Enforcement is beginning to take shape

As far as Security Management Today is concerned, that’s as it should be.

At present, over 100 prosecutions are being launched by police forces across the country, and some premises have either been closed down completely or have had their capacity reduced. This represents a severe commercial penalty.

Drane is the first to suggest that the SIA is by no means perfect and that mistakes have been made along the way, but is not prepared to cede to scurrilous comments that his organisation is to blame for any such closures.

“I stress again that the SIA is not the problem. The problem is that not enough people have applied for their licence in time, even though they knew what was required. We will simply not allow the leisure and security industries to hide their own mismanagement of the situation by way of ‘smoke screens’ that conceal the truth of the matter.”

Massive police support

According to Drane, the police have been “100% supportive” of the SIA’s work. Excellent news for all concerned, and in particular the UK’s guarding contractors. “The guarding sector is far better organised,” adds Drane, “and there’s arguably a much deeper commitment to regulation there.”

One of the keys to regulation is to help make the security industry much more viable and profitable. Contractors are currently forced to work with ridiculously low margins, a fact not helped by client tendencies towards employing procurement and finance managers to hold negotiations with them rather than an experienced and totally dedicated security professional.

“The attitude of many buyers is that they have to have security,” chips in Drane, “but they also want to buy that security as cheaply as possible. It’s not my job, and nor is it the SIA’s role, to ‘sell’ security, but you have to say that much of the rhetoric espoused by the security companies is entirely valid. Clients ought to be buying a security solution. People are procuring security just because their insurer is telling them to.” n