It is barely four years since Tim Chambers as a university graduate opted for a place on the Management Development Programme run by the crowd management and event security contract company Showsec, rather than pursue a lifelong ambition of a career in the police. In that time, he has not only gained a Foundation Degree in Applied Professional Studies in Crowd Management, but has also been fast-tracked in terms of the experience gathered with the event security contractor, especially at the Manchester Arena.
Recently he was appointed Area Manager for Liverpool.
Tim said: “It’s remarkable how quickly things have progressed for me and that is testament to the training programme in place at Showsec. It offers a great career pathway. You have to make sacrifices in terms of commitment to working nights and weekends in this line of work, but there are great rewards in terms of the career you can develop.
“While I am delighted with the progress I have made so far, the on-going development opportunities which are provided by Showsec still offers me more to aim for in the future and I am looking forwards to doing a Bachelor’s Degree through the new Area Manager Programme and maybe then a Master’s Degree at some point in the future.”
It was very much a case of being in the right place at the right time for Chambers within four months of starting on the Management Development Programme as he stepped into a key operational position at the Manchester Arena in the summer of 2010. Having gained his initial experience in security work in Sheffield, he then used it as a means to help fund his studies for a degree in Geography at the University of Manchester for three years by working evenings and weekends at events around the country.
His interest developed to such an extent while at uni that he joined a small Showsec team at the newly-opening Carling Academy after graduating, taking on some responsibility and leadership roles under the mentorship of the Operations Manager. This had a bearing on the decision to take his career further in that line of work instead of going into the police.
“It was an excellent grounding and then things really started to move forwards when I went on to the Management Development Programme and moved back to Manchester. In many respects, I was thrown in at the deep end because I had only been at the Arena for four months when changes were made, so I was on a steep learning curve.”
He added: “The beauty of both the Management Development Programme and the Foundation Degree are that they provide opportunities to develop best practice modules which have been extremely useful in meeting day-to-day challenges of the job.”
Showsec’s training and development department has been running for more than a decade and has awarded over 12,000 qualifications. As well as 30 qualified trainers, the company has partnered with higher education establishments to help progress in careers, providing a path for staff from entry level to the Foundation Degree in Applied Professional Studies in Crowd Management.
