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Manpower + Technology = Security
For many years manned guarding and electronic security technology ran on parallel tracks which never crossed. End-users would go to separate suppliers for CCTV cameras, electrified fences and security officers – nothing else would have occurred to them. Then, as the security industry began to consolidate, security providers started buying technology companies, operating them as a profitable sideline to their manpower businesses.
With the upwards pressure on labour costs and the inevitable drop in the cost of increasingly sophisticated technologies, end users are increasing turning to access control and remote video monitoring systems, bio-recognition and other hi-tech solutions. Rather than becoming the ‘Cinderella sector’, manned guarding is repositioning itself to provide the highly-skilled manpower necessary to make the most of this new technology, and to specify and install the equipment itself. Indeed, security consultants have already coined a new name for this market: – ManTec security.
 Security managers are beginning to look for integrated solutions, influenced as much by the pull-factor of technological invention as by the push-factors of rising manpower costs. Few security companies can afford not to embrace this opportunity for development.
Securiplan is the UK’s seventh largest manned guarding company by turnover, but had differed from most of its competitors by being a manned guarding specialist. That was until December 2001, when they set up their own security systems division and became a total security service provider.
Operations Director Barry Dawson explains: “Our clients were increasingly asking us to help them choose appropriate systems for their sites, so we started developing partnerships with various installation companies. These arrangements were not always satisfactory and when, one by one, these companies were purchased by larger competitors, they stopped delivering the level of service that we required.”
Meanwhile, with many of their Customer Service Managers, Site Managers and Supervisors already being involved in helping to specify systems for the sites on which they worked, Securiplan realised that there was a natural synergy here which would be appreciated by their clients. This inspired the company directors to take the plunge and set up their own systems division, recruiting a team of expert specifiers and installers. Peter Ambrose, who was recruited to oversee the launch of the new division, had held various senior management positions within the security technology sector. Being independent of the systems manufacturers, he is able to advise Securiplan’s clients on the features and benefits of the various security products available.
Securiplan had observed several of its competitors proceed down the acquisition route, taking over high-tech companies and attempting to run them alongside their manpower business. In addition to the usual difficulties of aligning organisations, with very different cultures and priorities, they sometimes found that the poor performance of one company reflected badly on the other, resulting in lost contracts.
Securiplan Systems engineers work closely with Securiplan security teams on-site to ensure that they can use the equipment to maximum advantage.
Taking a progressive approach, Securiplan decided from the start not to set up a separate company. Instead their systems team would work pro-actively alongside the Customer Service Managers of their guarding business and introduce systems solutions to their clients together. Our objective is to help our clients to mitigate any security risks but in a cost-efficient manner. Whenever we see an opportunity for a client to improve site security by deploying technological solutions, we will suggest them, even where it means that they won’t need as many officers on-site. Securiplan’s clients are often surprised that we are coming up with ideas, which will save them money, but they know that we take a holistic approach to their security and that we have their best interests at heart.
The ‘glue’ that holds Securiplan’s manpower-plus-systems approach together is the security review process. By arrangement with each client, a team of Home Office-trained experts is sent onto a site unannounced to carry out penetration tests and find out where the weaknesses are in the company’s security system. They also check what training officers have actually received, and deliver an independent report to the security manager about what they find.
Peter Ambrose
The gaps that we identify in their security arrangements are listed in our consultants’ report, which also makes detailed recommendations as to how they can refine their procedures. We then offer them the services of our Systems team to implement the recommendations of the review and upgrade the system that is already in use.
Peter Ambrose adopts a conservative approach when he goes onto a site to recommend new systems. “Where possible we will try to develop the existing technology rather than specifying a completely new system and starting from scratch; I doubt that many other installers are so restrained! Because we are independent of any particular manufacturer, we are able to recommend the best solution for that site, so that our clients benefit from the latest industry leading technology and a bespoke solution that suits their budget.
While it might be tempting to try to claw back some of the lost guarding revenue through the maintenance contract, Securiplan aims to provide a more cost-effective systems maintenance service than most of its competitors. “We’ve seen our clients paying out a fortune for exclusive maintenance agreements with individual suppliers, so we avoid installing proprietary systems”, says Ambrose.
“We have also found that, with our trained personnel working on-site and using the equipment, we can often reduce the need for maintenance call-outs by instructing our officers to resolve the simple problems, so that engineers are only called out when really necessary. The site managers also know that they will get the back-up and response times that they require because we are all part of the same company - further examples of the advantages of integration.”
Eighteen months on, the majority of Securiplan’s clients have taken advantage of the offer of consultancy and asked the Systems team to come on-site and make suggestions for improvements.
As clients and contractors grapple with the implications of this year’s increase in National Insurance contributions, the anticipated future regulation of the security industry and the length of the working week, one might think that security officers were about to become an expensive luxury. However, Securiplan sees a clear on-going need for security officers who are broadly trained, multi-skilled, customer-orientated and fully licensed.
We are predicting a requirement for a smaller pool of highly professional security personnel who will work shorter hours and have a higher perceived value to the client. Out-of-hours security on many sites will increasingly be run from national control centres using remote video monitoring and deploying regional mobile units to deal with emergencies. But in most business environments we believe that there is a continuing need for security personnel to be present during office hours. The customer care, health and safety and trouble-shooting aspects of their role will never be replicated by even the most sophisticated system, and an alarm system is only as effective as the person who responds to it.
Looking to the future, Securiplan is enthusiastic about its ability to provide both integrated manpower and systems solutions to guarantee seamless and cost-effective security for all their clients. We believe that the one-stop shop is the way forward in security, to prevent gaps in provision or overlaps in responsibility. But the end-user has to believe that his supplier has his best interests at heart, so that he does not find himself being exploited, and he needs to make sure that cutting costs will not increase the security risk. Any consultant can come along and recommend cutting the workforce, but integration means weaving together the threads of manpower and technology to make the strongest and most effective security net.
CASE STUDY 1
For several years Securiplan has provided a security team to guard a group of three buildings near Heathrow Airport. Faced with increasing manpower costs, they asked Securiplan and several other companies to come up with cost-saving ideas, which could improve site security. Securiplan conducted security reviews on each site and Peter Ambrose designed suitable IP-based card access control and IP-based digital CCTV systems, linked to strategically-placed detection devices, all connected via a computer network to a central control room. This reduces the need for night-time patrolling and will save the client in excess of £100,000 a year.
CASE STUDY 2
A major property management group has just signed a contract with Securiplan to specify, supply and install security systems to 15 of their major industrial and business parks around the UK. Since January 2002, Securiplan has been one of their two chosen partners for manned security services, and early in the relationship there were discussions about the installation of security systems. The client arranged a five-way tender process for one of its sites, for which Securiplan’s consultants, led by Peter Ambrose, had to present detailed costed proposals. The advantages of using the same supplier for all their security needs clearly won through, and the company has agreed a roll-out plan to install similar systems across its other properties.
Steve Lee, Managing Director of B-Serv Ltd., explains his company’s security buying strategy. “We started off by streamlining our manned guarding supplier list by selecting the two best companies, and then working with them to improve the standard of guarding. The next stage was to introduce integrated solutions such as remote video monitoring to reduce our dependence on manpower. We anticipate achieving dramatic reductions in security costs without compromising the needs of our tenants.”
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