The Private Security Industry Summit 2005

‘The Private Security Industry Summit 2005: Resolving Current Concerns to Increase Future Profits’ is the title of a major conference being run by the British Standards Institution’s Business Information Division on 29-30 September at The Selfridge Hotel, London.

The conference – which is preceded by a half-day workshop on 28 September – brings together all of the industry’s key players, offering a future vision of the industry that will enable practising professionals to plan their forthcoming protection strategies.

The structure, governance and profitability of the security industry are all undergoing radical changes. How will they affect you? How might you convert those changes into opportunities for yourself and your organisation? Put simply, if you own, work in, manage or are planning to buy or sell a security business, then this event ranks highly in the ‘must attend’ listings.

Following a KeyNote Address from Security Management Today’s Editor Brian Sims, the Day One Programme begins with a series of presentations by leading industry figures offering their views on how the security sector will change in the months and years ahead.

Attendees can cross-examine the speakers, who include Andy Drane (deputy chief executive of the Security Industry Authority), Stefan Hay (deputy chief executive of the BSIA and SITO’s managing director), National Security Inspectorate chief executive Tom Mullarkey, Geoff Tate (chief executive of the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board), Joint Security Industry Council director Terry O’Neil, Bill Wyllie (chairman of The Security Institute) and Peter Davies (assistant chief constable of Lincolnshire Police and the ACPO lead on liaison with the private sector).

Raising security’s profile

Next on the podium is Doug Cook, corporate security manager at T-Mobile. Doug will look at how the industry can raise the profile of the chief security officer and increase the importance of security at Board level – an absolutely vital task for this industry.

‘Living with Licensing’ is the title of IPSA chairman Patrick Somerville’s discourse, which offers a progress report on licensing of the manned security element of the industry to date. What are the realistic business expectations in security’s Brave New World for both client and contractor alike? How can we learn from experiences of the past?

Following Patrick is Andy Drane with an overview of the Approved Contractor Scheme, focusing on what’s next for approved firms.

Standards in the future

Do British Standards support regulation? What are the current standards for the security industry, and what developments are going to be needed in the future? Derek Smith – business services director at Legion Security – is set to tackle these questions.

In a similar vein, BSI GW/3 chairman Patrick Dealtry will look at existing EN Standards and future plans for them. The impact on UK security organisations could be quite significant.

Day Two begins with a KeyNote Address from Thomas Berglund, president of Securitas AB and chief executive officer of the Securitas Group. Thomas will review how the industry might transform itself into a more profitable enterprise.

The main theme thereafter is ‘Preparing for the Security Industry Shake-Up’. Can your security company simply afford to retain its current business position? Does it need to move on to a more profitable platform? Trend analyses are offered by Professor Martin Gill, director of Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International.

An assessment of the corporate finance options available to guarding companies will be outlined by Alex White, a partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, and then David Marks – chief executive of SectorGuard – looks at how to prepare for launching either a merger or acquisition bid.