London’s 2012 Olympics will be a ‘seller’s market’ for security providers – and a major personnel shortfall could be addressed by drafting in 14-19 year olds!
These were the major headlines from the BSIA’s 2012 seminar at IFSEC 2007, where three key figures in the security aspect of the planning for the games gave presentations.
The speakers were Andrew Amery of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, or LOCOG, to keep a long name short; Tarique Ghauffur, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, responsible for security coordination for London 2012; and David Evans, BSIA project director for 2012.
All three emphasised the fact that security and public safety needs to be a prime consideration – but Evans (who described London 2012 as “the biggest security event there has been ever”) made the point that many in the private security industry may choose to become involved with those projects on the periphery of the Games themselves, rather than going through the Olympic tender process.
There were numerous reasons, chief among them being that the “commercial imperative” of continuing to work with existing customers should not be forgotten, and also that suppliers to sporting events have had many experiences of payments taking lengthy periods to reach them – a significant problem if the predicted lack of personnel takes place. This scenario could easily see skilled engineers preferring to work with firms able to guarantee payment – that is, on non-Olympic jobs.
“Prompt, guaranteed payment is an essential element for the security industry,” Evans said.
He said the current estimate was that 6,500 “private security staff” would be required for the games, alongside 10,000 volunteers. But these figures appear to be based on staffing levels for the period of the games themselves, and are likely to be focused on manned guarding and control room operators. Actual numbers, including volunteers, could be over 15,000.
Opportunities for installation firms are likely to be in the year or so before the Games, as new build venues and upgrades are completed, in terms of official Olympic work. But the real story for installers is the potential for becoming involved in projects based around the Olympics, but not as an official part of them. And of course, there will be lucrative maintenance and service contracts to be aware of on top of this.
Official tendering opportunities have begun to be listed on the London 2012 eTendering website (https://etenders.london2012.com). If you register there you will also receive email alerts when new tendering opportunities arise. It’s also worthwhile keeping an eye on the ‘Business’ section of the official 2012 website (www.london2012.com) as announcements of companies selected through the tender process will appear there, and should offer some useful hints as to subcontracting opportunities.
Work experience force
The concept of 14-19 year old security ‘work experience’ workers being used to plug the gap in security staff was raised during the seminar, but presumably this will be for lower level searches/patrols rather than providing maintenance for top-end CCTV or access control systems. It’s not as drastic as it sounds, but it’s still likely to be latched onto by the mainstream press eager for any evidence that there might be trouble ahead for Olympic planning – particularly in the security/terrorist threat area.
“With proper early planning and partnerships, security at the games can be the finest achieved anywhere,” Evans said. “This is a great opportunity to showcase the British security industry to the world. The build up will drive better training, new skills, and better ways of working. But the private security industry needs to be involved now, and this is happening. There is genuine interest by the security industry in making the games a success.”
Assistant Commissioner Ghauffur said “security and public safety has to be the prime consideration” at the Games, and that “security planning has to start now”. He wanted to provide an “end to end security footprint” that covered the whole summer’s worth of events. These include a Shakespeare Festival and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, amongst over 150 more, such as the Notting Hill Carnival.
Ghauffur chairs a monthly meeting dedicated to security planning, but as yet there is no formal private security involvement. He said he is looking at setting up a joint working group.
“The door is open for the private security industry to progress its involvement,” he said. “I’m very keen to engage with the private sector and to seek its views and help in approaching security delivery for the games.”
Ups and downs
Andrew Amery recalled the euphoria of London winning the bid in Singapore, quickly followed by the events of 7 July 2005, which changed the face of the terror threat to the UK.
“This isn’t venue security, it’s international security,” he said. “This means that the planning across all sectors needs to be flexible and responsive.” He said LOCOG was looking at a cohesive and coordinated approach, with security integrated in all areas.
“We need to define our operational requirements as we move forward,” he said – which seems to mean that nothing has been set in stone as yet, and that security arrangements will be based on a constantly revised set of scenarios, dependent on the level and nature of the threat as the Games approach.
This makes perfect operational sense, but it doesn’t make it any easier at the present moment for installation companies to really begin planning how they can make the most of their opportunities. As it stands, the security planning will only really begin in earnest next year, Amery said. This is when LOCOG will start looking at ‘procurement’ of security equipment, identifying exactly what equipment is needed. He emphasised that sponsors of the Games will not “set the security agenda” – they will need to take part in the tender process in the same way as other manufacturers.
But installation firms with direct links to major manufacturers should definitely keep the communication channels open in order to find out about Olympic opportunities that may arise through them.