Watchdog makes plea for trusting contracts

To be held in the International Briefing and Conference Centre at Farnham Castle, Surrey on Thursday 21 March, 'Building the Trust between a Contract Manned Guarding Company and its Clients' – the latest seminar to be devised by independent manned security inspection body The Security Watchdog – will see a host of industry experts illustrate how trust can be established between supplier and end user, thereby ensuring a quality security service.

The client perspective will be expanded upon by Geoff Whitfield, security manager at GlaxoSmithKline, after which Graham Titcombe – team leader at the Home Office – is to offer the latest news on progress with implementing the terms and conditions of the Private Security Industry Act.

Concluding the early morning session (which runs from 9.00 am to 11.00 am) is Peter Black, managing director of Group 4 Total Security, who will discuss the contractor's role in a successful security contract.

Security Watchdog managing director Terry O'Neil then joins forces with Phillip Ullmann – managing director of Top Ten security company Securiplan – to discuss the concept behind "A Contract of Substance" (a campaign supported by Security Management Today – look out for the official launch in April's SMT).

Post-lunch, Stuart Lowden (Wilson James), David Evans (managing director of Legion Security) and Initial Security's Rob Parker offer their views on (respectively) the benefits of a reduced working week for officers and clients, structuring the private security industry to ensure racial equality and how to make partnerships between all parties truly effective.

Mike Welply – chief executive of the joint Security Industry Council (JSIC), who opens proceedings with the Key Note address – also brings the day to a close with an overview of the Council's ongoing work to date alongside the Home Office.

Parties from both the contracting and end user fraternities who'd like to attend should contact Susie Thompson at The Watchdog (tel: 01252 891100, fax: 01252 891109, e-mail: info@securitywatchdog.org.uk). The cost per delegate place (including lunch and refreshments) is £90.

Sponsors of the event include: Broadland Guarding, Capitol Security Services, Group 4 Falck, Whitehall Security Services, Securiplan, Capital One, UBS Warburg, Camberford Law and Security Management Today.

In response to reader requests, Security Watchdog managing director Terry O'Neil has agreed to write a series of 12 articles under the all-important banner 'Raising the Profile and Performance of Contract Manned Guarding'.

Each month, Terry will focus on a different aspect of the industry and offer his views as to how each might be realistically improved.

Terry has written many salient articles for SMT, of course. He was a founder member of the London-based Argus Shield back in the 1980s, and subsequently became chief executive of Pinkerton Security Services in 1991 (a post he held until 1998, when The Security Watchdog was founded).

As always, Terry's latest array of articles will not pull any punches. The first in the series – entitled 'Recruiting the Right Individual' – can be found on page 43 of this month's edition.