Welcome to our October issue for the scary month of Halloween, which is probably, also going to be squashed under coronavirus. It is with deep regret that I have to announce that we won’t be able to pull off our ST20 event next month in Heathrow.
We went to the hotel, that we’ve known as the Park Inn and that incidentally has changed brand to Radisson RED, and came up with some great ideas on how to make the venue COVID-secure, we were going to get the help of the HIKVision temperature reading kit to scan every visitor, introduce a one-way system as you see in so many places, change the way we dine and so on; and then along came the Government’s “rule of six”. Sadly we won’t be able to bring you our successful show so have decided to draw the line through ST20 and concentrate our efforts on planning ST21.
We have secured the venues, which will see us going back to the same cities as before: Birmingham (where you remember we held our ST20 in February, the last before lockdown – it feels a long time ago!), Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast, Dublin and Heathrow. We have also secured Twickenham Stadium for our special, STS, ‘meet the buyer’ event in March. Women in Security 2020 will still take place in the Underglobe, that’s underneath the Shakespeare Globe on the South Bank of the Thames in London, on Wednesday, February 10, 2021; and we will return for WIS 2021 in September. That means 2021 is going to be a busy year, and let’s hope we are not subject to anymore restrictions that prevent us from bringing you the events.
To give us some much needed perspective; John Goy of BT is running the London Marathon on October 4. Except that the organisers are calling it a virtual marathon. The runners still have to run the 26 miles; but not in London. So if on October 4 you see John in the Manchester area – he is planning to do the distance in loops – while you are driving by, give him a beep to cheer him on. He’s running in aid of meningitis research the same as he did in London in 2019. And some of you have already been donating for 2020 at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/john-goy. Good on you; and go, John!
Just to add, the top runners are doing the Marathon in a loop round St James’ Park in central London on the day; the thousands of other runners will do it wherever they are. As Event Director Hugh Brasher said of the London run, they have a hotel for exclusive use and are putting in place strict testing, hygiene and security measures to protect the athletes’ ‘bubble’.
Ok to that gossip, with a Halloween theme this month; and talking of scary let me first mention Geoff Gritton! He is not scary, I hear you say; I think he is after a conversation we had years ago. I asked him what contracts was he working and he said: “If he answered that I would have to kill you!” Aha, no, he is just a pussycat but shh! Don’t tell him I said that. Anyway he has moved to Secure Logiq as their UK business development manager; yep, he was with Pelco but has since moved on. Geoff has been in the industry since 1991 from what I can recall. I can’t tell you about his career before that because it is a secret lol.
Steve Norman the UK Sales Director of Dahua has left after just under four years working for those guys. He is joining AJAX as their UK country manager. Wish you all the best buddy. Talking of Dahua I hear that Martin Butterworth has joined them. Martin was at COP you may recall but instead of distributing their products he is now with the manufacturer, I assume COP will now become his customer rather than his employer?
Mike Cole has left Anixter and joined ComNet. I may have said this before so forgive me for repeating it but Mike used to have a band called “Caprice” and did entertain the guests at my wedding almost 25 years ago. He was very good but I am not so sure he is still playing as he used to.
The video management software firm Milestone Systems has a new CEO namely Thomas Jenson. With his background in Hewlett-Packard and most recently in Europe’s largest IT integrator company Bechtle, Thomas Jensen is an executive with a global footprint that includes P&L responsibility for international businesses in software and hardware; besides an understanding of technology partners and integrators, which is what Milestone are about.
360 Vision Technology, the UK manufacturer of PTZ and thermal imaging cameras, has appointed Ian Ferguson as Business Development Representative for Europe. Ian joins 360 with over 13 years’ security industry experience across the EMEA region, gained from senior business development roles at OPTEX, Xtralis and most recently Future Fibre Technologies. Ian’s speciality is perimeter security systems for Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), borders and airports.
Steve Riley has become VP Sales Europe for PAC and GDX, and 3xLOGIC brands. Formerly with Risco for over seven years, Steve’s an industry stalwart.
Mayflex have appointed Melanie Day, who joins as Head of Channel Sales for Hikvision. That’s a new position for developing sales of Hikvision products into the reseller market. Melanie joins with much experience in the security industry, and in particular, the manufacturer Hikvision.
Synectics Mobile Systems (SMS) and Quadrant Security Group (QSG) have merged to form one of the largest independent electronic security integrators in the UK – Synectics Security. Based out of a Nottingham HQ, the unified business will continue to serve customers in the UK and Ireland operating in Public Space, Heritage, High Security, Banking and Finance, Critical Infrastructure and transport sectors.
And last but not least DVS announce the return of Stephen Nicholson in a new role of Senior Technical Integration Engineer. Mr Nicholson left DVS two years ago to start a new business venture called ‘It’s All In The Hips’, a golf ball diving company. The idea came to Stewie while playing at the famous DVS Golf Day and spent most of the day fishing his balls out of the lake. However, the realisation of not being able to swim was a major disadvantage to the business and sadly called it a day. Make of that what you will.
