Bobby Logue, the Principal of Logue Corporate, the security company consultancy, told the 2010 International Professional Security Association’s (IPSA) 2010 Annual General Meeting that it needed to become a credible properly structured, fully mandated trade body with a clear strategy to best serve its membership. Logue predicted that the SIA would come under the new Government’s scrutiny. “The SIA s will have to change, that’s why they are in constant dialogue with the industry’s trade bodies. Trade Bodies represent only approximately 150 out of approximately 1200 security guarding companies. This presents the industry’s trade associations with a huge opportunity. The SIA would rather talk to fully mandated trade associations but IPSA needs a story to tell potential members. What is IPSA’s vision going forward? Put simply, you need to decide on that and then build downwards from it.”
Logue then discussed the security industry in general “The industry is constantly dynamic, but far too many organizations are standing still, While gross margins for security companies are now seriously low, the industry remains resistant to change. Let me be clear that this situation is not the fault of the Regulator. Clients are driving prices downwards because they know there will be companies out there willing to take this work. Smaller security companies either need to be smarter and – or better you are going to compete your larger rivals. This is why smaller companies should look outside of their traditional markets by identifying niche business areas.”
Moving onto skills in security sector, Bobby Logue was critical at the lack of raising the training levels within the industry. “Four days training by the regulator is nearly not enough. Most modern security officers are first responders in fire and first aid, requiring such skills to adequately perform their duties. We should be talking in terms of 8-10 days basic training. Literacy in English is also an issue and in addition to the multiple choice questions already included in the SIA required examination, there should also be a 300-word essay.”
SEE – INFO4SECURITY – IPSA AGM 2010: LOGUE ENERGISES STRONG DEBATE ON GUARDING INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
