SECURITY FGH SECURITY
Securing security This season, the events industry was dogged by a lack of security and stewarding personnel. But what can we as an industry do to help secure security talent?
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his year, the events industry has been dogged by staffing shortages, especially security staff and stewards. A lack of skilled staff, a “sea of jacket fillers”, and dubious variations on SIA badges have all been witnessed by experienced event professionals during the height of the summer season. In some cases, UK event organisers are being charged up to £27 an hour for an SIA-licensed security professional but are being provided with someone who is essentially a steward and who cannot speak English. It’s a worrying situation, particularly as the challenges of 2022 show no signs of waning. Peter Harrison, managing director of FGH Security, Eric Stuart, chair of the UK Crowd Management Association (UKCMA), and Zac Kelly, director at Ultrasec Security, all agree. The quality of staff is absent, competition is rife, roles are being filled by inexperienced staff, and trained security staff are undervalued by the organisers and promoters that hire them. Plus, there are several cash-in-hand “security” firms that are promising the world and delivering nothing, which is tarnishing the services of reputable businesses. Kelly explains: “The marketplace is quickly becoming a race to the bottom on price again. After COVID, it was expected that people would finally see that the cost of good quality security and safety teams
would increase. Sadly, this happened for a short period but is rapidly changing with event organisers trying to cut costs as much as possible.” Stuart concurs. He states that promoters are desperately trying to suppress costs, against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. Stuart says: “Prices of everything are through the roof so promoters are raising ticket prices but desperately trying to suppress costs as well. The trouble is everyone’s costs have gone up. Staff need more money to encourage them to stay in the industry, and offices cost more to run. It is relentless. “Promoters also seem to be leaving it later and later to book security/stewards. I fear some will leave it too late and rely on previous suppliers, who by the time they are ready to pay deposits, will be booked elsewhere. The decent companies in security/stewarding had a tough year getting staff and will not want to over-commit.”
WORK MIRACLES
Stuart says that finding staff has been a huge challenge for security companies, but the quality of staff has been absent. He continues: “I do not want to knock an industry that is doing very well to cope with the demand, but you cannot turn off a tap for two years and then expect it to run smoothly when you turn it back on. My best guess is we have another couple
ERIC STUART of years like this one unless something extreme happens; either a huge jump in wages to make it viable for good quality people to join the industry or (hopefully not) something bad happens at an event and there is a refocus by the Government on this industry.” Kelly agrees. Organisers are not booking essential security and stewarding staff until the last minute and are then expecting security companies to “work miracles”. Harrison says that the security industry must be able to compete with other employers. He comments: “Why would anyone invest eight days of their time, and their money, in getting an SIA license or spectator safety qualification, for the same (or sometimes less) money than Costa Coffee or Tesco? The security sector needs business licensing, and it is back on the agenda. This would ensure only competent people could run a company involved in public safety, only a qualified person could call themselves a crowd manager, and that the right training is given to our front-line teams.”
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