Training

ASIS winter meet

by Mark Rowe

The ASIS International UK Chapter is the largest in Europe and the one of the largest in the world. So when it holds its main event of the year, the winter seminar and AGM, it needs to make sure it delivers: the 120 delegates certainly felt it did, reports Mike Hurst, a UK chapter Vice Chairman.

The meeting chaired by Andy Williams CPP, Head of Security for the Investment Bank, Nomura, was hosted by Bank of America (thanks to Charles Langlands-Pearse and Dawn Holmes CPP). The event featured presentations on cyber crime from City of London Police Commissioner Adrian Leppard QPM; on converged cyber and physical security from Open Sky’s Nigel Stanley and a barn-storming presentation from Prof Peter Neumann from King’s College London on the situation in Syria. In fact Peter only just made it on time as he had to rush across town after his interview with the BBC where he had been discussing the recent report by the BBC and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King’s College London.

As part of the afternoon, the ASIS UK Chapter’s Mervyn David Award was presented. Named in memory of the late Air Commodore Mervyn David OBE, the former head of the RAF Provost branch was the Chapter’s first Chairman and first Honorary President. The award was presented first in 2000 and past winners include Don Randall MBE, Baroness Angela Harris DL and Bruce George and is given to someone who the chapter leaders feel has made an outstanding contribution to the security profession, or security in its wider sense.

This year’s recipient was Adrian Leppard, who heads the country’s lead force in economic crime. Besides policing the historic and financial centre of London, the force hosts the UK National Fraud (and Cyber) Intelligence Bureau, an International Fraud Academy and a 200-strong specialist Economic Crime Directorate that investigates the most serious fraud and cyber crime affecting the UK.

Talking of past winners, one was in the audience. Bruce George was a 36-year Labour MP and an ASIS member, who championed the regulation of the security that, ultimately, led to the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Now in a very active retirement, Bruce was appointed an ASIS UK Veteran in recognition of his years of service to the security profession; he is pictured left with Andy Williams, right.

Members and guests were also reminded that besides the chapter’s quarterly seminars, 2015 will see an additional conference in Leeds in April and the European Conference in Frankfurt from March 29 to 31.

As featured in the December issue of Professional Security, the European conference will address a spectrum of security management topics such as: supply chain, loss prevention, hotels, intellectual property, oil and gas, maritime piracy, terrorism, executive protection, internal theft and fraud, competitive intelligence, brand protection, physical security, cyber security, investigations, due diligence and global business issues. The early bird discount for Frankfurt runs until February 16.

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