SMT wins 2005 BSIA Chairman’s Award for Promoting The Industry

Brian Sims, the Editor of Security Management Today (SMT) – CMP Information’s flagship journal dedicated to serving the educational and information needs of end users – has won this year’s BSIA Chairman’s Award for making an outstanding contribution to Promoting the Private Security Industry. The award was bestowed by current Association chairman Jim Harrower following the recent BSIA Annual Luncheon and National Security Officer Awards Ceremony, held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Wednesday 22 June.

Speaking to a 550-strong audience of premier security industry professionals, BSIA chief executive David Dickinson said: “During the past five years, Brian has played a central role in raising the profile of the private security industry as a profession worthy of a more prominent position within the business environment.

“SMT always carries incisive comment from the foremost experts on security in the UK, generating vitally important debates which are at the very core of this industry’s future direction.

“Brian’s first-class, totally objective approach to the topic of security, often amid the clamour of competing agenda, keeps all of our feet on the ground, while his passion for the industry is immediately apparent to all. We are truly privileged to have such an excellent journalist working within the ranks.”

The industry speaks...

Congratulatory letters have also been sent to the Editorial Desk. Security Industry Authority (SIA) chief executive John Saunders, writing directly to the Editor, commented: “On behalf of all the team at the SIA, may I wish you sincere congratulations on your award. You have won the respect, admiration and friendship of so many in the industry, and deservedly so. As you know, we very much value and appreciate your wise, balanced, tough and uncompromising reporting of the industry’s agenda and that of the SIA. It makes a material and positive impact.”

Professor Martin Gill – director of Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International, and a member of SMT’s Editorial Advisory Board – said: “The success of SMT as a widely acknowledged and credible source of information about the world of security is evident to all. I am delighted to be associated with the journal. Many congratulations on this award, and may there be many more.”

Also writing in, National Security Inspectorate chief executive Tom Mullarkey said he was “delighted” to see Brian Sims and SMT receive the BSIA Chairman’s Award.

“Yours is a tough job, with a huge mountain to climb every month in a bid to maintain such high standards. I think the journal’s content is now expertly positioned, and its professional approach is greatly appreciated.”

Security Management Today always carries incisive comment from the foremost experts on security in the UK, generating vitally important debates which are at the very core of this industry’s future direction

Bill Wyllie – current chairman of The Security Institute and former director of security at The Bank of England and MBNA Bank (Europe) – also made his feelings known.

“On the subject of your award, I think it is just recognition – not only of what you have achieved in terms of turning SMT into the first class journal that it is today, but also in view of what you have personally done for the industry and the profession of security management at large. I believe that your contribution to raising the profile of The Security Institute and its leading players is currently one of our most valuable assets. We all appreciate your support enormously.”

SMT: the respected journal

Simon Parker – director of CMP Information’s Protection and Management Group – also added his congratulations. “This is an amazing achievement for Brian and the journal. Not only is the award a massive endorsement of Brian’s standing within the security industry, but it also underlines the enormous amount of work he has put into making SMT the most respected journal in what is a highly competitive field.”

In commenting on what is a highly prestigious achievement, SMT’s Editor Brian Sims stated: “To win an award from the industry is something very special indeed. It has taken many years of research, networking and contact-building to position SMT in the marketplace, and I’m delighted that the industry views the journal as an independent and invaluable educational tool.

“We have several strategic plans in development to take the magazine forward in the months and years ahead. In the meantime, I would like to personally thank all of those practitioners who have contributed, and continue to contribute, to the journal’s content. SMT is written by the industry for the industry.”

SMT’s Award follows that bestowed upon Alan Hyder, Editor of sister CMP Information title Security Installer, who won the BSIA Chairman’s Award back in 2001 for the magazine’s Contribution To Standards.