Interviews

Banham unveil new home

by Mark Rowe

The longstanding security company Banham have moved into a new home in London, writes Mark Rowe. He and other invited guests were shown around by chairman Charles Hallatt and joint MD Martin Herbert recently before an evening reception.

Pictured is one of the graphics on the inside walls. Why Fear Burglars was an early marketing slogan for Banham, which mirrored the initials of the 1920s founder, William Banham. He and his wife Marie-Ann have their faces on the glass wall on one side of the boardroom. On the other side of the room – with a long table and two dozen chairs – you have a long view of the railway line beside the south-west London station Earlsfield. Again, this is continuity for the family firm, which was prompted by the regeneration of Vauxhall to move from its Nine Elms base, itself a move from Kensington.

At their new site as the previous one, you can see the company name as you pass on the train; now, from Wimbledon north into Waterloo. The ‘Banham’ in grey on the side of a building facing the railway matches the cool grey colour scheme of the alarm receiving centre. For Banham have moved with the times. Starting as a lock and then alarm company, they have the installation vans for engineers that you’d expect parked outside; also though they have motorcycles for their response key-holders. That’s CMS, their NSI guarding gold firm that also has SIA approved contractor status for key-holding. Between the physical and electronic security and mobile response, Banham seek to provide the proverbial as Charles Hallatt says ‘one-stop shop’ for security for London and surrounding counties.

At Earlsfield, Banham have their alarm receiving centre, admin and engineers and stock; and the Banham Academy for apprentices. As soon as you enter visitor reception you realise that this is a place particular to this company: on the left you can drop off your umbrella, beneath a display of dome cameras on the wall, like an art installation; on the right, a 20-foot high giant yellow lock and key, stretched and suspended from the ceiling. Past reception, along either wall are displays of locks and doors, electronic security (Hikvision cameras and Raytec lighting) and door entry equipment (BPT Security Systems). Further inside, too, you know that you can only be in the home of Banham, with graphics on the wall, showing locks and old (and now quaint) marketing images. The interior designer Ruth Treacher drew on the company’s past advertising material and family photos.

Professional Security asked the architect Robert Maxwell, Ruth Treacher and director Lucie Banham about what elements of the place were security-specific and what were for any commercial building. Lucie Banham spoke of the domestic feel. (Certainly the upstairs canteen for example looks like a large domestic kitchen, and an outside balcony with wooden flooring offers fine views north of southern London – including the Wimbledon tennis, albeit at a distance?!)

She said: “What we don’t want is security to infringe; we want to fit the security at this building which is for our customers; we want to show our customers and say, this is subtle, you won’t notice it; but every door has access control, there’s security everywhere. But it’s subtle. Because that’s what people want. People don’t want obtrusive security, so why have something in our own building that we wouldn’t be proud to fit in a house.”

The subtlety extends to the interior design, both elegantly contemporary and harking back to the company’s history. Lucie Banham said: “It’s obviously a very modern building, and we are a modern industry. Heritage for us is really important, for me personally, and for the rest of the board.”

More words and pictures in the December 2015 print issue of Professional Security magazine.

Praise from minister

The night’s most eminent guest was Conservative Cabinet member Iain Duncan Smith. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and London MP said: “I want to congratulate Banham on their success as a family business. They have grown and expanded but kept faithful to the family roots over its 90 year history. The launch of the Banham Academy and its commitment to providing employment opportunities for young people within the security industry is an excellent example of how businesses can step up and invest in their workforce. Through the Academy, Banham will be providing key skills and training to young people between the ages of 16 and 23. Jobs in higher skilled sectors have risen by 180,000 in the last year alone and by nearly 1.2 million since 2010. This will help to create further employment opportunities and support young people to realise their ambitions.”

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