London Interview, News ➬ About the firm Incentive Lynx do slant towards the London corporate sector, doing guarding at such sites as The Leadenhall Building, nicknamed ‘the Cheesegrater’, pictured above left; and The Blue Fin Building in SE1. Visit www. incentive-fmgroup.com. Top: The Leadenhall Building on the left and 30 St Mary Axe to the right. Above: The Gherkin close up Photos by Mark Rowe continued ... from page 30 a London and south east-based company, working with the likes of The Kings Cross Development, 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), Paddington Central and The Leadenhall Building; and some shopping centres. Note that the security firm is looking to extend geographically, where there’s a ‘cultural fit’. Not all a bundle While it’s always good for conversation, because there’s not a right or wrong answer - as Professional Security said, it's whatever the customer wants - we resisted the temptation to ask about the merits of security as a single service or part of the FM ‘bundle’. Suffice to say that Craig made the case for his company - as privatelyowned, ‘so the shareholders are involved in the day to day activity of the business, and no external shareholders’; and with central Group resources such as health and safety, and HR, that a stand-alone security company might not afford. “We don’t just try to bundle everything together, because we believe that can dilute the expertise of a single service. Because no matter what it is, you have to have the knowledge and the experience.” Security, then, by subject matter expert, or ‘trusted advisor’ as Sara added. Which does bring us back to how and why Incentive Lynx recruited Sara. Front line School goes in-house Whether guarding or other services should be in-house or contracted out depends on many factors - not only cost. For example, SOAS – the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London – is to stop outsourcing its core support services to contractors from September 2018. This covers more than 120 staff in security and portering; cleaning; catering; events hospitality; mechanical and electrical services; post-room; help desk and reception. Not covered are lift maintenance; waste management; fire safety and protection; and independent inspections and testing; the school is looking into those. Russell Square-based SOAS has told its two private contractors Elior (which does catering and hospitality) and Bouygues (which manages all other support services) Craig said: “And the thing that struck us about Sara was her experience, and her obvious attention to detail, but also her appreciation for the front line, as it were. Too many managers tend to get caught up in the theoretical and the strategic, as opposed to the understanding exactly what is being done. Because the role of a security officer is what we have just talked about,” - as we were eating in Borough Market, it seemed indecent not to have raised terrorism - “the current risk is just getting more and more complicated, really. I am sure other companies say the same thing. A wide range of services are required from your security officer.” Sara nodded here about the ‘much maligned’ security officer. When something goes wrong, people jump up and down; but as Craig put it, who ever rings payroll, to thank them for getting their pay right this month?! Having covered Sara, and the company, it remained only to cover the wider sector; and - while it may be wrong to treat women as an issue, rather than anything out of the ordinary - Craig (who’s Canadian by the way) did say: “I don’t think there’s enough women in the security,” and here he gave a word of praise to the Professional Security Women in Security awards. “I think it’s important that we have a team that is diverse.” Since that last 2012 lunch, guarding is still a competitive and price-driven sector; and, Craig noted, regulation of it has stalled. Having a licensing regime more fixed on the security business than the individual was what his company supported. But Brexit They like others in contract guarding feel, to use Sara’s phrase, ‘the whole thing needs an overhaul’, including the Security Industry Authority’s approved contractor scheme. Yet given Government and parliament will have its hands full with Brexit, for years, regardless of the fact that the SIA might like an overhaul itself - as much has changed since the original 2001 Act, and the regulator is holding a gathering of industry figures to sound out views next month - it hardly seemed a topic worth following with Craig and Sara. When we stepped out of the restaurant, Borough Market was still busy with tourists seeking food and drink. It was turning to drizzle. p it will end their current contracts by the start of the next academic year. SOAS Director Baroness Amos, a Labour life peer, called it a right decision; the institution already guarantees the London Living Wage (set at £9.75 an hour) for all staff, contract or not. “Now putting our whole workforce on same terms and conditions reflects our values of social justice and equality. Our support staff help to make the university tick and we could not deliver on our teaching and research agenda or offer an excellent student experience without them. Our staff and students have campaigned passionately for this. It has been a challenging journey at times but they have enabled us to get to this point.” Meanwhile, Transport for London has been merging 50 facilities management contracts into six, and requiring its FM providers to show what they’re doing on equality and diversity, and apprenticeships. p 32 SEPTEMBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY www.professionalsecurity.co.uk
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