But the pseudo-police uniform has become an endangered species. Many guarding companies and security managers have replaced the buttoned-up tunic and peaked cap with the open blazer and corporate tie. Has the manned security industry gone soft?
You're not in the army now
Tony Chebrika, security manager at The Trafford Centre, Manchester's gigantic out-of-town shopping centre, refutes the idea that manned security has gone soft. It's simply become more subtle, he reckons. Security staff (all employed in-house) at The Trafford Centre wear red holiday camp-style blazers and multi-coloured ties or cravats - exactly the same uniform as worn by the centre's non-security staff. Chebrika says: "A heavy, obvious security presence puts shoppers on-edge and this is not the kind of atmosphere we want to create." Rather than diluting the deterrent value of the security, the everyone-in-blazers approach enhances it, he reckons: "Anyone looking to commit crime cannot tell who's security staff and who isn't, so it keeps them guessing."
Group 4, however, believes security staff should be distinguishable from non-security staff. Although Group 4 has replaced the police-style tunic with the blazer, its security officers still wear peaked hats and are clearly badged as security staff.
David Dickinson is sales and marketing director for Group 4 Total Security and once worked for the corporate uniform operations branch of Sketchley. He says: "There has been a general relaxation in business wear and the tunic is now a bit stuffy. But some clients have asked us to dress guards in sports jackets. We say 'no'."
He adds: "The challenge is to get softer but still be distinctive, so that in an emergency people know who the security staff are. We provide security for the Benefits Agency where there are a number of public order incidents. Their staff look to our security staff to perform the role of protection, so our staff there wear distinctive blazers and shirts."
Security staff shouldn't look like police officers either, says Dickinson. Group 4 will shortly kit out its mobile patrol team out in a new uniform; patrol staff will wear a loose-fitting blouson jacket and an up-market baseball cap. "We won't be dressing up mobile patrol officers like armed response officers," vows Dickinson. He acknowledges that some security end-users still see a value in dressing security officers in tunics: "People look at the Corps of Commissionaires (whose officers where a uniform based on the military) and say, 'Oh, they've got that uniform that looks important - we'll use them'." Showcase Cinemas is one end-user that sees the tunic and peaked hat as a powerful deterrent - its in-house security team resemble LAPD officers.
Out of tunic
The market for the traditional security tunic is, however, becoming a niche market, says Kevin Potter, sales director for Sharps Freeman Ltd, which has been supplying security uniforms for 77 years. Sharps Freeman supplies uniforms to a number of guarding companies, including the Corps of Commissionaires, as well as in-house security teams at British Nuclear Fuel (BNFL), Glaxo Wellcome, various shopping centres and local councils. Most security end-users and guarding companies now see the blazer and big badge as the way to go, says Potter.
Unsurprisingly for someone who has just received requests from security companies for turquoise-blue and aubergine-coloured blazers, Potter says: "The security industry is following modern clothing trends and going for a more relaxed, informal approach. Having said that, we're not 100% comfortable with it. In some instances, it's very difficult to tell the difference between security staff and non-security staff."
By moving towards a more casual look, the security industry is still following police trends rather than getting away from them, believes Potter: "Most security companies look to the police as a guide. They don't wear tunics much now — they are more likely to wear a sweater or a blouson-style bomber jacket." Potter reveals the police are at present trialling fleece garments. He predicts guarding companies will follow suit.
Most security companies look to the police as a guide. They don’t wear tunics much now — they are more likely to wear a sweater or bomber jacket —
Kevin Potter, Sharps Freeman
Potter understands why the security industry is eager to blend in with corporate culture, even if it means security staff become less recognisable to the public. Guarding companies that won't fork out for quality uniforms have given the security industry a bad name, he reckons. The scruffy security officer in an unbuttoned tunic and over-sized peaked cap has become a media and public stereotype. Manned guarding clients don't want their security team tarred with the same brush.
Lloyds TSB security staff wear a more formal uniform than most, but the bank has still moved away from the classic security guard image. Roger Bird manager of security for Lloyds TSB, says: "We try to ensure our attire isn't too much like a guard. Our security staff wear corporate ties, their uniforms don't have badges on the arms and we keep crowns and epaulettes to a minimum."
Stock exchange
To survive and prosper, suppliers are having to react to the shift towards more casual security uniforms. One company that has embraced the shift is Prima Corporate Wear, which has more than 400 security accounts and an annual turnover of £5.1 million. It has £1.2 million worth of uniforms in stock at any one time and supplies uniforms to Securitas, Rentokil Initial, First Security and Pegasus Security, among others. Prima also has a number of contracts to supply uniforms to in-house guarding teams; security staff at the Royal Opera House, the BBC and Allders wear Prima uniforms. The company was called Uniforms Unlimited before a management buy-out in 1999.
Nick Atkinson, managing director of Prima Corporate Wear says: "Uniforms Unlimited was synonymous with the old militaristic image. Prima Corporate Wear reflects the new image.
"There has been a total shift away from militaristic uniforms towards a softer look. There's now demand for suits, blazers and personalised uniforms." Pegasus Security, for instance, requested Prima to design a personalised uniform with cloth and buttons unique to the guarding company.
Most guarding companies now get their uniforms supplied. Group 4's David Dickinson recalls: "We used to run our own clothing store, but it's a very expensive way of doing things. Vermillion now stock our uniform which they can tailor to our needs." Vermillion has supplied uniforms to Group 4 for more than ten years.
Uniforms don't come cheap. It will cost Securicor Cash Services roughly £170 to provide its new uniform to each crew person. Smaller guarding companies often buy generic security gear to keep clothing costs down, says Kevin Potter of Sharps Freeman: "While we regularly design security jackets so they're unique to certain company, guarding companies often buy stuff like sweaters, trousers and white shirt off-the-peg."
Personalised uniforms could cause problems if private security companies get increasingly involved in neighbourhood warden schemes. Group 4's Dickinson reckons all security officers, regardless of who they work for, should wear a universal colour or badge that makes them recognisable as private security staff. Private security uniforms, says Dickinson, should be "as clearly identifiable as that of the police uniform".
Securicor, however, doesn't agree. Securicor Cash Services, the cash-in-transit arm of Securicor Guarding, is trialling a new security uniform. If the uniform (supplied by Simon Jersey and including a blouson jacket) proves popular with security staff and clients, it's likely to be introduced throughout Securicor Guarding.
Source
SMT
