Andrew Hart and David Redgate walked out of Securitas’ third floor offices in Manchester at 244 Deansgate.
They walked down the red-carpeted stairs with stair rails – it’s a solid old city centre building with grand wallpaper – and on the street turned left as they usually do, headed for the city centre. They did not look controversial, and that is the way they, and Securitas like it. But to others the retail support unit running since November has sparked controversy. Like so many things that have made the news in the mainstream media, if you look into what is actually going on, the controversy disappears. First, Securitas have gone to some trouble over the retail support officers’ uniform. It stood out most obviously when we reached M&S. That department store has long (with a gap when it went in-house) used Securitas as its retail security contractor. The officers in-store wear black single-breasted blazer with white shirt, and tie. The retail support officers have to walk from customer to customer – and even in mid-March, under the grey sky of Manchester shoppers were walking with hands in pockets. Hence the officers’ grey coats, grey trousers and polo shirts, and black baseball caps. A black radio is attached to their front – one of the pair of officers has his radio tuned into the Securitas radio, one into the city’s Storenet retail radio.
You might imagine the officers dash to the scene of alerts with screeching tyres. While the two officers did not have an alert to answer while I was walking with them, I was told they walked – and did not run. It is the on-street aspect of the guarding service that bothers some public opinion; and beforehand Securitas did ask me not to photograph the retail unit officers in public space. Evidently the service is carrying on; and Securitas were quick to pick up the kind remarks by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Assistant Chief Constable Gary Shewan, who opened the BSIA-GMP spring security exhibition at The Bridgwater Hall in March.
Given that any private policing of public space is controversial in Britain or at least sparks suspicion from police forces, what do Andrew Hart and David Redgate, and other pairs of officers, do? It depends on what the customer has contracted for. Some have just a walk-by and a wave on the officers’ rounds. For other stores, the officers will walk around the sales floors. They are a visible presence; then they move on. If thy see a suspicious customer, they may wait, until that person gives up and goes. The security company and the retailer do not want confrontation; do not want guard and shop thief rolling around or chasing each other at full speed across pavements. As for what the retail staff make of the service, one man in a fashion clothing store said that stock loss has been considerably reduced. In a health food chainstore, the manageress confirmed what Andrew and David said; that shoplifters take the big tubs of food supplements, as used by body-builders. From the CCTV, you can see some thieves pick up whatever tub is to hand; some choose a tub. That is, some thefts are to order, and are sold perhaps at half cost price in gyms. And as that manageress added, if only one member of staff was on duty, they would not want to confront a thief. The officers’ round took them as far as New Cathedral Street, where M&S already have retail loss prevention officers. The other stores taking the Securitas service did not have other guards, at least not when I passed. This service, then, seems to fill a need; there is stock loss to reduce, but retailers may not want to pay for a full-time guard, who might find static duty tedious, and the thieves in any case might merely wait for the guard to take a lunch break. Readers might think the service sounds like neighbourhood policing, which would explain some police sensitivity. However: on our walk along Deansgate, we saw two police cars, the first sponsored by Securitas as it happens, and the second a liveried GMP vehicle. In other words, for whatever reason, police have for some time offered a 999 service, responding to emergencies. Police are stretched not only by budget cuts but the cultural change to a true 24-hour city, demanding policing to all hours of the night on Fridays and Saturdays. If retailers want to regularly see an authority policing figure, they have to pay for one. I left the retail support unit officers wondering aloud why someone else had not done it before. As so often, it’s one thing to be wise after the event, and another to put in the work – and take the risk – to offer a new service. So let us go back to the Securitas office, and what the managers have to say.
They knew the concept would work; but as they say looking back, it’s hard to sell a concept (or indeed to put a price on it), even a concept that the security company uses on the Continent in such cities as Zurich. Hence Securitas offered a 30-day free trial. The service went live on November 26, launched around Cathedral Walk and St Ann’s Square. Ian Foster, operations manager, said: “We are offering reassurance visits and rapid response to retailers.” Indeed, businesses besides retailers may take the service who cannot afford seven-day manned guarding; or businesses that already have guarding, but want support.” Customers get up to eight visits a day; it may be retail staff want a visit at opening and closing time, or when short-staffed over lunch (all vulnerable times known to criminals). Retailers that have the service can issue staff with alert buttons, worn around the neck. As Ian Foster said, the shop worker can press the alert if they are feeling uncomfortable about some shopper; or the shop staff see a known offender; there’s no need to wait until there’s a theft. He stressed the reassurance offered by the service; and the police or HM Prison or armed forces background of the unit officers; all people used to talking to the public. Lindsay Batoryk is Securitas’ Retail Support Unit Branch Manager who is in charge of the company’s manned guarding for Salford and Trafford Park. She said of the unit: “We have recruited people from a vocational background because they have the skills and behaviour traits needed for this sort of role.” Ian Foster, indeed, is ex-GMP. Shifts cover from 8am to 8pm; over Christmas, because retail hours were longer, so was the cover. Asked if the company might extend the service to the night-time economy – pubs and clubs – Securitas’ reply is that the unit is in its infancy and they want to get it absolutely right – and they have enough to keep them busy. Indeed in the first year each season is new, both in terms of the weather and retail.
Ian Foster said: “We have to be more conscious of the retailers’ seasons; Christmas is obviously a busy period, then you notice the sales coming in, in January; then you become aware it’s the new season’s stock. One of the retailers I remember having a conversation with; they were expecting the new spring collection, and yet it was still freezing cold and snowing outside!”
What might be intriguing, and indeed something rivals to Securitas might keep an eye on, is how the security company keeps retailers in the service; while retailers can already see stock loss, it’s harder to quantify something such as ‘reassurance’. Something else the security contractor speaks of is ‘empowerment’ – that the retail staff feel better able to do their work – to ‘kill with kindness’ shoppers who are hanging around, and doing nothing wrong, but may be waiting for the chance to shoplift. Securitas can say – and the company does say – that for a retailer to press the alert button once justifies the service, if there was felt to be a need, and if the unit deters a theft. But how to quantify something that doesn’t happen? That’s long been a problem for anyone offering a security service. Something else that may show itself – as elsewhere in private security – is displacement of crime, if shop thieves avoid stores that take the Securitas service, but still want to steal from shops. To sum up, if the security contractor finds it has a demand for its service, you could easily see it repeated in other cities – and another question would be how large a high street or shopping district would have to be, to maintain such a service. That said, quite small cities might support the service whose shops might not individually afford a security officer on the door.
