A Black Country-based guarding company has begun working with a local college and others to engage with wider audiences to raise awareness about the opportunities for women to follow careers in security gatehouse roles, public facing events and technology-based duties including CCTV monitoring as well as the scope for management development.
GMS has promoted its campaign to local colleges, universities, local authorities, student unions and employment agencies to display the opportunities available for female colleagues in security, quite apart from high-profile public events in the West Midlands in 2022 such as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which will include some female-only work.
Pictured is Ellie Hunt, who works in Halesowen town centre as ambassador for the town’s business improvement district (BID), featured in the January print edition of Professional Security magazine.
GMS reports it has vacancies at its sites nationwide, while preparing to staff protection and security services; and want to play a part in addressing the shortage of trained women in the industry. According to the regulator the Security Industry Authority (SIA), as of October ten per cent of the 390,000 registered SIA licence holders were female.
Based in Tividale, Oldbury, GMS employs 500 staff delivering security across the UK for brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, CEMEX UK, Neovia, Kerry Foods and Avison Young. Sandwell College is among those supporting the campaign, promoting the opportunities in security for female students and women looking to retrain. Marie Mathews, Head of Adult Skills, Traineeships and Kickstart at Sandwell College said: “We are pleased to promote women in security as it opens new opportunities for employment and skills at a time when many women are looking at the career options ahead of them.
“Working with GMS, we understand they are working hard to confound the stereotypes around protection work being only about muscle. Women can enjoy careers in a variety of disciplines with regular work ahead of them. We are recommending people look at security careers because if they enjoy it, the industry is calling out for licenced security officers and they will be in high demand.”
Sandwell College and GMS offers training to women looking to secure their licence. GMS are looking to engage with women whose work in other sectors was hit by Covid-19, such as hospitality and travel, and who will bring transferable skills. Subject to availability, Sandwell College and GMS are also able to offer the training course during school hours to avoid women having to arrange childcare during their training.
GMS HR Director Rachel Freeman said: “Building on a strong partnership with Sandwell College, GMS is able to reach a wider, engaged audience through Women In Security to raise awareness of the fulfilling opportunities for female staff working in the sector. We have been encouraged by the interest in our work and how many women are interested in knowing more about the opportunities for the modern security officer. There is an industry-wide shortage of female staff and we will play our part to address the imbalance.”
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street welcomed the collaboration as he leads efforts to get 100,000 people back into good quality work as part of the region’s recovery from the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Street said: “The pandemic has caused huge economic damage to the West Midlands and left many people out of work or fearing for their future. But there are still so many jobs and opportunities out there, which is why retraining and upskilling is such a critical way to helping people back into work as part of my 100,000 jobs plan.
“The teamwork between GMS and partners like Sandwell College is a great example of the work that can be done to help retrain people who are out of work, alongside the wide range of training courses the West Midlands Combined Authority is funding. I would encourage everyone who is looking for a job, or is worried about their future, to see what training opportunities are out there right now.”
GMS earlier ran a campaign on mental health, “Reach out, help a mate back up”, begun in May to encourage staff to look out for each other on psychological wellbeing despite taboos around asking for help.
If anyone is interested in checking eligibility for this course and finding out about career opportunities in the sector, email [email protected].
