ProfSec27-09ps

Una Says
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our clients became more facilities
focused and we started winning
other service lines but security didn’t
feature much at that time and I never
imagined myself as a prominent figure
in the security industry.”
How it felt
Farrell was a winner of the WiS
award in 2013. I asked how she felt
when she won. She replied: “I felt
incredibly proud when Roy Cooper
phoned one Monday morning to tell
me that I had won the award. I had no
idea that I had even been considered
for an award in the security industry.
I had worked hard to develop my
own Sodexo women in security group
which was an internal project and
I hadn’t realised that it was getting
external coverage. Winning the award
gave the stepping stone to share my
experiences with other women and
network groups to strengthen the
focus of employing women in the
security industry in meaningful roles.
I personally felt that I had achieved
a huge step forward in my career in
up-skilling men and women in skills
necessary to deliver good security to
our clients.”
Network group
continued ... from previous page
She won the award for promoting
women in security within Sodexo
by creating a network group in 2012
– Sodexo Women in Security. The
objective was to increase Sodexo’s
Security’s female population from
10.5pc to 12pc; they are at 17.3pc in
2017. I was witness to the formation
of SWiS and am overjoyed at the
success. Farrell has a core objective
to promote personal and professional
development opportunities for
women within Sodexo to increase
the confidence, awareness, and skills
of female employees to consider a
career in the security industry and
she is doing a great job … the figures
speak for themselves. Farrell went
on: “There have been many times
when I have had to step out of my
comfort zone but each time it got a
bit easier and my confidence grew.
I hope my achievements help to
inspire other women coming into the
security industry to continue to grow
the percentage of women working
www.professionalsecurity.co.uk
in security and work collaboratively
with our male colleagues to define
a career pathway to attract young
people. Externally winning the
WiS award in 2013 gave me huge
confidence to attend other external
groups through ASIS, Security
Institute, the Worshipful Company of
Security Professional (WCoSP) where
I became a Freeman of the Company
and a Freeman of the City of London
this year.”
And IPSA chair
The accolades just keep on coming
for her. I was aware of other tributes
and asked her to explain. She said:
“Through Sodexo women in security
I have mentored women to achieve
their level three security operations
award. Some of these women include
Lisa Butters, Security Supervisor
who was shortlisted for a First Shine
award and Diane Gleeson, Security
Coordinator who became a recipient
of the ‘Sodexo Rising Star’ award last
year. Diane was awarded for her work
with security compliance, following
the new SIA licensing processes. I
also won the award for developing
both men and women in security. I
won the Sodexo, Northern Power
Transformational leader award in
March 2017 for my work mentoring
our northern ladies in security.” It is
unbelievable to see how many women
are now working to champion other
women. It is a dream come true for
me. In the 1980s when I was on many
occasions the only woman in the room
it was a vision that one day females
in the industry would be contributing
and being recognised for all their
good work. Farrell is on a roll and
was elected the new chairman of IPSA
(International Professional Security
Association) at the meeting of the
International Council on July 27.
Busy time
She said: “I have been a member of
the IPSA management board since
July 2014. I became Deputy Chair
in 2015. During the past two years,
I have represented the association at
many events and spoke at the 2015
Women in Security awards hosted
by IPSA. I am looking forward to
developing specialised sections
within the membership, chaired by
independent specialists to give our
members greater value and shared
experience. I would like to introduce
a wider range of training and link to
CPD points involving our members
in more activities.” It has been a
busy time. I asked her how has this
affected her. She replied: “I feel very
proud and overwhelmed of what I
have achieved but I couldn’t have
done this without the support of my
family and colleagues. I have met
many like-minded women and was
asked to speak
at the first
SIA diversity
conference last
year and the East-
West conference
in Paris in 2014
about my work
with raising
awareness of
women in the
security industry. I also continued
my own personal development to be
awarded a distinction in the level five
Diploma in Security management.”
Vision
It sounds like one of those special
times when everything just comes
together. I asked her of the future. To
position Sodexo as a total security
solutions provider, she replied. “We
are capable of bidding, winning and
operating multi-country contracts
within the service operations
framework to improve margin,
support growth, improve safety,
ensure predictable quality whilst
always chosen and rewarded for
making every day a better day.” p
About WiS 2017
The NSI is the host of
the 2017 four Women
in Security awards, on
the Harmony cruise boat
of Bateaux London,
on Thursday evening,
September 14.
Jane Farrell centre
with IPSA stalwarts,
vice president Patrick
Somerville and Roger
Felgate
SEPTEMBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY
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