inclusion is concerned.
Another indication to the progressive attitude to security was exemplified when Simon contacted me during the covid-19 pandemic regarding a possible subsuming of IPSA by an existing lead body. This as you will recall was a fraught time for all and Simon was concerned about the front-line people who were suffering at that time. I asked him to explain the background. “I have been a proud member of IPSA for over 12 years, with the last three and a half years as chair. IPSA is a very special association, which was created in 1958, so there was and still is, a very real sense of responsibility to safeguard and respect the heritage but at the same time, modernise the association so that it remains relevant for the industry. As part my original strategy, it was really important to ensure that the front-line security professionals had an association that they could be part of, that represented their views, highlighted their significant contribution to the industry and to better communicate the fantastic opportunities that this sector has to offer.
“When I was considering putting my name forward to become the new chair in 2020, the world was just facing up to the reality of the global pandemic hitting and the significant disruption that this was going to place on businesses and individuals. I remember calling Una, who has always been a trusted industry colleague and spoke about my plans and vision for the ‘New’ IPSA, in making sure that IPSA represented the front lines, taking the association down the digital route and making sure we have a fully committed and engaged board. I had no idea how Una would view my ‘radical’ ideas, and with the added intent, that if I really wanted to make IPSA accessible to all, then we must make sure there are no barriers to entry, and therefore I was also proposing that IPSA would provide free membership to every front line security operative. To my surprise, Una really embraced the idea, thought that this was the radical approach that was required, and would be the only trade association that truly represented the front-line security teams.
“The timing of which, was all coming together perfectly, as whilst the world was still in the grips of the pandemic, IPSA was able to offer free membership to all front line operatives and move to a digital platform, which was some small recognition for the incredible work, and at times considerable risks the security teams were taking at the height of the pandemic. We still need to remember that the security sector had the second highest death rates from covid, which indicates the risks that are undertaken to perform their service, and that the IPSA approach was just a small way in which to acknowledge their incredible commitment.
“I am immensely proud of our founding member companies our corporate memberships who shared the vision and supported IPSA during the transformation. As an association, IPSA has grown the membership to over 8000, which clearly makes IPSA the largest association in the UK representing the front-line sector, which enables the association to have a louder voice on matters of concern. However, none of this would have been possible without the support of the board, member companies, and the members themselves who embraced and supported the change.”
Those were challenging early days, but it was fuelled with the truly radical inclusion for the first time of the front-line operatives being able to have all the benefits that individual security executive professionals had paid a lot of money to be part of IPSA and have the postnominal after their name to indicate they were members along with their membership certificate. It was thrilling in the beginning when officers were posting selfies of themselves with their certificates … it was joyous. We continued with Simon as chair and me as CEO to promote the early start-up revolutionary foundation ideas … like ensuring that we were a non-political trade association there for the welfare of all. Since 2020 a lot has happened, and I asked Simon; if you could wave a magic wand and change the security industry, what would that be?!
Simon replied: “The industry does have a challenge in terms of the perception of quality, pay rates and career opportunities that are provided. As an industry, we are poor at communicating the positives, and being consistent. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) have really engaged positively with businesses over the last few years and are equally wanting to make a positive difference to how the sector is perceived. The responsibility does however fall onto the security providers to make the changes necessary, and therefore if security services are to be respected and given greater scope to professionalise, then we need to make sure that end users and buyers are engaged and accept that quality security services that provide credible career opportunities cannot be sustainable on the minimum wage. There are many companies that are excelling at quality and are providing market leading pay rates, and the industry needs more bold decisions to be made as this is exactly what our front-line teams deserve. IPSA recently released the ‘minimum rates’ for an ACS compliant service, and I would urge all end users and buyers to read this and make their own judgement as to the effectiveness of their own specific requirements.”
Quality and professionalism are synonymous … and everyone knows that quality costs … but is always cost-effective long term.
Photo: Una with Roy Cooper.
