Safe Stay was one of the first events aimed purely at security for the hotel and hospitality security sector. Mark Rowe reports.
The sector already has a thriving group, the IHSM (Institute of Hotel Security Management), mainly made up of security managers and directors of luxury hotels in and around the capital; such as the IHSM chairman, Darren Carter, head of group security for Edwardian Hotels London. One of the things that made the first Safe Stay conference in London W1 interesting was that attenders came from outside the capital and from the budget chains also. Hotels, in other words, spill over into the broader entertainment industry; places that you would not associate at once with hotels, such as Gleneagles, Alton Towers and football and other sports stadia (and the England football training centre at St George’s Park outside Burton upon Trent) routinely have hotels (and retail and other attractions) alongside, to draw and keep customers. Hence a hotel can have impeccable security and other procedures, yet can be caught up in an incident at a neighbouring retail park. Or if in central London, any terror alert or protest march or even traffic hold-up can affect the security and the general running of the hotel. Any corporate sending its staff abroad has a duty of care for their well-being; so that hoteliers are being asked questions about security of premises, besides facilities and prices. And travelling security people are hotel users too.
In an opening talk (pictured) by the event chairman, the consultant and trainer Simon Whitehouse of SGW, the sheer amount of things that the hotel security manager has to juggle became apparent: data privacy; cyber (as a hotel like any retailer holds or processes credit card information of guests); modern slavery (both of staff, possibly, or of people being trafficking into western countries from eastern Europe or Asia or Africa, being kept in hotels on their way to airports or ports).
Simon spoke also in terms of risk, and of the value that a company board places on risk mitigation. There’s more emphasis on risk management, as part of brand protection, Simon said. Investors are seeking more meaningful reporting, and key facts on changing risk exposures globally. Law enforcers and regulators, also, are raising the bar on risk management expectations. In the Gulf, where Simon has done work for some years, regulation is now the key driver on security risk mitigation, and in particular for a hotel to be given a licence to operate as a business. “Successful risk rating comes from understanding the exposure and effecting mitigation strategies.”
Simon went on to the crux for hotels and indeed for security management in general: how to assess risks, present and emerging. What does a risk management system look like, and (crucially) how do you benchmark against peers? One speaker who could offer an answer was Andy Williams, as VP business development and quality assurance, for Safehotels Alliance AB; which certifies hotels for their safety and security. Indeed, Simon aired a question that he discussed with Andy Williams the evening before (and at Safe Stay as at other gatherings, it’s the chats outside the conference room and the agenda proper that can be the most useful). Is today’s director of security a subject matter expert; or a business manager, able to present key data to a board and able to convince all stakeholders to buy into the value and effectiveness of security strategies?
More words and pictures in the June 2018 print issue of Professional Security magazine.
