Interviews

ASIS 25: A history

by Mark Rowe

The UK chapter of the security management body ASIS International is 25 in 2018. Here is a round-up of those years.

Until 1993 ASIS members based in the UK were all members of was then Chapter 44, the European Chapter, with its headquarters in Brussels, which remains to this day. The British element used to meet in the cinema in the grounds of the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, the Embassy staff in central London helping the UK branch get established; a sign of how in those days ASIS was very much a US (or North American) body, most suitable for security people at corporates with a US presence or background. Briefly, while still based in the United States, the ASIS executive leadership has European and other regions represented, and there are some 242 chapters.

Peter Graysmark pushed ASIS HQ to include the word “International” in the name of the organisation and championed the establishment of individual, national chapters; and Chapter 208 was born.

The Chapter had as chairmen first Mike Bowles; the late Mervyn David after whom the UK Chapter’s award is named; Geoff Whitfield; Bill Wylie CPP; Patricia Knight; Stuart Lowden; Derek Webster; Barrie Millett; Mike Alexander BEM (pictured left); Andy Williams (pictured right); and since December 2015 David Clark.

On the committee since Chapter 44 days was Nigel Flower CPP (who helped prepare this history) with Helene Carlsson not far behind. Stuart Kidd CPP has been a member over 30 years and Angus Watts received a 25 year certificate.

The UK was host of the first ASIS European conference in 2001; and again in 2012. While ASIS UK can point to large numbers of members, in the high hundreds for years, and a high ratio of CPP and PSP-qualified members, and its members sit on ASIS European Programme Committee, ASIS Councils and have made contribution to the work on standards, both via ASIS and BSI; like many things, forming in the first place was far from a shoo-in. A letter has survived from 1990 typed by the then ASIS Europe secretary-treasurer, Ernest Hopkins, who worked at Thames Television (in the days when London telephone numbers still began 01).

While Mr Hopkins wrote that the European set-up had outgrown itself, he acknowledged that the breaking up of the Europe-wide regional chapter might be seen as division; that is, a bad thing. As an aside, as a sign of how some things don’t change, he also aired a grumble that only a small percentage of members were willing or able to attend chapter events.

ASIS members have contributed to the work of the Security Industry Authority, BSIA, IPSA, Association of Security Consultants, Security Institute and many other bodies. The ASIS round of gatherings over the years has stood the test of time: quarterly with an end of year AGM, meeting mainly in London, though members do and have arranged breakfast or other meetings outside London. Whether in the capital or not, venues and other arrangements are only possible thanks to the secretariat, sponsorship and members organising their premises to host a meet. One change and perhaps a sign of the times is in the timing of those quarterly meetings; whereas once they were morning and afternoon, which took attenders away from their desks all day, now meetings begin in the afternoon, allowing for a half day in the office. It’s a sign that the days have long gone, if they ever truly happened, that the security manager’s job was what retired policemen and Army officers did when they weren’t on the golf course.

Email has changed how ASIS UK and members communicate, like any other field of life and business, though the quarterly newsletter in print and electronic format has also stood the test of time. The UK chapter puts candidates through the CPP and other certifications; and is a licensee of the Register of Chartered Security Professionals, for those security people that want to become CSyPs (Chartered Security Professionals).

Bill Wyllie is also a former chairman of the Security Institute. He wrote: “Chapter 208 was my first close involvement with the politics of our profession in, I think, 1990, when I became Chapter Secretary after returning from Bahrain, where I had been inveigled into ASIS by one Vasu Dandanyak. Geoff Whitfield was then the Chapter Vice-chairman, and we followed each other through various posts and, ultimately, into the creation of The Security Institute.”

Geoff Whitfield recalled: “I remember very clearly the time when we established the UK Chapter and the subsequent significant influence and support that it has provided for the members of our profession over the years.”

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