Why is the security industry like a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk?
Because although neither of them are recession proof, they might both be “recession resilient”.
According to Cadbury, recession-hit consumers are turning to chocolate for comfort, with a 30 per cent rise in profits.
No surprise there. Who isn’t partial to a choccy bar or six?
I’m not really saying the two industries have got that much in common – apart from maybe that, like chocolate, you can have too much security, according to some libertarians.
But I rather liked the Cadbury exec’s “recession resilient” description.
Some of the more optimistic (some might say naive) people in the security industry have already been shot down for suggesting that we could have a certain amount of “recession proofing”.
I admit, I had myself suggested that when this whole crazy economic mess started to dominate the headlines a year or so back.
Wiser heads said it was foolish to think that any industry could come out of this global crisis unscathed. And they have largely been proven right.
Although the mighty global corporations – among them our best known names from Japan – have been capturing headlines because of their plummeting output, I would wager that it’s not their security sales that will have taken the biggest dent.
Whereas their fridges, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners and MP3 players might have experienced a serious drop in sex appeal, I bet the same won’t be said for their security kit.
In that sense, this recession might even throw a welcome spotlight on what, in some giant corporations, is a very small part of the overall business.
When we come out the other end of this tunnel there may be powerful execs suddenly noticing the comparative “resilience” of their security offerings.
That modest little wallflower among the domestic electronics and whitegoods may indeed become a corporate star with a bigger budget to match.
“My god Ms Smith. I never noticed before, but you’re beautiful.”
Not to their credit
Some installation companies that have been using debt to prop up their businesses are facing a questionable future.
Analysts Plimsoll says there are 160 security companies in serious financial danger because they became over-reliant on easy credit.
But it’s easy in hindsight to point at this.
Foolish as it seems now, two years ago very few people were criticising the credit culture our economy was built on, either in business or personal finance.
Who could resist all that easy credit being dangled under our noses by every bank, store and building society this side of bankruptcy?
It’s now very easy to judge those SME installers who took advantage of extended credit to build their business. They were duped by government and financial institutions into believing there would be no more boom and bust.
Now, as our establishment has been exposed as incompetent and untrustworthy, we have all realised just how fragile this straw house was.
The government’s promised financial support for small firms is facing delay at a time when some businesses can’t afford to hang in there much longer.
There was no delay using billions of pounds of our money to prop up those banks that got us into this mess. There should be no delay helping those honest traders who were, largely, the victims.
(Even installers with a good credit history are finding their credit lines cut. So why are the prudent being punished? For an insightful analysis see this interview with the MD of Bosch UK, Paul Wong.)
What’s up doc?
In my last newsletter I referred to the deceptively dull-sounding Coroners and Justice Bill which has had relatively little press coverage.
But if you downloaded the PDF you would have seen just how frightening were some of the implications of the data sharing involved.
The sheer scale of it is, inevitably, going to make it open to abuse and data breaches.
Why is it that it’s only the government who can’t see the far-reaching implications of such massive database collections?
For instance, just one part of it includes the sharing of our private medical records to all and sundry – from insurance companies to research organisations.
Do you want that? Did you vote for it? Have you had any say in it?
Now doctors have condemned this Big Brother scheme. So why is it going ahead?
The government argues massive databases will bring “joined-up thinking” – as if this cloudy concept will be some kind of magic bullet to guarantee better services in the real world.
If they were in the real world they’d have listened to doctors who said that patients would be worried about sharing information with them because they’d be uneasy about where it would end up.
Elderly people in care homes might think twice about complaining to their GP about their treatment there if they thought it could lead to care home staff finding out.
People with “embarrassing” complaints might not even seek treatment.
In other words, the bad effects of the database could easily outweigh the benefits.
Ok, the government says it will now listen to the British Medical Association and the medical colleges. So, if they’re prepared to listen to the experts, how come it’s gone this far?
As regular readers of this newsletter may know, I’m of the strong opinion that public distaste for massive database collections could be one of the biggest threats to the CCTV industry.
The word “surveillance” is used as a popular catch-all for both CCTV and database collections.
Because of this, CCTV’s good standing as something people (mostly) want could easily be damaged by association with something they (mostly) don’t want.
For its own good, the CCTV industry should do its best to distance itself.
Glowing prospects
It used to be said that horses sweat, men perspire and women merely glow.
If that’s the case they might all be eligible for a new biometric crime fighting tool.
Yes, although sweat’s been around for a long time, it could soon be replacing fingerprints in the battle against crime.
In theory sweat ID could be used at airports in conjunction with a “bionic nose” to sniff people as they pass through security checks.
Interesting concept, but I can’t see that an R&D job with this product would be the most popular one in the security field.
Off the cuff
The conviction of a Devon pensioner for cuffing a child with some rolled-up church papers incensed a lot of people and even lead to the incident being raised in the Commons.
Disregarding the particular facts of this case, it was seen as another example of people getting into trouble for either (a) standing up for civilised society, or (b) foolishly taking the law into their own hands – according to your particular views.
Surely the point with all these frequent “Citizen arrested for saying enough is enough”- type stories is that if the police had a higher profile at the grass roots, it probably wouldn’t happen in the first place.
And if their actions reflected the popular opinion of the majority rather than the politically correct intelligentsia, usually insulated far from high crime areas, a trivial incident like this would never go as far as the House of Commons.
(Just as a small addition to this, about a year ago I wrote in this column that, while living in a small town with its usual share of low level teenage disturbance and vandalism, I had not seen an officer on foot for many months. Since then, I’ve been looking out for one, just to see if I was being unfair. I must truthfully report that although my town has its fair share of patrol cars cruising around I’ve still not seen a beat bobby. Is this typical or are they just out when I’m not?)
Surprise surprise
Along similar lines, teenage sneak thieves got more than they bargained for when they ran off with a handbag belonging to one 72 year old lady.
They couldn’t believe it when the sprightly pensioner gave chase – and started catching them up.
How were they to know that their elderly victim was a former champion sprinter?
Well done Jean. And let that be a warning to all street thieves – people aren’t always as they seem.
Bill Boarders will be prosecuted
We’ve had cut out policemen and cut-out police cars used in the roadside fight against crime.
Now make way for a more commercial concept in highway policing – roadside advertising.
An FBI program has enlisted digital billboards in an effort to catch criminals and has notched up at least 14 convictions.
Cue Hollywood scene … Charitable driver chats to hitchhiker he’s just picked up then looks at passing billboard: “Wanted: highway slayer.”
Aaargh!
