The Security Commonwealth, the umbrella body for UK security sector associations, reports that Jayne King ASMS FSyI will become chair in the spring of 2021: She will be the sixth SyCom chair and the first woman. Normally the chair role runs to December 31, but work commitments mean that Jayne, pictured, will take over a few months later than normal. The 2020 chair, Guy Mathias FSyI is extending his role until then.
Having been approved by the SyCom Board, Jayne’s appointment was confirmed unanimously at a recent meeting of the committee. Jayne served two terms as chair of the National Association for Healthcare Security (NAHS) and at their November AGM was elected as President; as featured in the December 2020 print edition of Professional Security magazine, where in a public part of the NAHS online conference she spoke with other healthcare security figures to Prof Martin Gill of Perpetuity.
Guy Mathias said: “It has been a privilege and honour to serve as The Security Commonwealth chair. I wish to thank all Security Commonwealth member organisations for their support during my tenure. I welcome Jayne to this pivotal position next spring, and the vast wealth of experience, professionalism and integrity Jayne will bring to the role.
“Jayne is an individual who commands immense respect in our sector, and I look forward to continuing to support both Jayne and The Security Commonwealth as the Immediate Past Chair.”
And Jayne said: “I am enormously proud to have been selected to become the sixth chair of the Security Commonwealth and of course the first of the stronger gender brigade! My sincere thanks go to the past chair Joe Connell [chair of the Association of Security Consultants] for his unwavering advice, the current Chair Guy Mathias without whose guidance I could not consider taking on this role, along with all the other members of the board who have been so supportive. Special thanks must go to David Cooke, SyCom secretary who keeps us all on track and makes everything look so seamless.
“The Security Commonwealth ‘aims to be the all-inclusive industry advocate on security issues in the UK, to create lasting networks and alliances and to promote and lead the security industry with a single voice’; therefore with this in mind, one of the objectives for my tenure will be the development and implementation of an equality, diversity and inclusivity strategy for SyCom and its members. I think we’ve reached a point where women – and certainly many men too – are asking: ‘what progress have we actually made towards ensuring equal participation in society, particularly in leadership and key decision-making roles in the security sector’.
“There is a sense out there, that women are at last beginning to enter the senior ranks in some work streams. The diversity and inclusion strand also needs to ensure that SyCom is representative of the security sector workforce, at all levels, and of course we must ensure that we are reflective of the communities that we serve. I look forward to 2021 and the challenges that we may face together.”
About the Security Commonwealth
The 40-plus members cover all areas of the profession, whether security of particular workplace sectors such as healthcare (NAHS) and campuses (Aucso) or trade bodies (such as the BSIA) or membership groups such as ASIS UK chapter and the Security Institute. Visit https://securitycommonwealth.org/. For more details – contact the secretary, the consultant Dave Cooke, on [email protected].
