A guarding MD’s comment; others are quoted in the next, December print issue of the magazine
Things are going to change because of the SIA, all are agreed – but there is more to it than that. Bill Muskin, Managing Director of VSG, talks to Mark Rowe about how his guarding firm is responding to licences, and the market in general.<br><br>Itโs all change for contract guarding, as it has been in 2005 for VSG. In February, the firm moved into a new office on the outskirts of Northampton. Steve Gratton joined in May, as control room manager, from Coventry City Council [whose alarm receiving centre was featured in our June 2002 issue]. Mike Tolley, the consultant who built the control room at VSGโs new head office, joined the firm in December 2004. They are the men behind the remote monitoring station, which is seeking accreditation. As Bill Muskin points out, the remote monitoring centre is to complement manned guarding, for the company to offer what he calls a โtotal packageโ. Another reason is that in five to ten years, a licenced security operative will become a valuable commodity, Bill believes.<br><br>Talk to customers<br><br>He quotes the BSIA figure of licensing costing £600 per officer; and then there is the cost of the company joining the SIAโs approved contractor scheme (VSG – full name, Vision Security Group – is already NSI guarding gold approved). Just putting an officer on the ground, even if he is three-day trained already and only needs the one day of conflict management, will cost the £190 licence application fee and the £35 exam fee. Bill, who is a member of the Company of Security Professionals, says: โWhat became apparent at an early stage, talking to customers: they appreciated that regulation was a done deal, and that the additional costs in relation to licencing would have to be passed on, in some respect, to them, because it was never there before.โ But, he adds, it was felt to be morally wrong to expect the individual security officer to pay the £190 to apply for a licence, because officers are not going to get a pay rise – or at least, not an immediate one: โWe have almost total, 100 per cent agreement [with customers] that we should support our officers through that process. So we are paying for our staff to become licenced. We are hoping that that will make them loyal to the company. I think there is a mixture in the industry, those that are paying for their officers and those that are not; for a number of reasons,โ he adds. <br><br>Recruitment<br><br>Bill Muskin goes on to mention the Working Time Directive. An end to the opt out for security staff and an introduction of a 48-hour maximum working week would add 15 to 20 per cent on costs, he adds. โThe recruitment of good quality staff is difficult, in any event. Recruiting staff in the future is going to be an immense problem, because of the shrinking pool of labour. Staff retention is a massive problem for our industry.โ For contract guard firms big and small – and high staff turn-over is not sustainable if it will cost £1,000 in sum to put a new recruit on the ground, and that person leaves in weeks, or months – it would be money down the drain, Bill says. VSG is reviewing its staff terms and conditions, and in its next staff newsletter (past ones are available for download on-line) will have a staff survey. In a previous newsletter, the company advertised its โrecruit a friend schemeโ. If a member of staff brings a mate or family member into the company, thereโs a £100 reward. VSG is far from the only guarding firm to do this. Bill Muskin reports it very successful all round – normally it makes for a more harmonious workplace, and the cost compares well with a £300 newspaper advert for staff, that might bring ten applicants, and perhaps none any good. <br><br>About the firm<br>VSG, formed in 2000, in mid-2005 gained a B&Q contract as sole national provider of manned guarding. <br>
