It’s one of the pleasures of the free to attend Security TWENTY series of conference-exhibitions that at least some of the speakers bring a local flavour, whether in London, the Midlands or since last year Dublin. And so it’s proved in the ST series’ first foray into Scotland, at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Glasgow on Tuesday, September 5, for among the invited speakers are Maxine Fraser, the long-time manager of Stirling-based Retailers Against Crime (RAC).
Just to outline Maxine, her organisation, and what she’ll speak about – although if you can’t make ST, you can try another day, as RAC has its own conference in Glasgow on September 12, at Glasgow Caledonian University, to mark RAC’s 20th anniversary – entry to that is free too; besides a conference in Lisburn on November 8, to mark the tenth anniversary of its Northern Ireland arm, RACNI.
RAC covers Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North West of England. It’s a not for profit crime partnership body that seeks to help detect and deter crime for its members, typically retailers and shopping centres, by sharing information on local and travelling offenders. One of Maxine’s points is that shop theft – certainly of the high-volume sort that really hurts retailers – is done by organised groups that travel the country, and indeed cross the Irish Sea (hence the forming of RACNI, launched in Belfast in 2008).
RAC, and members such as Asda and Next, argue that reporting crime and making links in offences and offenders, and educating staff, all help create an environment where staff feel supported, businesses thrive and customers return.
Professional Security last featured RAC a year ago when it brought out for its members a guide to what retail theft looks like, for shop staff to spot.
As ever at ST events, doors open at 8.30am for early arrivers to walk round the exhibition – and if they’re quick enough, to eat the bacon butties. The conference chaired by regular Mike White, of G4S, will run between 9.30am and 1.30pm, including manufacturer updates from Anixter, Seagate, Hanwha Techwin and Hikvision, and closing in time for attenders to enjoy the free, hot buffet lunch. The exhibition will close around 4pm. There’s also tea and coffee and biscuits in mid-morning during a break in the conference.
It’s free to attend conference and exhibition – for a list of the companies exhibiting, and the conference speakers, click here. While you can just turn up on the day, organisers do ask that you register online beforehand, just to help gauge numbers to be catered for. Any queries, email Liz Lloyd at [email protected].
Picture by Mark Rowe; one of the sights of Glasgow, the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington on Royal Exchange Square.
