Una met Ian Todd, pictured, CEO of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) late last year, as featured in our January print edition.
That was before the December 2019 General Election and Brexit. Una wanted to know if there had been any changes as a result of all that politics. She went back to Ian for an update.
He said: “So, I think there are two things that happened since we last met. Although I don’t think we know the impact of either of them yet … the first as you say is that we’ve had the General Election. The Conservatives have been returned with a far more substantial majority, and obviously we are public servants. So, we serve the administration of the day … but it is now a much stronger Administration and with a much larger majority.”
I asked; what does that mean for the SIA?” He responded: “It means that we are more likely have some consistency potentially over the next full five-year term, which means we should be able to make our case to a [Home Office] minister. This means we should be able to work with them to deliver their agenda. We’ve got a meeting with Victoria Atkins MP, Minister for Safeguarding, to whom we report on February 25. We will be talking to her about our draft Corporate Plan and making sure that the things that we want to do within that, align with her area of interest and the Government’s areas of interest … we are very hopeful.”
I asked what are the areas of interest. He replied: “Things like a Government strategy feeding into the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) strategy for private security. Looking at how that fits with law enforcement and the interaction between public and private sector. This is something that she will welcome and something she will want us to take forward. We won’t know until after we’ve met with her but there’s every possibility that will be the case.”
It all sounds very promising and encouraging. He went on to say: “The other thing of course that’s happened since we spoke is Brexit has now happened. We have left the European Union. We haven’t seen a significant impact from that yet. We didn’t expect to. Many of the people who hold [SIA] licenses may choose to return to their home countries or elsewhere in the European Union. They could simply leave, and we won’t really know the impact of that until it comes time for them to renew their license. If they are no longer in the UK they obviously won’t renew. The signs so far are that has not been a big issue … and we don’t necessarily expect it to be a big issue, going forward.
“However, what will be interesting, is the new points-based immigration system that has been developed at the moment and what that will mean for people from Europe and the rest of the world who want to come to the UK to work. It will be interesting to know whether security remains a viable option for people to come into the UK to work once that system is in place? The other thing I would say, for those people who are from Europe, who are living here at the moment and intend to stay. We will have to conduct ‘right-to work’ checks when people renew, if not before. Therefore, it is incredibly important to get that message over. We want to express very strongly … that if you are here from Europe, and you want to stay, it is essential to engage with the Home Office (their Settled-Status Scheme) to make sure that you have got all of the administration in place so that you can stay and work in the UK long term … this is incredibly important.”
After talking about the changes from the last time we met, we picked up again on some of the core issues in relation to the SIA. For instance, as a former owner of an SME I am always conscious of the effect of big decisions affecting small companies. Especially when it comes to government bodies. So, I asked him; what are the benefits to smaller organisations when it comes to being a regulated company operating within the SIA framework? He replied: “SMEs make a huge contribution and difference to all sectors and we are no different. However, for me one of the challenges within the industry is that you have a small number of companies who account for the vast majority of security work in this country.”
I added, not only in this country, a lot of the same operators here are also pan-European and global organisations. We went on to discuss the difference between the fewer larger organisations and the large volume of smaller companies … with the different challenges that are associated to both. He said: “We need to make sure that we, as a regulator, are listening to the voice of all of those people. It is very easy to be tempted into listening to the large players, who are powerful and deploying large numbers of goods and people into the different industry segment. It is making sure that the small businesses have the same strength of voice, parity, and the opportunity to engage with us in the same way and to feel that they can influence the agenda.
“We want to demonstrate that. Like any regulated profession, it brings a status of its own. When you look at the other regulated industries where people are individually licensed, or have the ability to practice, we are talking for instance about doctors, nurses, lawyers, and accountants. At the moment, in the main people do not think about private security in the same way that they would think about those other regulated professions.“
We went on to talk at length about this perception and the juxtaposed position of private security compared to the regulated professions … and how this perception has to be reversed. He continued: “As I mentioned, there is something that comes with the status or being a regulated profession. However, the security industry hasn’t had the ability to capitalise on this previously.”
I agreed with all he had to say, but I asked; how are you going to convince the smaller companies that their voice is equal to the big boys? He responded quickly. “Well, for me it is about going out and talking to people. It’s about demonstrating by actions. In my first six months that I’ve been out around the country I have met with the big players, but I also met with smaller companies. For example, in my hometown in Lincolnshire, I spoke to a relatively small company that provides guarding to the port. I also met some really innovative joint working, where they’re supplying their dog handlers to Border Force … creative partnerships innovated by small businesses.”
He went on to describe other small companies that he had met, employing less than 20 people providing 24/7 coverage and an excellent service offering. He concluded by saying: “So, it’s about getting out there and demonstrating the you’re as interested in small players, as you are in the big players. The way you not just talk about it … but actually, do it.”
We went on to discuss the November 2019 SIA conference, Ian Todd’s first, when (in his introduction) he welcomed the smaller businesses and spoke about inclusion. He also mentioned that after last year’s conference the majority of the people who wanted to talk to him were the owners-directors of SMEs. He talked about how interested and engaged they were in the SIA and that he had a huge amount of emails on the back of that conference. I asked, did you reply personally to each of them? He laughed and said: “Each and every one of them. I want us to be accessible. It’s very easy as a regulator to become arrogant, you know, if you want to do a licensed activity, you have to have a license. Security personnel can only get that license from us. So, whilst some regulators might be considered arrogant … that is not the way that the SIA will be … not under my leadership.”
I really enjoyed talking to him and I think he is a breath of fresh air. I wanted to conclude the interview by discussing the PSM-WiS (Professional Security Magazine – Women in Security) Awards. I explained that the SIA had been founder judges and the Baroness Henig (former SIA chairman) and Bill Butler (former CEO) had been great supporters.
I asked his view on WiS. He said: “Women are massively under-represented along with ethnic minorities in certain roles. However, in other roles they are found to be over-represented. That’s the breakdown between those leading large companies and those being deployed on the front line. I think there’s a perception out there that security is an industry for men, and that women might find it difficult to enter that profession.
“Or, that they might find it difficult to make progress in our profession. Therefore, you can understand why some people (when they are choosing their profession) might think … ‘actually that’s not the obvious route for me’. However, we want to change that. It is absolutely clear to me that each and every diverse group is capable of doing every role … from being a front-line operative through to being a chief executive or chair of larger major companies. In fact, the sort of physical and cognitive diversity that you get at board level from having a diverse team is innovative.”
We discussed this matter further. As a WiS this is very important to me. Ian Todd is even more passionate than I am! He talked about his past experiences of working with talented executive teams he had worked with where they had great diversity and what that brought to the table. He spoke about some of the real challenges that he had confronted, and how having a diverse spread of people with a different perspective helped to provoke different thoughts and challenged Todd’s own preconceptions. He felt that this led to better decisions. I believe Ian Todd will make a difference by demonstrating actions and helping change perceptions on behalf of the SIA. I also think he is focused on his core role within the organisation. I am really excited to see someone like this as the leader of the SIA; all about action rather than talk.
