The gold envelopes have been sealed, the cue cards and script have been written, the hampers of food and drink for the finalists have been sent. On Wednesday, February 10 at 7pm, the 2020 Women in Security (WiS) awards go live from the Belfry, Birmingham.
The annual awards are virtual, and now, because the September 2020 event in London had to be cancelled due to the covid pandemic. While there can’t be an audience as usual to celebrate the winners, the finalists will be there virtually, and you can follow the night on Youtube, and catch up with it afterwards.
And you can watch the night’s compere, Professional Security magazine MD Roy Cooper, in his dinner jacket – full DJ and shined shoes, because he can’t get away with only wearing the top half, because he’ll be compering from behind a Perspex podium. Others are making a similar sartorial effort on the night, relishing the chance to dress up despite the lockdown.
And as with every other WiS awards ceremony – we’re in our ninth year – it’s truly a celebration of the outstanding work done by women in the security sector. Nominations have been rising year after year – more than 200 had to be whittled down by a panel of judges to the 15 finalists. Roy thanks all the judges for giving up hours of their time.
As there’s not a physical brochure as usual, sponsors will read out the citation for each finalist in the five categories – security manager, front line, business manager, technical and contribution to the industry.
Each year the host is an industry body, and 2020’s is the Worshipful Company of Security Professionals (WCoSP); appropriately, this year’s Master of the Company, Yasmeen Stratton, was a WiS winner in 2016. Also dialling in to give a speech is Una Riley, the long-time contributor to Professional Security magazine who had the idea for WiS.
While we may want to put 2020 behind us, join us on Wednesday evening for an hour to mark the remarkable women in private security, and raise a glass. And let’s look forward to the 2021 awards, that hopefully will be back to the in-person ceremony in September, at the Underglobe at Shakespeare’s Globe on London’s South Bank. Keep an eye on https://professionalsecurity.co.uk/wis/ for when and how to enter the 2021 awards.
