RiskUKMarch2018

Meet The Security Company: Risk Management Security Services
Name
Graham Tilly
Job title
Managing Director
Time in security business
sector
I’ve worked in the security
business sector with Risk
Management Security
Services for 23 years. Prior to
becoming managing director,
I served in the roles of
business development
manager, business
development director and
operations director
Location of the business
High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire
Areas of expertise
Security guarding, mobile
security patrols and
keyholding/alarm response
Accreditations
NSI Guarding Gold, SIA ACS,
SafeContractor, ACS
Pacesetters
provided as to how the service required can be
delivered by using alternative methods. This is
where a combined solutions package and the
integration of security systems can prove to be
an attractive solution.
Some years ago, we experienced a trend of
companies outlining contracts based on a
‘Total FM’ solution and placing all of their soft
services needs with a single supplier. We’re
now seeing such solutions being challenged
and replaced by companies that require
specialists in key areas of their business such
that they can gain benefits through
management expertise and knowledge.
Technology is also playing a key role in the
changing face of security at many levels, and is
very often a significant element of the tender
requirement. The use of technology links
directly to another key requirement of security
companies: the need to continuously reduce
our impact on the environment.
Risk UK: How has Government legislation
(eg the National Minimum Wage, the
National Living Wage and holiday pay)
affected your business? Do you believe such
legislation is a good thing?
Graham Tilly: To date, this has had very
minimal impact on our business as our rates,
across the majority of our locations, far exceed
both the National Minimum Wage and the
National Living Wage. As a company, we don’t
believe in quoting low and unsustainable
wages. While we do operate at a small
percentage of sites where the wage rates are
not in line with our model, we work with these
clients to increase them to suitable levels.
Legislation is important as it avoids
companies offering unsustainable rates of pay
to staff, which can only have a negative effect
on the quality of people in the industry.
However, we do still see companies using the
Minimum Wage as their model to price up new
business (excluding TUPE). While this may
offer a tempting solution to companies
sourcing security, as very often it’s one of the
largest spends a company will make, you have
to question how suitable security staff can be
recruited at such wage levels.
Some caution does need to be employed.
Many organisations are looking to reduce their
spend on security, not increase it. While wage
increases are great for the individuals
benefiting from them, someone has to pay for
this and that’s only ever going to be the people
buying the service. As wage rates increase,
some customers will have to look very carefully
at what they can justify paying for the services
received, no matter how good they are.
Risk UK: What are the most important
attributes you look for in your security
officers and staff members in general?
Graham Tilly: Experience within the sector is
critical. We’re seeing an influx of new security
officers who are entering the industry, having
received assistance to gain an SIA licence, but
who have little understanding of how the
industry works (ie shift work, 12-hour shifts,
lone working, etc). It’s therefore vital that we
recruit security staff who have experience in
this type of environment and, furthermore, can
offer reliability and loyalty.
One of the most important aspects is
attitude. People have to want to work in the
industry. They have to want to do a good job
and have to want to show up. You cannot teach
people attitude. If they’re the sort of character
that likes to cut corners or has a ‘take it or
leave it’ approach towards their work then that
isn’t going to cut it in a customer-facing sector.
Within the company, we also look for staff
members who fit the culture of our business in
terms of understanding our philosophies and
methods for delivering the service. We employ
staff who can demonstrate a positive approach
to service delivery at all times.
Risk UK: How can the SIA, the NSI and
industry standards best serve the sector in
addition to the needs of your company’s
clients and the wider public interest? Will
the introduction of business licensing be a
positive step?
Graham Tilly: The standards outlined by both
the NSI and the SIA need to be observed by all
companies operating in the sector and be
directly linked to business licensing that will
hopefully then create an elite list of companies
as originally expected when the ACS was born.
I attended a meeting of industry companies
prior to individual licensing and ACS
assessment. The (then) chairman of the SIA
advised that security companies would be able
to charge customers an additional 35% due to
officer licensing and registration with the ACS.
That was 13 years ago. I sincerely hope that, if
business licensing does come to fruition,
companies within the industry can work with
the SIA and the NSI to develop that elite list
and raise standards even further.
If business licensing enables customers to
genuinely identify suppliers in the upper
echelon of the industry, then it has to be a
positive step. If it simply becomes another
membership for the existing ACS companies –
and bear in mind it has been suggested ACS
companies will fast track to business licensing
– then I cannot see any benefits arising.
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