The security arm of contractor MITIE held an Olympics strategy round table to engage with its clients likely to be impacted by the Olympics and other national events in 2012.
The aim: to define the outsourced services firm’s security strategy for 2012 to ensure that it continues to support its clients during a challenging time.
Andy May, Security Client Relationship Director for MITIE, said: “The round table had two primary aims. Firstly for us to give our clients an update on Olympic planning and resilience considerations for all businesses and secondly to facilitate a discussion on what the key security requirements for 2012 were likely to be.”
With key clients from transport, CNI, banking, and retail, Andy May was joined by Bob Forysth, Security Managing Director for MITIE and Brett Lovegrove, Strategic Adviser Police and Public Services for MITIE security, who presented his views on resilience planning – not only for the Olympics, but also generally for the business. His key message – the UK is ahead of the rest of the world in terms of contingency and resilience planning. He also recommended that in planning for 2012 businesses adopt an “all hazards approach”.
Brett said: “Businesses should take a sensible approach to risk assessment focussing on the key risks, yet developing training that would enable crisis management teams to manage an incident, no matter what its cause.”
David Evans, BSIA Project Director attended and gave an update on planning considerations for the ODA and LOCOG. He outlined that the key threats during 2012 are; terrorism; serious and organised crime; domestic extremism and natural hazards. For planning purposes it has been assumed that the threat level for the UK will be at Severe. David discussed his key considerations for planning but his ultimate message was to take planning action now.
MITIE Security MD Bob Forsyth closed the session by reiterating that the company’s priority during the Olympics and other events in 2012 is to meet its existing security commitments and support clients with additional needs during the period. Officers working for MITIE’s security business will receive regular communication between now and the games to raise their awareness of potential issues.
