The number of SIA-approved companies is too high, the incoming chief exec of the BSIA has suggested.
John Bates, Chief Executive, BSIA was making comments about regulation at an open day at Kings Security Systems in Bradford. He gave the approved contractor scheme (ACS) as an example of regulation in need of ‘improvement’. He told guests: "We think that 570 companies on the approved contractor scheme probably means the ACS is not really working as well as it might; because how can there be 570 companies on the approved contractor scheme with no differentiator between any of them." He added: "They are clearly not all the same, so there needs to be a method to differentiate between all those organisations." Andrew Shepherd, the ACS man at the SIA, was among those invited to attend but was unable to. Attenders included security and faciltiies people from the universities of Huddersfield and Hull; and Boots the Chemist. John Bates went on: "We think that the British Standard should be embedded in the ACS; to actually say that the there needs to be British Standards right at the heart of the British security industry." <br><br>Earlier he did point out the benefits of regulation: "One of the things that strikes us in the security industry; it just didn’t make sense that it wasn’t regulated. There were so many countries where regulation was in place and it worked perfectly." The association’s cause now is to make regulation work: "Because i am not sure regulation is working as well as it might and we think at the BSIA there is a big role for us as an organisation to try and make regulation as effective as it can be for both the customers but also the people that work in the industry." Partly this would require education of end users and other buyers, ‘not meant in a patronising way’. <br><br>John Bates, appointed last year by the Worcester-based trade association, officially takes over from David Dickinson on January 1 but has been taking the reins beforehand, for example attending the Defence Manufacturers Association annual dinner in London on December 9. As to whether the total of 500-plus companies, mainly guarding contractors, with SIA approved status is too high: the SIA has admitted that the scheme has been more popular than it expected. David Dickinson repeatedly in speeches suggested that 200 guarding companies might be left after ‘consolidation’ due to regulation, as seen in other countries. However whether that total of 570 is too high depends partly on an unknown – the total number of guarding companies – which has been estimated at 2000. A firmer figure may come if the SIA gains the power for compulsory registration of companies in the licensable sectors. <br><br>John Bates said: "We are a members’ organisation; we stand and fall by the services we provide to our members." He ended his talk with a ‘vision for the future’, speaking of trying to move the BSIA towards being ‘the kitemark of the security industry’. <br><br>Other speakers at the open day – braving snow before and after – included Nick Platt-Higgins of network camera manufacturer Axis Communications (Axis domes and Camera Station software being installed at Kings); and Chris Carter Brennan, sales director of Webway. Among Kings senior people there were Steve Evans, commercial director; Brian Fisher, national accounts manager; and Anthony King, MD of the family firm started (as a TV aerial installation business) by his father James, who is now company chairman. Anthony King joined the 40-year-old firm as an apprentice more than 20 years ago. <br><br>About Kings<br><br>The company, a member of the BSIA, has brought its Bradford sites including alarm receiving centre under one roof, just south of Bradford city centre. The company has gone from electronic security installer to offering besides guarding services (NSI gold), fire detection and alarms, shutters and doors, ATM installation, and other electrical installation. The company employs more than 200 people nationally. The company’s retail customers include, added recently: Peacocks, Starbucks (guests enjoyed Starbucks coffee on the day, like Kings staff can every day!), Barracuda and Mothercare.<br><br>More on Kings in the January print issue of Professional Security Magazine. <br><br>http://www.kingsltd.co.uk/<br><br>
