David Dickinson is clearly relishing the opportunity of leading the industry's foremost trade body from the front in what is a crucial period for private sector security provision. Having triumphed over 70-plus candidates for the post of chief executive, Dickinson is adamant that he can "bring something to the party" when he assumes the mantle from David Fletcher on Monday 1 April.
"There's no doubt that David has left a fine legacy," states Dickinson. "He's built up the Association from 70-odd member companies when it started back in 1986 to a position where there are now well over 400. We can't afford to rest on our laurels, though. If you asked me to sum up my new job in one sentence it is to bang the drum for the British security industry. By working with as broad a coalition of people as possible, we can make ourselves heard."
That will be music to the ears of many in the industry who – rightly or wrongly – feel that the BSIA has become something of a 'Big Boys' Club' over the years, one that is skewed in favour of its larger donor organisations (many of whom speak only for the manned services sector).
With Dickinson joining the ranks from one of the largest private security companies out there, it hasn't taken long for the cynics to claim this latest move is a Group 4 'takeover' of the BSIA. "That is most definitely not the case," asserts Dickinson. "People must realise that I'm detaching myself completely from my past life. I have to. The job demands total objectivity."
Objectivity in the face of change
That objectivity is of paramount importance at a time when the industry is undergoing several far-reaching changes – changes to which the BSIA must adapt if its voice is to remain potent. Over many years now the Association has stood as the one-and-only quasi-regulatory authority for the industry (in terms of regulating by making standards for its membership, at any rate), but that will no longer be the case once the Security Industry Authority (SIA) comes into being.
"I very much hope that the Association will have a seat on the SIA," opines Dickinson. "At the end of the day, it's vitally important that practitioners are represented. The SIA's leaders must be prepared to accept that they would benefit from having a number of Advisory Committees drawn from the industry and its customer base, tasked with looking at areas like training and operational standards. We will certainly be seeking to influence the SIA as much as we can when it comes to driving standards upwards."
In the short term, however, the ebullient former sales and marketing director at Group 4 Total Security must develop his understanding of the work of certain sections within the BSIA.
Given his past history – including just over a decade serving as a Special Constable – and David Blunkett's pressing desire for police reform, it comes as no surprise to learn that Dickinson is keen on growing the BSIA's Police Support and Public Services Section. He's also focused on evaluating how some of the present BSIA sections (covering access control, cash and property marking, CCTV, distribution, export, information destruction, manned security, manufacturing, physical security, security systems and transport) might be made "more market-responsive".
"It will be a case of evolution, not revolution," stresses Dickinson. "At the moment we're engaged in constructive dialogue with a view to running the CCTV, access control and systems sections as one. That is but one example of how we could offer an improved focus."
Dickinson is also looking at forging common interest groups between the sections. "Let me give you an example," he adds. "If there's an increased opportunity for developing enhanced technological solutions to manned guarding, then maybe there's a ready-made case for establishing a common interest group between the Manned Security Section and that for Security Systems."
That said, Dickinson's not closing the door on expansion. "New sections will be created if the interest and will to do so is strong enough. One thing this Association must always bear in mind is that its members are its customers. I believe very strongly that the BSIA belongs to its membership, not its executive. A good many of our future relationships will be based on setting an industry climate, and creating the right environment in which our member companies might flourish."
Dickinson is already targeting the next round of sectional meetings as a 'test bed' for his theories. Insistent that the Association should never be viewed as a panacea for all ills in the private sector, this straight-talking, Bolton-born professional is intent on posing a fundamental question to the membership (not to say the industry at large). "I'm going to ask them: 'What do you want? What do you really want? As a Trade Association we cannot do for the members what only they can do for themselves, but what we can aspire to is the development of a complete understanding of how they want the private security garden dug. And then try and do the digging for them."
One suspects that asking the industry's disparate voices to sing from the same hymn sheet will be far from an easy task, but anyone who has had the pleasure of talking to Dickinson face-to-face for any length of time can only concur that the BSIA's Selection Team (including Fletcher and chairman David Cowden) couldn't have chosen a better person to steer the Association on its new course.
Cowden and Co were looking for an arbiter, a diplomat, an analyst and a strategist all rolled into one. Even a cursory glance at the Curriculum Vitae will tell you that Dickinson is all of those. More importantly, perhaps, this is a man who speaks with a tangible passion for the industry within which he resides.
Entering the political arena
Dickinson's passion for worthy causes was instilled many years ago by his mother. A self-confessed "classic late developer", 59-year-old Dickinson was encouraged from a very early age to read, look around himself and absorb his surroundings.
"My mother had a particular interest in old churches," says Dickinson, with an obvious affection for his Lancastrian upbringing. "Whenever we went out on day trips or on holiday I'd invariably end up in a church somewhere. You'd always find someone willing to chat to you about the history of the place. That's how I developed an analytical mind."
Educated in the state system, the young Dickinson went to a secondary technical school where he felt "completely out of place" (he succeeded in the arts subjects, but didn't do so well in the technical disciplines). Undeterred, he stuck at the task of nurturing his penchant for writing under the tutelage of a willing Headmaster. "He was a man who turned the school's fortunes around at a time when it was sinking," adds Dickinson, "and made me realise that I could achieve something in life if I put my mind to the task."
Armed with a handful of GCSEs (his grade in economic history was the highest recorded throughout Bolton) and the desire to be a journalist, Dickinson had to take off his rose-tinted spectacles pretty quickly. It was the 1950s, and by dint of the economic climate of the time people were forced into looking for safety in their careers. For the fresh-faced Dickinson, that meant a spell in local Government. He started as a junior clerk in the Town Clerks' Department, with responsibility for the Committee Clerks Division. "It was all about taking minutes at meetings. Fairly boring stuff, really, but what it did give me was a flavour for both local and national politics."
Subsequent spells at office furniture companies followed, where roles as a territory salesman and regional salesman respectively laid the foundations for what was to become a long and highly successful career at Group 4. In 1971, he joined the uniform business at Alexandra Workwear (where he later became group sales manager), remaining with the company until 1975.
Loyalty is obviously an important trait, then, but Dickinson knew the political bug had well and truly bitten. In what was a bold move at the time, he stood as the Conservative candidate at the 1975 Malvern District Council By-Election – and won by 12 votes. "That's real democracy for you," confesses Dickinson with a wry smile.
His stint as a Councillor lasted for three years. "In the 1983 General Election I fought Michael Meacher in Oldham (West)," adds Dickinson. "Although I came second, we managed to reduce the Labour majority from 13,000 to 3,000."
He had intended to carry on with his political career, but by this time was touching 40 years of age. "It's difficult to get elected then, unless you're a household name that is."
To this day, he's not sure if he was head-hunted for the job of sales and marketing director at Group 4 Total Security, or if it was – in his own words – "a beautiful coincidence" (Dickinson knew the head of security from his time as a Special Constable). Either way, it was the start of a fruitful partnership.
As an industry, the private sector has to prove the worth of good security to its customer base. Unfortunately, the less scrupulous guarding contractors out there are setting the agenda and the expectation levels. The BSIA, main contractors and clients wi
According to Dickinson, the company ethos at Group 4 was such that you could almost feel it. At this point, his passion for familial values and the industry he serves surfaces yet again. "If it could learn to bottle such a thoughtful, caring, 'can do' mentality, the private security industry would never have to worry," he adds.
Dickinson's powers of persuasion in the marketplace obviously worked. Group 4's guarding business grew from a £35 million turnover operation to something approaching £160 million in just over a decade. Ever the team player, Dickinson is quick to point out that colleagues such as Stephen Brown were every bit as instrumental in this expansion.
All the while there was a steely determination that, whatever the market was doing, standards would never slide. "In the early 90's," suggests Dickinson, "there were a good many glib phrases being thrown èP24 around. There was a belief that the guarding market was recession proof. As chairman of the Marketing Committee of the BSIA's Manned Security Section, I persuaded the Association – for the first time – to do some in-depth research so that we could ascertain the truth. We looked at the contract and in-house sector and, as I suspected, there'd only been a 3% growth over a ten-year period. We were starting to see all the signs of a mature marketplace, with price being used as a weapon."
Clients were taking advantage of the main contractors' need to run sustainable businesses, and there was little or no recognition among the contractors themselves of the likely fall-out from forthcoming National Minimum Wage and Working Time Directive legislation. "Everyone was pretending that officers were working a 60-hour week," comments Dickinson. "It was closer to 80".
At Dickinson's request, the BSIA ran seminars around the country to try and impart the seriousness of the situation. "By and large it worked," he says, "but then one by one the bigger guarding contractors said that legislation wouldn't affect them. They were wrong. We had missed a massive opportunity to do then what we are trying to do now with the Private Security Industry Act. It's long overdue, but the client must be forced to understand what best value really means."
Dickinson predicts that security officers will be a lot less in number over the next five years, but much better in terms of their quality. His theory is predicated on an integrated market where the systems and electronics effectively complete those tasks once the preserve of a given officer, while the people do the responding. Private response teams will surely increase over the next few years. "If they do," says Dickinson, "then almost by default they'll become an additional resource for crime prevention and reduction."
An inclusive management style
Very obviously blessed with an analytical brain, Dickinson is able to see through problems and find solutions. That could be translated as a management style predicated on 'shooting from the hip' which, on his own admission, has presented problems in the past. Having learned how to deal with that by experience, Dickinson is now focused on a team ethic.
He is the kind of man who works with people. People don't work for him. Indeed, he positively hates conversations where participants talk about 'employees' and 'staff'. "They're not employees, they're people," urges Dickinson. "And people are the most precious asset that any business can have. That's exactly why I'd like to see the guarding sector's clients spending more money when it comes to protecting their own people."
All good managers adopt a particular management style, and Dickinson is no different. He likes to call his style 'inclusive' – in other words, he's happy to listen to everyone's point of view. His ability to do just that is beyond question, having been honed in the last few years at Group 4 as director and general manager of the Immigration Services division.
A sensitive operation if ever there was one.
Stresses Dickinson: "This is a crucial time for the industry, and I believe that if we all work together we'll achieve far more. I'll talk to anybody who wants what the Association and all committed security professionals want. And that is a better future for a better industry with better standards."
The Private Security Industry Act has a large part to play here but, like plenty of other professionals, Dickinson is worried that its initial terms of reference perhaps don't go as far as they might have done. That said, the Act will at least enable the SIA to "do literally anything that's deemed to be in the interests of the industry and the public good" – which, in Dickinson's eyes, is a genuine step forward.
In stating that the BSIA will continue to press the case for in-house regulation, Dickinson also feels that managers could get together and push for a voluntary licensing scheme as a basic starting point. An excellent suggestion.
Having worked with the police at all levels, from officers through to chief constables, Dickinson has well-defined opinions on Home Secretary David Blunkett's plans for a wider police family. At Group 4, he worked with the police service in devising its security strategy for the Labour Party's annual conferences, and that for the G8 and European summits. At the party political gatherings, Dickinson witnessed 250-odd security officers working alongside 500-plus policemen.
"There's clearly a willingness on the part of the police to recognise that security companies and their officers are part of the same operation," he says. "However, the guarding companies don't want their officers to 'become' police officers. The security companies can work with the police, and work for the police. But they can never replace the police. That message must be imparted whenever the need arises."
Dickinson feels that the issue of security officers supplementing the police in the public realm is an issue worthy of "the fullest public debate". If the general public is agreeable to Blunkett's plans, the issue then revolves around what its expectations are, what the planned 'extra powers' for security personnel would be, how those powers might be exercised and – most important of all – how they'll be accounted for.
"What we need to do is make sure that all parties to this proposed reform – the security and police officers, their clients and the public with whom they interact – know what is expected of them," proffers Dickinson. "Successful reform will not be achieved by demeaning the police service. We must work with them every step of the way."
In its response to the Home Office, and in light of possible confrontations at street level, the BSIA has indeed expressed concerns about extended powers being granted to security officers. "Our members probably have more experience than anyone at deploying non-police uniform personnel to protect public places," continued Dickinson, "so maybe the Home Office might like to talk to us."
A further example of Dickinson's inclusive approach to problem solving, then.
Sharpening the industry's game
In the wider realm, many industry practitioners now feel we have reached the point at which the security of both assets and people is far too important to be left to the vagaries of chance and market forces.
Competition sharpens every contractor's game, of course, but there are clients out there who produce 'standard' contracts at the tender stage and are then prepared to accept the lowest bidder for the job. They, among others, are culpable for many of the industry's ills.
In the same vein, Dickinson is a firm believer that the concept of three days' worth of Basic Job Training with little or no follow-up "is just not tenable any more. Training," he says, "should be all about continuity and adapting to changes of circumstance. To an extent, it should also be about lifetime learning." Quite.
It will be an extremely poignant moment for David Dickinson when he exits the proverbial perimeter gates at Group 4 for the final time later this month. He's at great pains to point out how enormously grateful he is to his colleagues for equipping him with the necessary skills to take on what is undoubtedly one of the most important jobs in the industry.
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