UK security on the export trail

Exporting UK security
Any company involved in the export business will know that quality contacts and market intelligence are the key to successfully establishing a product or service overseas. However, this type of information isn't always easy to come by.

To give UK companies something of a head start, Trade Partners (UK) – the Department of Trade and Industry section dedicated to promoting UK exporters – together with the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), the Fire Industry Council (FIC) and the Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers (APPSS) arranged for 15 British Embassy Commercial Officers to visit the UK between 25 February and 8 March. This was nothing less than a hugely successful initiative that has enhanced the standing of UK service providers at an important time for the security industry.

Commercial Officers work at British Embassies around the world to facilitate successful trading between the UK and the country in which they operate. They are often required to represent a number of different sectors, thus in-depth knowledge of each and every sector is hard to accumulate.

An Industry Briefing Course
An Industry Briefing Course was organised to bridge this knowledge gap, and contained three major elements: presenting information on the UK security sector, obtaining security-specific information for exporters concerning the geographic markets represented by Commercial Officers and enabling them to conduct on-site visits to both companies and key locations such that they may witness product and service demonstrations at first hand.

In consultation with its Export Council, the BSIA established that a key requirement for UK security exporters was more detailed information about international markets in which they trade, or would like to trade. Similar feedback was received from the FIC and the APPSS. Consequently, a key part of the Industry Briefing Course was an Export Colloquium where the Commercial Officers gave presentations to over 100 UK companies, and held one-on-one consultations with exporters.

By introducing the Commercial Officers to the UK security market we are educating them on the most sophisticated security equipment in the world. In return, they’ll help to spread the word in their home countries as their own security requirements b

Andrew Knights, chairman of the BSIA's Export Council and chief executive of Smokecloak, was delighted with the outcome of this approach. "Although we were breaking new ground with this initiative," Knights told SMT, "I don't think anyone anticipated such a thoroughly dynamic fortnight of activities. BSIA Export Council members certainly left the event in a very happy frame of mind."

The Commercial Officers represented: Brazil, China, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the USA. "All the Commercial Officers had responsibility for security and fire sectors in their respective countries, so they make for high quality contacts," added Knights. "We gave them all a detailed overview of what is available from UK companies, and I feel certain they departed with a much better understanding of how the UK security industry and the Export Council actually work."

Peter Ausden of Trade Partners (UK) believes that the Officers were equally delighted with the event. "Participating Officers felt that they had been given a full and valuable briefing on the UK sector," stressed Ausden. "Many of them said that they couldn't have obtained such information so quickly in any other way."

Visits to key UK security sites
The visits to key security sector locations in the UK included a tour of the Baxall factory in Stockport where the Commercial Officers watched demonstrations of CCTV systems in use. A similar tour of the PAC International facility offered an excellent overview of the access control sector. In South Wales, the Officers were taken to the Bewator plant in Newport, followed by a tour of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The manned guarding sector was strongly represented by way of a visit to the Group 4 headquarters at Broadway and Tewkesbury, offering a vivid illustration of training and Control Room operations. There was also a special presentation by Trade Partners (UK)'s Richard Chinn covering aviation security.

The fortnight also included a dinner at which His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent – Patron of the BSIA Export Council – was the guest speaker.