I could hardly believe it – no Security TWENTY events for 15 months thanks to covid, and then just as ST21 starts at The Belfry, I have to self-isolate.
I was able to ‘attend’ the show and the dinner in the marquee the night before, thanks to Zoom, and may I thank all of you who came over to my screen to say hello to me. You will have seen that according to my background at least I was enjoying a drink on a tropical beach. Not quite that in real life. For photos of the return of ST, see the gallery on our website, and some on page 58. Very pleasing the turn-out was I must say, 150 sat down in the marquee. Drinks were sponsored by Cloudview and the actual dinner by IFSEC. Not quite the pre-pandemic ST experience of course (see page 54), but at least we’re getting there, thankfully.
Happy birthday
It also meant that I was not able to attend STS, our invite-only event, at another new venue to us, Twickenham Stadium, pictured. Although I have been a guest there to see the security system. By all accounts STS people made good use of their time. Not part of the planning but it turned out nicely for the rugby union fans, that the England team were training on the field, in the days before their match against Canada. Interesting that security staff were on guard and looked towards STS behind the glass, to make sure no-one was filming Eddie Jones and his players, to post online and inform the opposition. One of the patrollers was on a bicycle! Around the perimeter I should add, not up any steps. A piece of gossip, it was UCL security man Ollie Curran’s 50th birthday just after STS. So we gave him a cake after dinner and the other diners sang him happy birthday. Good of you all to do that.
Global change
Did somebody mention gossip? First some business news. Change at Panasonic, to be precise Panasonic Europe BV and Panasonic System Communications Company Europe (PSCEU). It’s moving its European Security and Industrial Medical Vision (IMV) businesses into a new company, i-PRO EMEA BV, as of October 1. The firm speaks of ‘a global change in the strategic direction’ of PSCEU.
CTO
At CSL, Steven Robertson has joined as Chief Technical Officer. He has over 25 years’ experience in tech roles across a range of industry sectors.
Partner Program
LILIN have launched their new Premier Partner Program. The CCTV manufacturer says it’s a way of showing appreciation to customers. Steve Liddiard, UK CEO, was once my sales guy here at the magazine. He says it’s a way of ‘giving something back’: “2020 was a difficult year for us all and as the industry is beginning to recover now, we wanted to be able to offer our customers some additional benefits to say ‘thank-you’.” Members get increased product warranties and extended advance replacement periods, extra project specification support and advance notice of new products with beta-testing.
New areas
You will remember that Cougar Monitoring Ltd is now a Kings Secure Technologies company; KST have appointed Chris Goode as Business Director there, to lead operations. Chris says that he is looking forward to ‘moving the business into new areas’. As for what those might be, a clue comes from Darren Gamage, Group COO who points to Chris’ experience in the voids space sector – that’s securing empty property – that will ‘help us gain a leading position in this evolving sector’. Chris most recently was at Profile Security Services.
CAD technicians
At Evolution, Brendan McGarrity, director of the risk and design side of the installer, says it’s ‘exciting times for the business’. They have two new CAD technicians. Alexandra Craciunas joins with six years’ experience on various projects across all stages of the design process, while Henry Spencer has worked across product design and building services engineering and design.
Craft boxes
The alarm panel and related security product manufacturer Pyronix has donated over £600 to Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, in support of their summer craft boxes. That seeks to provide tailored fun for families to do together, while making memories. Pyronix based in South Yorkshire is a long-time supporter of the hospice, which cares for children and young adults, in their homes and at a hospice in North Anston, outside Sheffield.
Brave the Shave
Now many of us men, me included, have during lockdowns let our facial hair grow to various lengths and in various places. Mike Gillespie our editorial board member, of the information security awareness consultancy Advent IM, had a beard before covid. On October 31 he is going to ‘Brave the Shave’ in aid of the charity Macmillans by having an all-head shave. Why the wait? Mike says that’s the fourth anniversary of his mother’s death. He says: “I have many friends and family who have been touched by or been affected by cancer.” Would you believe that since 2015 some £22m has been raised in this way.
