The 14th Women in Security (WiS) awards saw Jayne King presented with the award for contribution to the security industry in memory of Baroness Ruth Henig. Jayne King, the event at Shakespeare’s Underglobe beside the Thames in London heard, not only has a ‘day job’ heading security at Guyโs and St Thomasโ NHS Foundation Trust – upstream of the Underglobe and also on the south bank of the river. She has served as chair of the National Association for Healthcare Security (NAHS), and the umbrella body the Security Commonwealth; and has championed, in the security industry and the NHS alike, diversity and inclusion.
After that initial award, dinner followed for 300-plus in the room; and then the announcement by the night’s compere alongside Professional Security magazine MD Roy Cooper, CEO of the Security Institute (and one of the WiS judges) Sarah Austerberry, of the winners in the five categories. They were (to much applause): Irona Wilson, of ASIS UK (in the business manager category); Michelle Elmore of OCS (in the front line category), Lisa Marie Cole of Transport for London (security manager), Danielle Grant of Global Consortium Group (technical) and Hayley Crawford of the ‘Ask for Angela’ pub and club safety scheme (contribution to industry).
Finalists
They and the finalists then gathered beside the stage for a collective photo. The finalists were, in each category Tannu Jiwnani of Microsoft and Shakirra Patel of Convergint (business manager), Rachel Nicholls of Sodexo and Katelyn Gordon of Securigroup (front line), Anushka Gopeechund of the Houses of Parliament and Ramona Hojeily of Amnesty International (security manager), Georgina Joel of District 4 Labs and Lauren Macdonald of Tesco (technical) and Liz Lloyd of the BSIA and Farah Benis of FFA Security Group (contribution to industry). The evening’s business done, dancing followed until 0045 hours and the final party-goers came out to a quiet riverside and St Paul’s Cathedral bathed in light.
Roy Cooper announced that nominations for the 2027 awards are now open – for details of how to enter, visit https://professionalsecurity.co.uk/wis-awards/.
About the Ruth Henig award
Begun after her death in 2024, and to mark her support of WiS – early on she likened it to the ‘Oscars’ – each year’s winner is agreed between the judges, who come from UK security industry associations.
More in the November edition of Professional Security Magazine.
