Having spent a decade fashioning The Scarman Centre into the UK's foremost seat of learning for the would-be security managers of tomorrow, Professor Martin Gill has broken free to form a spin-out company dedicated to security research and consultancy for the private sector. We pay a visit to the University of Leicester to find out what clients can expect from PRCI – and what drives a highly dedicated academic who has devoted his own life to the betterment of others.
How many children living on a council estate near you will become a Professor of Criminology, go on to be director of the premier academic institution for security management learning in the country, and then lead their very own independent consultancy? Not many. And that is one of the myriad reasons why Martin Gill is a true gem currently shining forth from the security industry's educational crown.

Born in Bromley back in 1960, Gill's formative years were spent in London and then Maidstone, where he was educated at the Maidstone School for Boys. Growing up "with handicap" – his mother was totally deaf, which taught Gill a great deal (even though he didn't realise it at the time) – the budding academic was constantly surrounded by officers from the local police force.

"My father was an officer in the Post Office Investigation Department," says Gill, "and also worked as a Special Constable". Indeed, for many years Gill harboured a desire to join the Boys in Blue but, on plucking up the courage to apply, discovered he wasn't tall enough. A tad ironic, given that he now stands at 6'1"!

Like most academics, Professor Gill is surrounded by books, research papers, learned journals and all manner of 'new media'. His office at Leicester University – currently the base for his new venture Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International (PRCI) – is littered with tome after tome. That's as you'd expect, but to find out that he's already written nine books of his own (all concentrating on criminology and security, of course) at the tender age of 42 is impressive to say the least.

Gill's also an avid reader in his spare time (and it comes as no surprise to learn that his favourite novel is Mario Puzo's The Godfather).

A highly educated and devoted professional, Gill's love of academia was first forged at the University of Plymouth, from where he graduated in 1983 with a BA (Honours) degree in social policy. "From a very early age, I'd devour all perspectives on what was right and what was wrong in society. My father would also tell me what was fair and what wasn't," adds Gill. His BA was swiftly followed by a PhD in criminology, which the inquisitive student was to finish at Hull University in 1987.

Having lectured in criminology at the University of Wales, Cardiff, a snap decision was made to close all the books, put away the lectern and go back-packing around the world for a little more than 12 months. "I was only 29, and just reached the stage where I thought there had to be more to life than this."

On returning from his travels in 1991, Gill spotted a job advert in the local newspaper. It called for knowledge of foreign languages, and experience of travel. He had both, and duly sent off his CV – to become a holiday rep for Thomsons on the sun-kissed Spanish island of Ibiza. Gill learned much from this particular sojourn. "Every step of the way, I was dealing directly with people and their problems," he stresses. "I learned all about sales and marketing, because part of the job involved selling products like excursions to the clients. It was also my first experience of Unique Selling Points, and I became well-accustomed to managing teams of people."

A skill that would later be of great importance to his work at The Scarman Centre.

A calling from academia
While enjoying the Mediterranean sun, Gill's siesta was interrupted by a telephone call from his excited father. "Dad told me that John Benyon, who at that time was director of The Scarman Centre at Leicester University, had telephoned about a job that I'd applied for just prior to leaving for Ibiza," states Gill.

"I wasn't really interested by that time, and was settling in to my new life. John then called me direct. I said I'd give it some thought."

Although the would-be Professor didn't turn up for the interview, fortunately Benyon neglected to make an appointment – and Gill was finally persuaded to trade in his flip-flops for a lecturing role in the Midlands.

His Scarman Centre career began in 1991 with a post as lecturer in security management. "I was really a criminologist with an interest in business crime," he says. "At the time, there weren't many academics who could say the same". Clearly, Benyon knew a thing or two about spotting the brains of tomorrow.

Indeed, a distinguished career at The Scarman Centre – which opened in 1988, just prior to Gill's arrival – has produced some notable achievements for Gill upon which this distinguished academic can reflect.

"For me, there have been two fantastic achievements," states Gill. "One was being in charge of launching the distance learning programmes, including the specialist MSc courses in Security and Risk Management. The other has been playing a part in establishing security management as a serious academic subject. I have always been enthusiastic about the discipline, and luckily found so many like-minded souls out there in the business world prepared to embrace the idea of an MSc."

Gill's achievements – in conjunction with the rest of the academic team at The Scarman Centre – cannot be overstated. Only 12 students enrolled on the MSc back in 1991, but now the security courses have grown to become the most popular and valued in the country. This year, the Centre has enrolled over 1,000 students across all its courses from more than 73 different countries.

"It has certainly been a phenomenal learning curve for us all," suggests Gill. "True, we made a good few mistakes along the way, and had to learn some very harsh lessons. That was only to be expected, but the end result is a really, really special programme of learning in a fantastic subject". A statement made with obvious delight. "All the while, I made sure that I went out and 'did the circuit', listening to and meeting up with as many people as I could," adds Gill. "I still do. That's the only way you can gain an impression of what's changing in the security management arena."

Consultancy to the fore
Given the degree of respect gained for his tireless efforts at the University of Leicester, it came as something of a surprise to the industry when, last October, Gill announced he would be stepping down from his post of director at The Scarman Centre to front up the all-new concern PRCI (with his former deputy Andrew Willis slotting in to the director's chair in his absence). The only – and most obvious – question for SMT to ask was: 'Why?'...

"First and foremost, I've been head of department and reached the status of Professor. I really couldn't go any further forward at the university and hope to remain involved in my chosen subject area," opines Gill with a tinge of sadness. He was among a number of staff members approached about the possibility of becoming Dean, but shunned the idea. "Then you just become a university administrator. An educationalist working on behalf of the university. For me, it's all about my subject. That's what I know, and what I enjoy". Clearly, Gill is a man who never deviates once his mind is made up.

So much of the research that has been carried out in the private security sector isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. In some cases, I believe people have been duped into paying for reports that haven’t been researched in anything like enough depth

Gill had also been privy to an enormous amount of research and consultancy opportunities that he simply had to turn away due to his commitments with The Scarman Centre. He longed to get back to doing what he loves best, namely research. "I went to see the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Bob Burgess, last February and told him that I was going to form PRCI," adds Gill. "He suggested that we work together on the venture". Hence, PRCI is referred to as a 'spin-out' company of The Scarman Centre. A joint venture.

As far as Burgess is concerned, the move makes good sense. Spin-out companies like this one are a valuable way in which the University of Leicester can act as a motor of change in the region, working closely alongside the East Midlands Development Agency. To this end, the university has now set up a Business Activities Group to encourage the development of high quality applied research for customers outside of the academic sphere. In turn, that should make a valuable contribution to the regional economy.

Based (for the time being, at least) at Salisbury Road in offices let by the University of Leicester, PRCI is staffed by a team of specialists in the fields of risk and disaster management, security management, crime prevention, policing and security systems (in particular CCTV). Indeed, Gill's list of fellow consultants already reads like a 'Who's Who?' of the genre. Dr Tony-Burns Howell (one time security director at Dixons), Rob Mawby (Professor of Criminology at the University of Plymouth) and qualitative and quantitative research guru Dr Tim Pascoe are just some of the intellectuals on board.

Moreover, Gill is looking for further members of staff to meet an ever-increasing demand for private sector research.

"The bulk of our work will entail researching and completing specific projects for organisations in both the private and public sectors," adds Gill.

PRCI is currently playing its part in developing a Sector Skills Strategy for the private sector (see 'Mark of Authority', pp26-29) – a task which Gill is clearly relishing. "This is a case of Molly Meacher and John Saunders doing what many people working in this industry before them should have done," he suggests. "They've rightly said that licensing needs to include an element of training. Before we can decide what that training should cover, we need to know the skills required by security operatives now and in five years' time."

As Gill rightly states, opinions on the constituent parts of courses are all well and good, but are "no use if they're not based in fact, and on solid research findings".

Gill is also assiduously involved with a host of other projects, all of them likely to produce some fascinating findings. "We're working with a Midlands-based local authority on developing a community safety strategy, analysing a Community Wardens scheme, joining forces with the National Security Inspectorate to find out the true causes of false alarms, conducting risk assessments, robbery profiling and evaluating the success of CCTV schemes" (witness last month's sold-out conference in Leicester on the effectiveness of surveillance).

Interestingly, that conference offers something of a clue to Gill's longer-term ambitions. What he's really done is set in motion The Perpetuity Group of Companies. PRCI takes care of the research element, Perpetuity Conferences speaks for itself – as does Perpetuity Training – and The Perpetuity Press (run by his wife, Karen) looks after the publishing side of the equation. An extremely neat package.

"I really do feel there's a gap in the market for a company like PRCI that can work alongside clients with a view to improving their performance in the security arena," says Gill with conviction. "It's not just a matter of telling people what's already known. In our particular subject area, it's a case of going out there and gathering as much information as possible. Doing that properly, and thereafter offering proper and well-reasoned advice."

He adds: "In a way, that's our take on the whole business of research and consultancy. You must work from solid foundations. Unfortunately, so much of the research that has been carried out in the security sector isn't worth the paper it's printed on. In some cases, I believe people have been duped into paying for reports that haven't been researched in anything like enough depth. I'm not prepared to involve myself or PRCI as a company in any research that's less than 100% robust."

Music to the ears of PRCI's potential blue chip client base, then.

Frameworks in management
One wonders about the type of management style Gill has adopted in his time at The Scarman Centre – and whether any of the skills he's learned along the way will be carefully grafted on to the day-to-day activities at PRCI. It emerges that he has been heavily influenced by Investors in People. "When I first held the reins at The Scarman Centre I was looking for frameworks on which to hang my ideas," he states. "I found a very good ally in Investors in People. It offered, and continues to offer, a clear direction and vision. A focus which my staff readily bought into. It also meant that they fully understood the interests and expectations of our students and clients."

Asked for a word to describe his management style, Gill – his brain ticking and reasoning as always – responds with the perfect answer. "People tell me that my style is enthusiastic," he says. "That's probably the word most of my colleagues and those in the industry that know me well enough would come up with. I am what I am. We all are."

Moving on to the wider industry that he knows inside out and talks about so fondly, Gill is greatly enthused by the changes that are beginning to be made. "Suddenly, there are some leaders in the security arena that carry real dynamism with them. I'm talking about David Dickinson, Tom Mullarkey, Molly Meacher and John Saunders. Alongside established leaders such as these, the security organisations out there will be a powerful force for change in our industry."

However, there's one or two caveats that Gill feels must be addressed – particularly when it comes to regulation and licensing. "What we are all waiting to see now is the level at which licensing will be pitched," he adds. "That's the real crux of the matter. If it's pitched appropriately high, then there's a very real opportunity to change the nature of policing in this country during the next 25 years. If the private sector can prove beyond all doubt that it can do a great job working with or for the police, but not replacing them, then the opportunities are endless."

Gill is encouraged by the approach he has seen from the SIA to date. "I'm impressed by Molly and John's commitment, and the philosophies they espouse," he says. "They're appointing some very good people, too. I particularly like the fact that they haven't taken this industry of ours at face value. Ultimately, like the rest of us they'll be judged on results, and they have every right to expect the industry's help and support at all times."

Foundations for the future
As a devoted family man – Gill has two daughters, Emily and Karis who are eight and six years old respectively, and a three year-old son named Oliver – surely the major ambition of developing The Perpetuity Group of companies will conflict with quality family time? Apparently not.

"For both Karen and I, work and home life seem to overlap quite nicely". That probably wouldn't have been the case if Gill had pursued his childhood dream – of becoming Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.