Here we are, the month of July already. I write having just come off stage after presenting the ACS Pacesetters Officer of Distinction awards – in a jacket, shirt and tie, despite the warmest day of the year so far! And as I said last month, we judges saw some fantastic nominations for front line officers that in the past year – like every year since the awards began – have gone above and beyond.
None of us should ever take for granted the day to day issues that these workers have to deal with. Being punched, threatened and having to deal with all manner of situations, some you could not even dream of. Well done to you all and don’t ever give it up, as we need the added protection you give us.
Moving on to that gossip, let me start with Andy Alexander from Liverpool. Andy has just secured a role as sales manager for Cloudview. You will be seeing and hearing a lot from these guys in the near future as they seem to be poised to take the market by storm. Who are they – they are a video surveillance system which allows users to capture, store and manage visual data using the cloud. It consolidates visual data from any number of CCTV systems into a unified, encrypted account held on cloud servers – accessible to you anywhere via a Chrome browser. Andy, if you can understand his broad accent, will tell you that he has been in the industry for 23 years starting at Video Controls; wow, that’s a name from the past eh! Now Honeywell, if you had forgotten where they went. He has been with a couple of distributors and has found a new home with these guys. Good luck Andy.
Zitko who are among those exhibiting at the first Security TWENTY roadshow since the pandemic, in The Belfry, welcome two new hires. Many of you may know Christopher Kendall, a highly experienced fire and security recruiter, who has joined in the security team run by Emily Coates. He has already got off to a flying start, I am told. Secondly, Tim Ward joins the recruiter’s international division. For those of you who don’t know Tim, he brings a wealth of experience across international recruitment, but is also known in the recruitment space as an RPO and managed service guru.
While we are talking all things Zitko let me add that Mayflex has become a strategic partner to Zitko Talent. That’s the new industry training initiative designed to fast-track entry level field engineers into fire and security. The 12-month programme offers trainees paid employment from day one, combined with around 300 hours of certified product training and theoretical study towards a level three industry qualification. The product training is tailored to the trainee’s workplace.
Mayflex will be making its full range of courses available to Zitko Talent and working with fellow partners to identify and develop bespoke content. This will include digital. Likewise talking of Mayflex they have been awarded the Avigilon Elite Distribution Partner of the Year for EMEA, at Avigilon’s virtual partner conference on May 10. Avigilon judged the award based on several criteria which included; commitment to the brand, turnover, year on year growth, stock holding, training offered and sales and marketing activities. Out of their 50 distributors in the EMEA region, just four awards were given to distributor’s in Germany, Spain, Italy and to Mayflex in the UK.
Marlowe Fire and Security have acquired Alarm Communications LTD ACL. Founded in 1984, Surrey based ACL offer fire protection, commercial security systems and Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS). ACL will now sit alongside the other eight brands; Marlowe Fire & Security, Marlowe Kitchen Fire Suppression, BBC Fire & Security, FAFS Fire & Security, FSE Fire & Security, Island Fire Protection, Morgan Fire Protection and Hadrian Technology, as an integral part of the Group.
Events
We are looking forward to seeing you at our ST21 Birmingham being held in the Belfry golf and Spa resort on June 29 for our first event, in fact the industry’s first event since the pandemic started. It seems everyone can’t wait to meet up; so do come along we have all the necessary measures in place to make it a safe environment and Covid secure. After which we are coming to the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester on Tuesday, July 20. Talking of events The WCOSP held their annual spring ball with over 100 delegates dialling in. The big announcement is that the event raised a massive £18,500 for charity so congratulations guys; a great achievement in these difficult times.
Sad news
It is with great sadness to tell you of the death of Tony Allen, Chairman of the BSIA’s wholly owned subsidiary Skills for Security and supporter of the BSIA for over 40 years. Tony was 75 and had been ill with “C” for a short while. He was a physics graduate and a one-time technical lecturer, Tony held senior positions at Scantronic and was a founder of Dycon, as well as holding many board positions across the industry, including BSIA SEMs chairman and most recently as Director and Chairman of Skills for Security. I will always remember our lunches together where Tony loved a bottle of red. RIP Tony.
