London and Newcastle are the next stops for the Professional Security Magazine Security TWENTY 13 conference and exhibition, the magazine MD Roy Cooper has announced.
Roy told the guests at the Tuesday night dinner of the debut event, at the Forest of Arden Marriott, at Meriden, near Birmingham. The next Security TWENTY 13 event is in west London, on July 2 and 3. The same format is planned; a dinner on the Tuesday evening before the daytime conference and exhibition. The venue some retail security readers may know: the Hammersmith Novotel, the venue of the annual Retail Fraud conference and exhibition.
Then on Tuesday, September 24 the conference-exhibition will run at the Gosforth Park Marriott outside Newcastle; again, the evening before there will be a networking dinner at Gosforth Park. Speak to Roy on 01922 415 233 or email him at [email protected] if you are interested in exhibiting. Or email the event organiser Liz Lloyd at [email protected] or ring her on 07970 271 786.
The night’s dinner at the Forest of Arden raised £2,143.46 for charity – Joshua Battling Cancer. That includes £780 raised from all the diners, who put money into envelopes before being led in the game of ‘Hails and tails’ by compere Roy Cooper. The idea of the game is simple – before the toss of a coin, the result announced by Roy by mic, diners stand up and decide whether it will be heads or tails, by putting their hands on their head or their behind. The winners stay standing, and those who have called wrong have to sit down. The coin is tossed again and the same happens until one winner is left.
Besides the raffle prizes, diner and exhibitor Paul Singh offered as a prize a table for four at a home game at Championship side Crystal Palace. Bidding was won by Anand Subbiah with a bid of £250. Thanks to these companies for donating the raffle prizes:
Samsung – digital camera
Winsted – three iPod shuffles
CCTV Direct – Spy camera
Clear Evidence – Bottle of cognac
Pelco – Bottle of champagne
Risco – Kindle Fire (won by Nicky Stokes, MD of Integrated Security Design); and
Wavestore – iPad (Heads and Tails prize).
As Roy Cooper said when opening the conference, the aim was to give attenders something that they didn’t know before. Among updates from the speakers: Andrew Rennison, the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, said that he was stepping down from his post (he is also the forensic science regulator) in February, after six years. The former senior police officer said that he works two days a week as Surveillance Camera Commissioner – bringing in a CCTV code of practice as required by the Coalition under the Protection of Freedoms Act – two days on forensic science; and one day with ministers. He raised the question of whether his two jobs would be kept together or separated, suggesting that there was enough work on public space CCTV regulation for one person.
In the morning, chief exec of the regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA) Bill Butler raised the prospect of a two-level guarding company accreditation scheme to replace the ACS (approved contractor scheme) as part of the ‘new regime’ to replace the SIA, as required by the Coalition Government since its announcement in autumn 2010 that the SIA would move to a new ‘regulatory regime’. He stressed that the private security industry would have more responsibility for regulation, such as in setting training standards. The Home Office consultation on the proposed changes to the SIA brought forth nearly 800 responses; which the Home Office is working through; Bill Butler stressed what a large number of replies that was.
Mike White, chairman of industry body IPSA, by contrast termed that number of responses ‘dreadful’ for what he described as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ to give views on the industry changes. Mike White said it demonstrated ‘tremendous apathy’.
Claudia Gerrard of Excello Law, the Professional Security contributor on legal matters, took the audience through Coalition changes to employment law, with the aim of reducing the burdens on business. Notably, changes to Tupe (transfer of undertakings) are proposed from April 2013; besides changes in employment tribunals and collective redundancies.
Ian Paton, the security and risk manager for metal recycling company Sims Group, described how he has brought in electronic and monitored security at UK sites, to combat metal theft. Another case study came from Keith Aston of exhibitor Innerrange, on the security at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground at Bulls Cross in north London.
During the exhibition Richard Bissett of Bloomfield Group was the winner of an iPad, from 360 Vision, presented on the CCTV company’s stand.
For a full report and pictures, see the May print issue of Professional Security magazine.
