Roy's Monthly Gossip

Roy Cooper – June 2013

by Mark Rowe

I have just returned from IFSEC, which was a great week as always, wrote Roy Cooper in his June 2013 print issue of Professional Security’s gossip column.

And it seemed it was business as usual; there were the normal faces and the normal large stands, the three halls were full with exhibitors and certainly many visitors. So yeah, Monday was the quiet day although most of the larger companies saw their international visitors attend. The awards dinner in the evening was rammed as you would expect, and congratulations to all those winners. But let’s not forget all those that came as runners up. From experience it may not be because your kit is not the best; it may be your entry could have been better as that is all the judges have to go on. Tuesday saw the rush of people and it was busy from the moment the doors opened. That night I joined Charlie Cracknell on the Anixter stand to entertain their crown in a TV-Mock the Week-type event. Needless to say my team of Mike Tennent and Yash Patel lost to Charlie’s team but we came to the conclusion this was a fix, as Anixter want a better rate for next years show?!

I left that and ran to the Pelco event which was on a Formula One theme. I’ve never seen so many ‘Stigs’ in one place, and I thought there was only one! Wednesday, the crowds flooded in again, as I and my editor Mark Rowe had to battle past most to get to our respective appointments. The evening saw us going to the Samsung barbecue and then off to the excellent UBM party under the theme ‘London’s calling’. Loud music, half-dressed girls and free beer, what else do you need for a good night out?! Oh yes, a loud band! Well, they had a few of them and they were really good. Liz Lloyd who works on our events told me they were playing her iTunes list, needless to say she had a good night!

The following morning I had a chat with Simon Parker who was keen to show me the floor plan for London’s event and at they time they had sold 80 per cent of the floor space for next year’s show, so to answer the question that everyone asked, yes it will still be the IFSEC it is now, it will still be the largest security show on the calendar. All the people I spoke to, visitors and exhibitors, will travel to London and would do wherever the organisers choose to have have it. Sure, some exhibitors won’t return, but that happens every year anyway.

The gossip from the show? Let’s start with IDIS, it seems these guys are going for it big style. They had a big double-decker stand at IFSEC. They have also appointed Martin Cowley as their channel manager. Now Martin has been in the industry for many years, you may know him from the Canadian firm Silent Witness. Theirs were the vandal resistant domes that I remember Lee Jasper at ADT taking a sledge hammer to, just to prove the cameras did what it said on the box. Silent Witness were bought out by Honeywell where Martin stayed for a while before he went and joined Cieffe among a few others. Also from Cieffe Jamie Barnfield has joined IDIS as senior sales manager, seems they work well together as a team.

Paul Such has joined OnCam Grandeye as VP of Sales for Europe. Paul brings almost 20 years’ experience to the job, with a specialisation in high-growth sales across the security industry. He has developed a strong reputation for building and developing results-oriented sales teams and for strategic business plan development and execution.

TDSi has appointed Leanne Hill to the new role of Key Account Manager and Teshany Perrett-Conn as Sales and Marketing Administrator. Leanne Hill, has been promoted from TDSi’s Customer Care Advisor to Key Account Manager. Leanne will be working with the access firm’s distribution channels and key accounts in the South East region. Teshany Perrett-Conn has joined marketing. Teshany will assist with the company’s marketing campaigns, particularly focusing on competitor analysis and market research. Teshany will also be working with the TDSi Export Sales Director in developing new prospects in overseas markets.

I have heard from a couple of distributors that Mark Mercer have gone bust, which is a great shame. I hope the guys can find a bail out.

The recession is over, at least in North America; 45 percent of end users are claiming that their security budget increased during 2012, according to an end user survey, by IMS Research, now part of IHS Inc. In the survey of almost 200 representatives from end users of physical security equipment across North America, 44 percent also said that their annual budget exceeded $100,000. Another 20 percent exceeded $500,000 a year. Read more about this on our site: https://professionalsecurity.co.uk/products/cctv/end-user-survey/

Charity
Tim Brookes at Siemens has told me: “Sitting in our rugby club about five months ago a small group of us were looking to do something to aid the control of our middle-age spread, having all given up competitive sport some time ago, mine being rugby. Having all watched the Tour de France and becoming inspired by Wiggo [that is Sir Bradley Wiggins, for you non-cycling people] some bright spark (not me) suggested cycling? So after another drink or two that’s what was agreed!” If you were driving in the west country or Normandy in late May and saw 11 middle-aged men, cycling with a van (their support vehicle with two friends inside), that was Tim Brookes and company, on a cycle ride to Paris. As Tim said, it started as just a bit of a challenge, but the cyclists decided to seek to raise funds for important causes. Tim’s is “Hammer out” who support people with brain tumours and their families. That’s in memory of Claire, his sister-in-law. “I can promise you that until a few months ago I hadn’t cycled more than a few miles and have found the challenge of just training extremely demanding. Early morning rides at the weekend in the freezing cold as well as indoor evening turbo sessions (joy) in the local cricket club have all helped the boys get up to around 120 miles per week in preparation. You can sponsor him at: http://www.justgiving.com/Timcbrooks

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