A perimeter security manufacturer has won the Most Innovative Security Product Award 2019 from a trade body for the major events sector. Major Events International (MEI) honoured Yorkshire-based Rosehill Security at the Major Events Summit for creating its Impakt Defender to protect sports fans, festival goers and major events spectators from vehicle as a weapon attacks. Adam Down (pictured left), chief executive of crowd control specialist Foam Hand, presented the award to Rosehill sales manager Dalton Marshall.
Rosehill Security, who recently supplied temporary security barriers for the London Marathon and at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, created the IWA 14-rated Impakt Defender from 100pc recycled rubber, bonded with polyurethane.
Its shape, with its large footprint, has been specifically designed to block vehicles. Each 430kg, 1m x 1m x 1m solid rubber unit is connected by steel cables, giving the flexibility to protect entrance areas and site perimeters against hostile vehicle attack. The units can also be anchored as a physical barrier.
MEI Chief Operating Officer Andy Rice said: “We have been incredibly impressed with the innovation and rigour that Rosehill Security has invested to develop this best-in-class product to enhance event safety. This award is due recognition as they continue to advance security levels at major events.”
Rosehill Security sales manager Dalton Marshall says: “The Impakt Defender is ideal for protecting major sporting, entertainment and political events. It can be installed almost anywhere, removed and used again and again, quickly and simply. It acts as both a physical and visual security deterrent.”
The Impakt Defender and its smaller sister Rapid Defender can also be used for permanent hostile vehicle mitigation needs such as at retail malls, tourist havens, entertainment venues and seats of government. Two 50m sections of Impakt Defender were deployed in separate locations in under 40 minutes and then removed in just half an hour at Edgbaston, home to Warwickshire and international cricket, limiting road closures to the key times while fans entered and exited the ground, and minimising disruption to traffic.
MEI’s annual flagship summit took place over two days at Villa Park, the Birmingham home of newly-promoted Premiership football club Aston Villa, with day one covering safety, security and resilience and day two, venue technology and operations.
