The Last Chance Saloon

While Terry feels that the situation has been caused by the failure of the industry to address the underlying issues, there are in truth other stakeholders that should share in this blame. The end users – in their constant drive for best price – and the European Union mandarins in Brussels for failing to remove the derogation in respect of working hours contained in the Working Time Directive have certainly aggravated the situation.

The already-dwindling labour pool is going to be placed under further strain when regulation of the industry is implemented. Unfortunately, in a sector of over 2,000 manned security companies there'll always be those who'll promote the cheaper option, resulting in lower wages, long hours and a lack of personal development. The difficulty with this strategy is that there'll always be someone who can do the job more cheaply, resulting in excessive contract and employee churn.

It's pleasing to note that there are security companies out there actively embracing change and marketing services solutions that result in fair employment packages and career development paths for all their employees. Interestingly, these forward-thinking companies have shown significant growth, which would appear to indicate that end users are beginning to accept the importance of encouraging the deployment of career officers.

We believe that the industry – working in partnership with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) as regulator – is now looking to develop a genuine career path for personnel. Once again, there are manned security companies that have already embraced this path and are presently enjoying the fruits of their labour. Witness The Corps' area manager Ian Hall's attainment of an MSc in Security and Risk Management (Appointments, SMT, February 2004, p52).

Neither is it a coincidence that the winner of the SMT Security Excellence Award for Best Guarding Company in both 2002 and 2003 – Wilson James – has adopted the 42-hour working week as standard practice.

Terry's thinking that a security officer will become a more selective and powerful individual is right. Professional security officers will become a competitive force, and assist in deflecting the similarly competitive drive from buyers to deliver cheap services.

Terry also fears that initiatives such as 'The Contract of Substance', the BSIA's guideline document for member companies – 'Towards the Future' – and The Security Institute's 'Guide to the Procurement and Management of Manned Security Services' will go to waste as a result of the industry's failure to accept the fact that there is a problem. We believe that these three initiatives have now crystallised basic acceptable standards for the manned security industry, laying the foundations for a sector that will be of mutual benefit to all stakeholders.

Indeed, going forward the setting of such standards – and their further refinement on a regular basis – will ensure the positive and successful evolution of our industry.

Thomas Berglund, the chief executive of Securitas (the world's largest security company), has estimated that the transformation of the industry could take between ten and 15 years ('From aspiration springs reality', SMT, May 2003, pp20-26). It's our firm belief that while we accept the fact the industry is now in The Last Chance Saloon, and has been for the past few years, one by one manned security companies and their customers are beginning to leave. Some through the front door, some via the emergency exit.

In a message to end users at the tail end of last year, SIA chief executive John Saunders posed the question: "Is the guarding service bought, for example, on the basis of 'six people, 24 hours a day' or: 'We have a building and people to protect within it, so what's the most effective solution we could adopt'?"

That is at the very heart of the future of manned security as an industry. An industry where the buyers and suppliers of the service will look at how to secure instead of how to man security. In conjunction with positive debate, this philosophy will ensure a more rapid evacuation of The Last Chance Saloon.

A key – but of course as yet untested – element in the future success of manned security is the role of the security industry regulator. If the SIA delivers on what it has promised, it will undoubtedly have a significant and hugely positive impact. Consolidation will also have a significant impact on normalisation.

What's happening in the private security industry at present is a classic case of early adaptation which will eventually result in its positive evolution. That bodes well for the future.

Those companies and customers who choose to remain in The Last Chance Saloon do so at their own risk.