The Security Institute hosted their royal patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at their Annual Conference on Thursday, October 26, at the Royal Society of Medicine. Some 200 Institute members and guests attended.
Institute Chair, Julie Nel, opened the day by inviting Institute’s President, Baroness Ruth Henig of Lancaster CBE, to speak. A senior representative from the UK official National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) shared a strategic perspective on the adversarial threat assessment, showcasing a library of tools to help the security practitioner address risks.
After a networking session over tea or coffee, the delegates returned to the auditorium to listen to Rob Kennedy, a Chartered Security Professional (CSyP) and Fellow of the Institute (FSyI), from the Protective Security Centre, on the need to develop tomorrow’s security professionals. He was chair of a panel, to discuss the merits of a Level 4 Apprenticeship that converges the four traditional strands of protective security to provide the student with an awareness across the profession for those at an early stage of their career.
Toward the end of the day, the delegates were reminded of the consequences of a successful terrorist attack when Pauline Cranmer QAM recited her personal experience of being the London Ambulance Service Gold Command during the Westminster Bridge terror attack of March 22, 2017. She spoke of her learnings when coordinating the emergency medical response to an incident that resulted in the loss of life for five members of the public and an on-duty police officer at the entrance to the Houses of Parliament, PC Keith Palmer.
On arrival, and accompanied by Stuart Shilson LVO DL, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of London, Princess Anne was met by Julie Nel; Vice chair, Sarah Austerberry; Interim Chief Executive, Frank Cannon; and the Institute’s Board Adviser, Bob Martin. Prior to taking her seat for the afternoon session, Princess Anne met with several of the conference speakers; a selection of those who chair Institute SIGs (Special Interest Groups), plus selected members of the Institute’s head office staff.
She then joined the conference and listened to a session from Michelle Russell, Chief Executive Officer of the UK regulator, the Security Industry Authority. She set out how the SIA aims to help prepare the industry to protect communities and raise professional standards across the profession.
Then came a repeat Institute conference speaker, Mike Croll who among many other things is a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University. Mike took the audience on an at times humorous journey of generational communication styles, illustrated through music, methods of communication, and the choice of underwear! While with some satire, Mike and his panel highlighted the diverse styles required when communicating across the generations, from the Baby Boomers, to the Millennials and Generation Z, to today’s Gen Alphas.
When addressing conference delegates immediately after Mike’s panel session. Princess Anne spoke to the gathering with knowledge, empathy, and humour — often having to pause to allow the laughter to subside. A 15-minute speech proved to be the highlight of the conference with Princess Anne weaving in an obvious understanding of the need to protect those at risk with her personal experiences, and those developed while supporting her charitable organisations.
Acknowledgement was also given to the lengths the Institute is taking to ensure, that on a broad spectrum, including UK Governmental, it is assisting in the development of standards for the expanding professional security sector.
Before departing, The Princess Royal met some of the corporate partners and sponsors; and the search dog in training Obi, who was impeccably behaved. Princess Anne concluded her visit by meeting with Stuart Bratt, the founder of Tough Enough to Care, a suicide prevention charity and the Institute’s chosen charity for this conference; for which £3645 was raised through a raffle and auction.
The conference concluded with Sarah Austerberry CSyP FSyI (Vice Chair of the Security Institute) and Frank Cannon CSyP FSyI (Interim Chief Executive) offering an opportunity to ask questions about Institute future strategy. Proceedings closed with as ever a congenial networking session.
