Latest Security personnel services News

Minimum wage rise welcomed
posted on 04/10/2001

MANY SECURITY OFFICERS WILL be taking home more pay from this month, following an increase in the national minimum wage. The minimum wage has risen from £3.70 to £4.10 for full claimants, and from £3.20 to £3.50 for 18-21 year olds. The BSIA welcomed the minimum wage rise, and said the increase would have little impact on its manned guarding members’ costs. The Association said: “We think it is a good thing that the minimum wage is going up, and that has always been our attitude.” Many of the BSIA's members already pay security officers more than the new minimum wage. Patricia Hewitt, the Government’s Trade and Industry Secretary, said the increase was “good news” for decent employers, and that it would also “prevent unscrupulous bosses using poverty wages to undercut their competitors”.... [more]

Stores enjoy safety in numbers
posted on 04/10/2001

THE REPUTATION OF THE Wolverhampton Retail Crime Initiative is such that Gap and TK Maxx, two of the UK’s leading clothing retailers, joined the initiative even before they had opened stores in the West Midlands city. The two retailers, which have both opened stores in Wolverhampton in the last four months, wanted to benefit immediately from an initiative which won a Home Office Safer Shopping Award last year. Pat Oliver, loss prevention manager for TK Maxx in the West Midlands, explains why. He told SecurityPark: “The initiative creates an aura around the city. Lots of information from every store about crime gets put into the initiative’s database and is spread out to all the members." Store detectives employed by one... [more]

Private Security Industry Bill - Special Report
posted on 20/09/2001

Updated 20 September 2001 - THE PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY Bill has received Royal Assent, bringing to an end more than 25 years of industry campaigning for regulation. It is hoped that licensing of security operatives will improve the reputation of the security industry. There have been many attempts to introduce legislation, from Bruce George MP in the 1970s who introduced the first private members bill on the subject to the Conservative Government's abortive attempt to introduce a Bill immediately prior to the 1997 General Election (Home Office Minister David Maclean released a Consultation Paper in December 1996, with the deadline for replies falling at the end of March 1997. Sadly this clashed with the announcement of the General Election and Regulation was quietly dropped.) The Labour Government came into office in May 1997 with a Manifesto commitment to regulate the private security industry. The industry held its breath while Ministers wrestled with a very crowded legis... [more]

BSIA conference on Security Industry Act
posted on 18/09/2001

20 September - The Private Security Industry Act 2001 - Raising Standards through Regulation, New Connaught Rooms, London WC2. This one-day BSIA conference, organised by Neil Stewart Associates, promises to examine in detail the implications of the Act for all those involved in crime reduction and prevention. The conference will: Examine the implications of the Act in detail, including timescales and developments. Examine the proposed criteria for obtaining a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. Discuss the new criminal offences created through the Act. Discuss how the police and private security industry can work as partners in the fight against crime. Discuss the role of local government in monitoring the private security industry. Consider training issues, particularly around employment issues for the private security industry following the implementation of the Act. The speakers are: David Cowden, Cha... [more]

Two Securitas officers missing feared dead
posted on 13/09/2001

TWO SECURITAS OFFICERS REMAIN missing after the terrorist attacks which destroyed the World Trade Center in New York. Both security officers were in one of the two towers when it collapsed. Securitas said: "Our thoughts are with them and those close them." Securitas - the world's largest security services provider - has about 6,000 employees based in Manhattan, of which about 2,000 work in Downtown Manhattan's southern financial district. One of the security services giant's three Manhattan offices is located very close to the World Trade Center, within the area that is now closed off, and it is being used as one of several crisis centres. Securitas said the atrocity has prompted an immediate demand for extra security in the US and Europe. The company said it is assisting with all the resources it has, and many of its staff are working long overtime hours. Airport checks ... [more]

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