SSAIB News

The first issue of the brand new SSAIB magazine, The Standard, has been released to registered firms.

The annual magazine - formerly known as SSAIB News - received a complete overhaul after SSAIB’s PR and Communications Executive Glen Maxwell took over as editor of the magazine, which led to the marketing team deciding that a change of name was necessary for the new publication.

Produced by the creators of Fire and Safety Matters magazine - Western Business Publishing – the debut edition of The Standard has been posted out to all of our registered firms, along with the April edition of FSM.

The Standard brings together a number of important talking points with the security, fire and manned guarding industries, with articles including an overview of the new GDPR legislation coming into force in May, a focus on facial recognition and if how retail businesses are implementing the technology complies with the current codes of practice and Stephen Adams of BAFE considers fire safety in the current climate – following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower last June.

BAFE’s chief executive also talks through the recent changes to their SP101 scheme, while BT Group’s Johnny McQuoid discusses the impact that BT’s switch to all-IP product solutions by 2025 might have on the industry.

The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) discuss how they help ex-Armed Forces personnel back into work and how they assist employers to fill their vacancies with members from the ex-military talent pool, meanwhile CCTVMaster Security – and 18-year-old managing director Asad Saleem - become the first registered firm featured in our new Under the Spotlight feature.

We also have a welcome return of SSAIB chief executive Alex Carmichael’s A View From the Top column, in which he discusses the last 12 months within the inspectorate and the industry as a whole. Training manager Trevor Jenks is also back with a Trailblazers update – after a successful first year for the apprenticeship scheme – in addition to his look back at the 2017 Engineers of Tomorrow competition at IFSEC.

Further contributions from Security and Monitoring scheme manager David Roscoe regarding PD6662:2017, a manned services update from scheme manager David Taylor and a focus on our 2018 regional meetings by Andrew Brown – as well as a plethora of the latest SSAIB news – means that there’s plenty to digest in this brand-new magazine.

SSAIB sales and marketing manager Andrew Brown commented: “We’re very excited to unveil The Standard to our registered firms. A lot of work has gone into this new venture and we’re keen to see what people think of the new format.

“We identified that the magazine needed a bit of a revamp, so I gave Glen the task of going away and producing something new and totally different to everything we’d done before. We felt a name change was needed to help differentiate this new magazine and The Standard allows us to do that.”

Copies of The Standard will also be made available at the many exhibitions and roadshows that the SSAIB will be attending throughout the rest of 2018, so feel free to pick up a copy from any of our stands at those shows as well.

A college-led skills competition for apprentices has been hailed a huge success by industry leaders, after four students won a sponsored place to a prestigious national engineering competition.

New College Lanarkshire hosted its annual Electrical Fire and Security Skills Challenge to coincide with Scottish Apprenticeship Week from March 5-9.  Over 30 Electronic Fire and Security modern apprentices competed in the two-day challenge, travelling from as far as Aberdeen and Dumfries to attend the specialist facilities in the College’s Motherwell Campus.

They were challenged with taking on a variety of tasks in two stages – fire alarm installation and intruder alarm installation - which were assessed by SSAIB training manager Trevor Jenks on their level of skill in health and safety, installation, testing and recording of operational checks and handing over of the system.

The winners from each stage and overall winner from each day have now been offered a sponsored place at this year’s Engineers of Tomorrow competition that will take place during IFSEC International in June, where apprentices from all over the UK can prove their skills on an international platform and the chance to win £1,000.

In the fire installation challenge, Aaron Wilson from WRB in Dundee and Steven Flannigan from CSS in Glasgow were named the winners, while Steven also excelled in the intruder alarm installation challenge alongside Andrew Tham from Observitas in Airdrie. Overall champions on each day included Steven and Stuart McLuskie of Nexus in Glasgow, meaning the four will now go on to compete in London.

David Scott, curriculum quality leader of built environment at the college - and organiser of the competition - said: “In the third year of their apprenticeship, the competitors performed to an excellent standard, well beyond what is normally expected of someone at this stage of their course.

“This is testament to the high standard of training they are receiving onsite with their employers and at college. It was a privilege to have so many industry experts and partners in attendance to watch the competition.

“It created a real buzz around the competition – as, at one point, there were over 60 visitors from all over the sector and our apprentices continued to perform at an advanced level. I’d like to thank all our partners who took the time to attend the competition and support our apprentices and the College.

“The most important thing for me was that the students that absolutely loved it. There was a lot of nerves in the morning, but as the competition came to an end everyone said they had fantastic experience.

“I am delighted for Aaron, Steven, Andrew and Stuart, who will now go onto compete in Engineers of Tomorrow – one of the most prestigious competitions in industry. New College Lanarkshire has always been very successful at this event, so we are hoping to continue that success this year.”

Trevor Jenks added: “It was my pleasure to assess the competitors and I was very impressed with the standard of competition on show.

"It’s unfortunate that there could only be four of them that progressed to the Engineers of Tomorrow competition at IFSEC, but it’s testament to Aaron, Steven, Andrew and Stuart that they’re the successful ones and – if the rest of the competitors at IFSEC are at a similar level or better – it’ll make for a very interesting few days at the Excel in June.”

SSAIB have appointed a new auditor, with Ray Clelland coming on board to help cover Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The 56-year-old – who worked as a technical trainer and NVQ assessor for Chubb Fire and Security prior to his new role - has over 34 years of experience in the security industry, having started out at Securicor as an install and service engineer.

Glasgow-based Ray will work alongside Jim Suttie to ease the CCTV and access control systems scheme manager's workload and the SSAIB’s latest addition can’t wait to get started.

Ray revealed: “I looking very positively at it – as it’s a new step and a new challenge for me. I’ve never held an auditor role before, so – from that perspective, I’m looking forward to it.

“I’d been informed that the company was looking for someone to work with Jim and help him cover Scotland and Northern Ireland. I know Dave [Profit, operations manager] from my time at Securicor, so I made him aware that I’d like to be considered when the time came.

“The plan is for me to work in tandem with Jim to begin with. Once I’m up to speed, I think the plan is for Jim to ease up on the pedal and spend less time travelling around for audits.”

The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will provide the keynote address at the upcoming OSPAs Thought Leadership Summit.

The event will take place on March 1, 2018 at the Royal Lancaster, London and, in his talk, Greg Clark will review the Industrial Strategy and the state of play on Brexit - as well as offering some thoughts on the implications and opportunities for business and the security sector.

Other confirmed speakers include Ian Dyson QPM, Commissioner, City of London Police, who will give a police perspective on private and public partnerships in the security industry; Andrew Thomson, Director of Property Services, The Shard - talking about dealing with the ‘Board’ on security; ‘Tony’, a former armed robber and drug dealer, providing an insight into how he approached security and how often in fails; Craig Robb, Chief Commercial Officer, Securitas UK, will discuss the transformation of the security industry and why investment in technology is essential.

The programme will challenge good and bad perceptions about security and promises to be a lively debate.

To book places and to find out more information visit: https://uk.theospas.com/summit2018/

Exhibition stand space is also available for those companies wishing to promote their products and services to a diverse audience of stakeholders.

The event is sponsored by Securitas and organised with the support of the Security Commonwealth.

The presentation of the Outstanding Security Awards (OSPAs) will take place the same evening at an awards dinner hosted by Mick Creedon QPM recently retired Chief Constable.

SSAIB training manager Trevor Jenks will be attending the Wandsworth Enterprise Week Apprenticeship Breakfast on Wednesday March 7.

The open event – which has been devised by both Wandsworth Chamber of Commerce and Wandsworth Council – is taking place at Banham Group HQ in London during National Apprenticeship Week. It will focus on the value of apprenticeships and how businesses can be boosted by investing in apprentices.

With heads of relevant training providers discussing the structure of apprenticeships – as well as the current funding available to business – the Apprenticeship Breakfast will no doubt be beneficial to any SSAIB-registered firm looking for guidance and support regarding apprenticeships, with a dedicated Q&A session also being part of proceedings.

For more information, click here to consult the Apprenticeship Breakfast e-invite. Meanwhile, to reserve your place at the event, please email Kevin Faulkner of Banham Group at [email protected].