Una Riley, our regular interviewer, first met Simon Banks in the late 1980s. She owned a security systems company; he worked for Scantronic (theLondon-based control panel manufacturer). They meet again …
Simon joined Scantronic in 1988, although he was originally employed as a software engineer with the company, he quickly found a more engaging interest in the sales and marketing department. He gained a lot of industry experience at Scantronic that stood him in good stead to go on to co-found CSL DualCom in 1996 which manufactured security communications products. In the early days it was an innovative product with a huge competitor – BT RedCare. However, the systems industry was a tight community back then and with Simon’s marketing prowess and product knowledge it did not take long to convince installers and end users to give CSL a go. Like other installers we recognised a good product and trusted Simon’s expertise. My company trialled DualCom, on behalf of our oil industry clients and retailers … the rest is history. In the last 16 years CSL has grown into a multi-million pound market leader in the security industry. I asked Simon how it felt to now be considered such a huge success in the systems market. Simon replied: “As you know, to start a company and organically grow it to a £10m business with recurring revenues of £8m is a laudable triumph over adversity by anyone’s standards – especially when your competitor is BT!” To be sure, CSL have achieved a great deal and they are now a world partner of Vodafone. <br><br>I asked, why did you choose Vodafone as your communication partner when there are so many other platforms out there to choose from? Simon replied: “We chose Vodafone as our business partner for the integrity of its network performance in both reliability and speed. We had certain requirements, for instance we wanted to charge a fixed tariff, meaning the device could send and receive an unlimited amount of data at no extra charge, which ultimately benefits both the installer and end user.” There is no doubt that as the company has grown; so has Simon’s profile and he is now considered an industry authority, sits on various committees and also speaks on behalf of the National Security Inspectorate (NSI), SSAIB and the insurance industry. We discussed his latest endeavours regarding his charity work but first I wanted to know more about the CSL DualCom range of products. Simon illuminated as he started to talk about CSL. <br><br>“As you know CSL DualCom invented integrated dual signalling back in 1996 and have continued to innovate with complementary elements such as our unique GSM call back-up feature offering three signalling paths as standard at no extra cost helping to minimise unnecessary key-holder call-outs. This was followed by the introduction of the WorldSIM providing Installers with the additional benefit of the use of all four UK mobile networks offering near 100 per cent radio coverage throughout the UK minimising line faults to just one per system, every three years.” Forget security for a moment … my ears pricked up at the mention of this WorldSIM product at a fixed price. Having recently experienced horrendously expensive mobile phone costs due to living in the United States for a lot of the time I wanted to know if this WorldSIM was available for mobile phone users … no roaming costs would be welcome! Until our interview I was unaware of such a product. For all you travellers you will be happy to know that indeed there is a WorldSIM available for business and domestic use. Simon went on to say: “This affordable technology offers dual signalling at single-path signalling prices and is favoured by Insurers and the emergency services as the smart way forward in the protection of people and property. With the addition of single path wireless signalling even more savings can be found without compromising security”. We talked further about the progression of CSL DualCom over the past years and Simon explained that they have always strived to be first-to-market in everything that they do, from pioneering the first dual signalling system to compliance with the changeable EN grades for all their groundbreaking products. I enquired about their GradeShift component and I asked Simon to say more. He said: “GradeShift technology offers a single piece of hardware for every grade of risk, including both single and dual path signalling options. We have priced the product to match the grade so that installers who are for example fitting to a grade two specification will not have to pay the higher grade prices. The GradeShift range is an intruder and fire alarm signalling device. It uses any available UK GPRS/GSM network and a telephone and/or IP path to transmit intruder, fire and personal attack signals at high speed via CSL’s Gemini managed network into any alarm receiving centre. It uses multiple signalling paths and fast routine polling ensures that DualCom will always inform the installer of a problem and has a back-up path in the event of an accidental or indeed a deliberate fault on any path.” Talking of alarm receiving centres we also discussed the long-term relationship with Southern Monitoring and in particular Steve Kimber who has always been a strong advocate of CSL DualCom since the beginning. Simon spoke at length about the support of the ARCs for CSL and indeed the installers. We continued to chat about the installation profession and all the changes we have witnessed for good. Simon was enthusiastic about the latest initiative for getting apprentices back in to the work force. I asked him to explain further. He said: “100 in 100 are focused on placing 100 apprentices in roles across the industry within a 100 day timeframe which started on Monday, May 16, 2011”. The current Government has allocated £25m to England relating to the 2011 Budget and Plan for Growth. It is a fund that will support the creation of up to 10,000 ‘Advanced and Higher Apprenticeships’, giving firms in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, information technology and engineering the hi-tech skills they need to grow. The fund will be administered by the National Apprenticeship Service with support from other relevant government agencies and the Apprentice Ambassador network of employers. The Higher Apprenticeship Fund will administer via collaborative partnership organisations, or consortia that are eligible. Employers, sector skills councils, and professional bodies are all amongst the list that may apply. The fund is aimed at supporting SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises] and sectors that will help rebalance and reshape the English economy in areas such as advanced manufacturing, information technology and engineering. Simon is supportive of all apprenticeship schemes but is passionate about ‘100 in 100’. He said: “We want to see these young people choose the security profession as a career of choice. CSL have invested heavily in 100 in 100 and whilst my co-directors are all on board with the project they view this s my labour of love. The Higher Apprenticeship Fund is the £25m that was pledged by the coalition government relatively recently. 100 in 100 embrace all apprenticeship initiatives and bring them together under one umbrella for the security industry. For example an alarm company could choose to take the ‘traditional route’ for taking on apprentices but could still be part of the 100 in 100 scheme. 100 in 100 is first industry-led initiative as opposed to colleges and Government schemes etc. It shows how business in particular sectors can drive new opportunities for young people and encourage them to join the electronic security industry. We want to attract the potentially good engineers before they choose a different sector to work in. We want security to be a career of choice.” We talked about the present Government stating that it is on the side of the employer. It reminds me of the last time the Conservatives were in power they introduced Quality Management Systems, NVQs and similar initiatives like Investors in People into the work place. We needed those platforms then just as we need to train young people now to be proud to be skilled professionals. We also spoke of the promise to a generation of children by the former government, informing them that they would all go to university and earn degrees to attain professional jobs whilst we as a country would import labour to do the manual work. It didn’t take a degree in economics to realise that experiment would eventually result in a skill shortage and serious lack of job opportunities for many of the young graduates clutching a degree. We discussed the simple fact that not everyone is academically minded and some people are more skilled orientated. Not everyone can be a doctor, lawyer or rocket scientist. Simon said: “It’s about helping young people realise that there’s another way to progress in life other than the (in today’s blinkered society) obligatory university route.” Simon was very happy to report: “The numbers have increased to over 40 companies who have signed up working apprentices and 90-plus in the admin process so the target of one hundred by October is very realistic. I’m genuinely personally engrossed in the process of ‘100 in 100’ on a personal level. I want young people to know that there is another way – ‘Get paid to learn … instead of pay to learn”. <br><br>As each day passes that number changes. You can keep up to date by visiting Simon’s LinkedIn group entitled ‘Engineers of Tomorrow 100 in 100 Campaign’ where the latest target information is available for everyone to see.
