Now in their fourth year, the Security Excellence Awards have rightly become known as the industry’s Oscars.
Once again, this sparkling annual event – held in The Ballroom of Le Meridien Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane – has attracted the attention of hundreds of security figureheads (be they in-house or contract managers, installers, consultants or members of the leading Trade Associations or inspection bodies). Why? The Excellence Awards are specifically designed to recognise and reward those security teams, companies and individuals who’ve made ‘professionalism’ their byword.
As a celebration of the very best that this industry of ours has to offer, it’s perhaps fitting that this year’s Awards Ceremony (to be held on Tuesday 12 November) will be graced by the best crime-stopper in the business… James Bond. Yes, Sean Connery (aka Hugh Lewis) will be your compere for the evening, which is themed around the world famous Bond genre. Arch rivals Jaws and Odd Job will be there, too, as will the James Bond Dancing Girls.
For the first time, we also have a Charity Casino in operation immediately after the presentations have finished. A seamless link with the famous Bond film ‘Casino Royale’, don’t you think?… Sponsored by Dedicated Micros, all proceeds from what should be a really fun part of the evening will be forwarded to The Prince’s Trust – a worthy cause if ever there was one, dedicated as it is to helping young people develop their confidence and skills before they move into the business world.
If all of that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, we’ve enlisted the services of a live band to play all your favourite rock and pop numbers from the past few decades.
Security Management Today and Security Installer magazines are also delighted to announce that David Dickinson, chief executive of the British Security Industry Association, has agreed to be our guest speaker for the evening. David’s Keynote Address will look at the current state-of-play in the private sector, concentrating on regulation and licensing and the move towards an extended police family.
The Judging Panel
Judging for this year’s event took place on Tuesday 24 September. Each member of the panel is rightly seen as an expert in their particular field. Sitting on the Awards Judging Panel for 2002 were:
- Richard Flenley (group security manager, Canary Wharf Group plc)
- Ian Johnson (principal consultant, Ian Johnson Associates)
- Professor Martin Gill (Perpetuity Research Consultancy International)
- Stefan Hay (executive director designate, SITO)
- Nigel Winham (head of security, Bovis Lend Lease)
- Peter French (managing director, SSR Personnel)
- Anthony King (director, Kings Security)
- Inspector Kevin Mann (secretary, ACPO Security Systems Sector)
The Judging Panel was completed by Brian Sims (Editor of Security Management Today) and Alan Hyder (Editor of Security Installer).
Following a day of much deliberation in the Grosvenor House Hotel’s Boardroom (not to mention many long hours spent reading and re-reading the plethora of entry forms and supporting documents sent in this year), the Judges eventually came to a decision on whom to shortlist in each category.
Not an easy task. This black tie event – the only awards scheme that recognises every sector of the industry – has attracted an increasing number of entries with each year that it has been run. 2002 has been no exception, with more entries than ever before. Over 20 organisations entered the Best Training Initiative section alone, while the standard in each category was extremely high.
Depending on the category concerned, the Judges were again looking to see concrete evidence that those companies and individuals who had submitted entries for the 2002 Security Excellence Awards had actually met the strict criteria laid down.
Submissions for the Best Guarding Company, for example, were required to show a firm commitment to training, the effective and seamless integration of manpower with technology to provide a truly integrated security service for the client base and examples of success through both current and newly-won contracts.
Security Excellence Awards organiser Folio Event Management has informed us that this year’s presentation evening is already SOLD OUT, with nearly 500 of the industry’s top individuals booked to attend. That’s an indication of how much respect the Security Excellence Awards have gleaned from the industry at large in the past couple of years.