Security is about more than just wearing a Hi-Viz vest: 24 hours a day, every day of the year, officers and guards serve their communities: professionally protecting people, property and places.
The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) launched its national campaign, People, Property, Places (3Ps): Professionally Protected, at the end of 2022; it was designed to raise awareness of the valuable and crucial work security officers do, and to be promoted with its members and the wider industry. Its aim: to change public perception of what it means to be a security officer and encourage more people to consider security as an attractive career choice.
Being a security officer is a positive career of choice; with a good range of benefits and the chance to progress. Security officers don’t just ‘do a job’, they are highly trained, committed and take pride in their work. It’s a career choice that’s open to anyone from any background, ethnicity, sexuality or age group. Security is one of the UK’s growth industries, driven by purpose-driven professionals at all levels in businesses covering manufacturing, distribution and installation of electronic and physical security equipment, as well as security-officer services, close protection and consultancy.
There are over 400,000 security officers in the UK protecting critical and national infrastructure sites, people at festivals, football grounds, and museums, looking after workplaces, historic buildings and retail outlets, wind farms, science parks and hospitals. According to Mintel there were over 11,000 businesses providing security-officer services in 2021. These range in size from global organisations to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The market for security officer services in the UK increased by 11pc in 2021 reaching £4.1billion. And it’s a market that’s expected to grow to £4.9 billion by 2026.
Demand for security officer services is at an all-time high. BSIA members say a reduction in police numbers, rising criminality, the ‘substantial’ terror threat level and more incidents involving members of the public with mental health issues are driving this need for more security officers. There are however challenges, as the industry anticipates losing almost 20,000 security officers from its workforce; through a mix of retirement, Brexit and the fall-out from covid-19 which are contributing to this talent drain, and it means that the UK’s private security sector will need to recruit, train and license more than 62,000 officers over the next 12 months to keep up with demand.
The campaign has been endorsed and has the full backing from the Security Industry Authority (SIA), as well as other leading security bodies, such as the Security Institute, the International Professional Security Association (IPSA), ASIS UK and the Security Commonwealth. Major BSIA members, such as Corps Security, G4S, MAN Commercial Protection, OCS Group, SecuriGroup, Securitas UK and Westgrove Group have also been active in raising awareness of the 3Ps campaign.
What does the 3Ps campaign propose to do?
Create a more diverse and representative sector: By attracting people from a wide range of backgrounds to these roles so that the security officer services sector is more representative of the society it protects (“We reflect who we protect”). That means creating a sector with an equal gender balance, a wider range of ages represented – from school leavers to career changers, second jobbers, those nearing retirement, greater representation of ethnic minorities and the LGBTQIA+ community and those with a disability or are from challenging backgrounds.
Change perceptions of a career in security: encourage more people to consider a career in security by eliminating outdated perceptions and highlighting what being a security officer means. This means creating the perception and also the reality that the role of a security officer is a career with a competitive salary, recognised pathways for progression and long- term employment opportunities; an aspirational choice, removed from the ‘last job in the Job Centre’ and Hi-Viz vest stereotypes; is open to people from all backgrounds and income-levels and from any period in your working life – if you’re good with people and trustworthy, there’s a well-paid job for you in security; a modern career that uses the latest systems and technology to protect people, places and property and make a difference to local communities.
Update the image of the security services sector: to update the way customers and communities think about security. Security officers play a valuable and often unseen role in keeping people, property and places professionally protected. The campaign aims to make people think of security officer’s work as an essential, must-have service for a wide range of businesses and industries, that security officer services are needed and worth investing in, a trusted service which can be relied upon to keep our communities safe, security officers care about the people, places and property they protect.
In essence, the campaign provides a raft of evidence that the work of our security officers is a vital service to the protection of the UK’s infrastructure, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
To really drive this message home, the BSIA has been targeting the Business to Consumer (B2C) sector to increase the profile and awareness of the crucial work security officers do, the Business to Recruitment (B2R) sector to improve recruitment and retention by highlighting the career opportunities and benefits within the professional security sector, and the Business to Business (B2B) sector to promote benefits of purchasing professional security services.
How the campaign has been received so far:
The BSIA has secured national media coverage in The Times, Daily Telegraph and The Sun, in articles showcasing the career pathways as well as calling for greater regulation. The BSIA has also been working with the Skills Board, and the Government sponsored RISC Council [Resilience Industry Suppliers Community], which is chaired by former BSIA Chair Dame Julie Kenny and has member representation from Shaun Kennedy of Securitas UK who are founder members of the BSIA. Acknowledgement of the campaign has also be received from the Minister of State for Security, Tom Tudgenhat MP and the BSIA is also reaching out to Yvette Cooper MP, Shadow Home Secretary.
How the BSIA recognizes the work of its members that also feeds into the campaign: the British Security Awards, which have been running since 1998 and were rebranded in 2018 to drive greater awareness of the industry to the wider audience was recently featured on BBC’s Maximum Security, highlighting the terrorist bombing at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, in which BSIA member OCS Group played a crucial role in ensuring the situation was safely contained. This year, in honour of the security operative Gaby Hutchinson who tragically died in the crush outside Brixton Academy in December, was recognised by the renaming of the Best Newcomer category to the Gaby Hutchinson Award, to honour the work of a fallen colleague and to further recognise the drive and passion of young people coming into the industry.
Mike Reddington says: “It is important to highlight that many security companies regularly go above and beyond the call of duty to maintain their integrity and the security services they provide, something that as an association we promote within our recognised membership. However, we feel the time has come for security services to be purchased on a risk and professionalism basis and not purely on cost, and for the industry to be seen for what it is, a profession and not a minimum wage job.”
“We want to showcase to the wider audience that being a security officer is a career of choice and open to anyone from any background, ethnicity, sexuality and age group. Security officers are committed, take pride in their work and have numerous opportunities to progress in their chosen careers. Security officers don’t just ‘do a job’ for their company and clients; they are highly trained and compassionate individuals with great responsibility in keeping people, property and places professionally protected.”
“The good news is that growing demand in our industry is driven by the desire to improve safety and security for the public. That’s why we are seeing more investment in trained, professional security officers, who can benefit from excellent opportunities and a rewarding career in security.”
“Working on behalf of our members we aim to be ahead of the game at every stage, talking to Government and members about these plans and we are moving to ensure sufficient security officers are trained in counter-terrorism, emergency first aid and the other skills they need to gain a professional security licence in time to meet this growing demand.”
Further reading at www.bsia.co.uk/professionally-protected.
