Let me start by being the first person to wish you all a very happy Christmas, yep; here it is again already, and where has the year gone? That said let me thank every one of you, our readers for sticking with us; thanks also to all of you that have visited us at our ST events around the country. We appreciate your feedback and love to hear what you like to read and see. We have continued to raise loads of money for various charities over the year, but together as a team, and I am including you in that.
Likewise thank you to all the exhibitors and advertisers that have made all these things possible by their continued support in both the print magazine and the shows and of course for all those raffle prizes you so generously donated. ST18 is launched and we will be coming to a town near you for sure so do come along, we have changed the format slightly for the charity night but you have to be there to see what we are doing and I am going to keep it as a surprise as it will be different at each venue.
So let’s get into the gossip shall we, and let us start with Digital Barriers. I have been told that following the management buyout of almost the entirety (well, more than 90pc) of Digital Barriers plc, which was completed on October 31, the technology company is now privately owned. The management buyout has been backed by UK-based Volpi Capital. This comes shortly after the business announced that it has secured licenses for its facial recognition into the automotive sector and is continuing to evolve from hardware to software licensing and channel sales. The now private Digital Barriers Ltd is set to better than double its revenues to more than £50m this financial year. Why am I telling you this? Geoff Gritton has moved over to generate that target; not on his own I might add. Geoff has actually joined Thruvision as the sales manager having been in the industry for a very long time and being well established. Now I have to be careful what I say about Geoff because we all know he is a trained killer which makes his closing skills very effective. He is described on his Linkedin profile by some as being ‘highly personable, totally reliable, high achiever and a first class sales professional’, and what else can I say other than we wish you every success bud.
Colin Moorhead joined DVS Ltd; he was previously working at EZCCTV and Norbain. And no I’m not saying he looks like anyone this time! DVS said they’re delighted that Colin has joined. Colin, pictured, first began working in the security industry in 1997 and early experience taught him how much installers value good and reliable service. He believes when you have engineers out on site it’s good for them to know they have the right products and back-up if and when required. “We work in an industry that continues to develop and innovate and customers deserve the best service possible.” Colin took a very enjoyable career break to bring up his two sons before returning back to the industry in 2014. He joined DVS in October as an Area Sales Manager for the South East. Away from work, Colin likes to spend time with family and friends, watch movies, reading, going to the gym and coaches Maidenhead Rugby Club. Also, he dabbles in creative writing and is still looking for that elusive publisher to pick up his first novel. Lovely! Sorry, that’s my attempt at being Welsh as DVS are!
ASSA ABLOY Access Control has appointed a new Regional Sales Manager, David Smyth, who will be responsible for identifying and qualifying new sales channels, developing and integrating new OEM partners, and working with systems integrators and other customers. Also appointed is Claire Jones as Business Development Executive. Claire worked as a Marketing Assistant for ASSA ABLOY for more than four years before her promotion, helping deliver the group’s marketing. I do love to see it when people get promoted well done Claire.
Now this may not be gossip by the time you are reading this but; IFSEC International have made what they are describing as a major announcement. Basically they are going to transform into an Integrated Security event and take on a new role addressing critical global security challenges. Read the announcement and get to understand what that means on page 45 of the December 2017 print magazine.
Now some of you will know Richard Bell from TfL (Transport for London) who was a director of the Security Institute, and it seems he is a poacher turned game keeper, namely Richard has left TfL and joined a consultancy firm called Ten Intelligence ltd to run its new Security and Privacy division. He will be responsible for supporting clients with security risk and compliance services including the dreaded GDPR. Good luck Richard.
Can I end by offering my condolences to Lord Imbert’s family and friends, others are writing about him in the mag but I had the pleasure of meeting him many times and he was a true gentleman. We once had lunch in a courtyard in London and members of the public kept coming up to him to shake his hand. Rest in peace Peter.
So it’s been a great year with lots of gossip to keep you amused, thanks for reading and thanks for sharing your gossip, have a happy holiday and see you in the new year.
