On the perimeter of Heathrow Airport, the Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel is a modern, elegant hotel.
One of the largest in the UK, it offers a range of facilities including 649 comfortable bedrooms, a 28 room dedicated conference centre catering for up to 700 delegates, Business Centre, Bureau de Change, gift shop, hairdressers, health club, brassiere restaurant and lounge bar.
Parading its own individual character, the 4-star hotel is clearly designed to indulge every need of the discerning business and leisure traveller alike. From the moment you enter the large, well appointed lobby, it is clear to see that this hotel is set apart from others, lavishly equipped for those who seek a more enriching hotel experience.
Ensuring the operation of the hotel’s day-to-day running requires a not insubstantial measure of professional management, and the Renaissance, part of the Marriott Group, proactively drives the sharing of experience and team working culture that has lead to the groups acknowledged delivery of customer satisfaction, worldwide. In this respect, Aram Dhaliwal, Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel’s Director of Loss Prevention, fits the Marriott corporate culture well, exhibiting an air of professionalism and attention to detail that the Group seems proud to embrace.
Managing risk
Coming from a military background serving with the Royal Green Jackets, where he provided training for jungle and desert warfare, he has provided bodyguard and close protection duties overseas and more recently become established in the hotel industry. After joining the Renaissance Hotel in December 2002, Dhaliwal’s priority objective was to commence a thorough review of the hotel’s security arrangements. Responsible within a wider remit for managing the hotel’s ‘risk’ management, recovery and procedures, the scope of this review was to encompass a broad operational sphere including, Health & Safety, Business Continuity and Fire Safety issues.
What they say
On the hotel’s security and risk review process, Dhaliwal said: "Quite simply, I define risk as what can be seen to stand between you, and the fulfilment of the company’s prime business objectives. In order to operate in a secure environment, you need to identify, evaluate and overcome risk across a broad spectrum of guises. To fulfil the successful management of risk, it is essential to clearly assess, measure and manage every aspect of risk. Just as importantly, the communication of these measures should be delivered across the various departments and levels of staff, so that all concerned know and understood how risk management procedures can help support the company’s corporate objectives."
To this end, in the quest for the effective implementation of security and safety strategies, even the most experienced of risk professionals needs the support of specialist knowledge. With previous experience of working with Chris Jackson, of Panasonic Premier Installer, Acctive Systems of Surrey, Dhaliwal drew on the assistance of both the installation company and the Heathrow Airport police, who were often recruited to join him for a ‘walk around’ the hotel, to add their input into the consultation review process.
Audit
Conducting the review over three months, Dhaliwal surveyed every aspect of the site’s existing electronic security, undertaking a review of the hotel’s video surveillance and access control systems, and operational practises, in order to identify and confirm a practical solution that would best fulfil his requirements.
As a result, the site audit survey led to the completion of an all-encompassing brief that detailed the precise requirements for the new surveillance system. The level of detail here highlighted the specific objectives for each CCTV camera, down to the type of unit required, be it static, dome, p/t/z, day/night capable, or vandal resistant.
Dhaliwal added: "Due to the nature of the site, in particular we wanted to strike a balance with the CCTV upgrade’s aesthetics, neither having too much nor too little security on show. A priority for the new system was to make our 650 space capacity car park even more secure. After being highly impressed with Acctive’s demonstration of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), I opted for the new technology to be fitted to the car park’s entry and exits barriers. Now, all vehicles entering the car park have their registration numbers logged and in the case of suspect vehicles, an alarm is generated to initiate a security response. Allied to better quality CCTV images, in the event of a car being stolen, the vehicle and driver would be observed on camera, with evidential quality video footage committed to digital recording. Above all, this system acts to further enhance our customers’ stay with Renaissance, making them feel safe wherever they may be within the hotel. "
Secure parking
Located close to Heathrow Airport’s runways, the hotel recognises its obligation to secure the use of its massive car park for the legitimate use of its guests. Reflecting on the attack on the airport in 1994, when the IRA fired four mortar bombs at the runway (two bombs hit the runway but failed to detonate), from a car parked outside the perimeter fence. With this in mind, Dhaliwal acknowledges his special relationship with the airport police, where their mutual security desires allow the police random access to patrol the hotel car park. As Dhaliwal explained, the spin off being that since the implementation of the new security measures, the car park has suffered not one vehicle crime – a rewarding testament to the robust nature of the security measures that he has put into place.
Spearheading the new systems’ upgrade, the original control room has been re-located to a new site, and a separate control and monitoring facility provided for Dhaliwal’s office. This re-location presented somewhat of an engineering challenge for Acctive, as the complex 300m route running through the ‘back of house’ involved cabling through busy offices and corridors. To add to this, the installation had to be scheduled around the hotel’s busy conference bookings, to keep the impact of installation noise and disruption to hotel guests down to an absolute minimum.
Surveillance
The decision to invest in the upgrade of its security surveillance system looked to capitalise on the latest in video surveillance technology, to provide the hotel with a more effective security, health & safety and day-to-day operational management solution. The detailed site audit and close liaison with Acctive has paid dividends, leading to a specification where intelligent CCTV coverage is now provided for key zones such as reception, lift lobbies, conference centre, all guest and staff entrances, and back of house areas such as the safety deposit box room, securing the route for cash in transit.
To meet with Dhaliwal’s requirement for ‘fully integrated systems, with instant access and retrieval of high-quality digital images from any camera source’, the hotel employs two HD500 digital recorders to act as primary recording media. Although fitted with a 120Gb hard drive as standard, each unit has been upgraded to 320Gb, to provide greater image resolution, storage capability and retention periods. In full compliance with current data protection legislation, a separate image download and archiving review suite has been built, to provide the right environment for correct system usage.
The supply of high-quality visual imaging throughout the hotels external day/night and internal mixed lighting conditions have been achieved by installing a combination of high-resolution colour static, and fully functional pan, tilt & zoom dome cameras, programmed with pre-set tours and alarm presets. In addition to the Panasonic based system hardware, additional operational methods have also been introduced. Implemented as a seamless programme of enhancement works, the security upgrade has been progressed with minimal disruption to the hotel’s business, and from start to finish within a time frame of just 5 months. In order to maintain the continually smooth operation of the 24/7 security systems, their performance is now being monitored and logged by security staff daily.
On the system upgrade Dhaliwal said: "The Panasonic based surveillance system has been designed to allow its use within a variety of operational scenarios. For instance, we can deploy cameras intelligently during large conferences, to monitor the safety of delegate’s possessions, such as mobile phones and laptop computers, in and around the lobby areas. The proactive use of the system is invaluable, assisting us with the implementation of staff health and safety issues, and as an example, to keep a watchful eye on reception staff in the event of any incidents arising at late night guest check-ins etc. I am extremely satisfied with Acctive’s installation expertise and choice of Panasonic product specification to fulfil our requirements. Their system has provided us with a robust, seamless interface between cameras, recording, monitoring, and the control of CCTV coverage. We now have a security surveillance and site management system that secures highly detailed colour images 24/7, helping us to protect our guests, staff, property and continuity of business. "
Panasonic Equipment used:-
Hardware: WV-HD500 Digital Recorders 320Gb
Panasonic AG-TL350 24hr VCR
Cameras: WV-CP474 Super Dynamic II, WV-CW860 Vandal resistant colour/monochrome mini-dome, WV-CS850 Super Dynamic II mini-dome
Variety of lenses. Monitors: WV-CM1780 17" colour monitor.
