Four years after the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) celebrated its own 40th birthday, the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) has now attained the same milestone.
By way of celebration, the Maidenhead-based organisation – so expertly led by chief executive Jeff Little OBE – hired the HQS Wellington opposite Temple London Underground Station and invited aboard what could only be described as the Cream of the Crop when it comes to security industry leaders and figureheads for a drinks and canapes-style reception.
Among the audience were former NSI supremos Tom Mullarkey, Andrew White and Brigadier Needham, Skills for Security’s CEO David Greer, Ian Sanderson (one time inspector general of the ISI), Industry Qualifications’ Raymond Clarke, lone worker expert Patrick Dealtry, the BSIA’s 2012 project director David Evans, IPSA’s leader Justin Bentley, the Regulator’s CEO Bill Butler and Andy Williams, security director at Nomura.
To begin last night’s formal proceedings at just shy of 7.00 pm, the NSI’s chairman Sir Francis Richards looked back over the organisation’s illustrious history.
“So many organisations have joined to form the NSI that looking for its origin is a bit like the Victorians’ search for the source of the Nile,” opined Sir Francis in beautifully spoken English.
“The anniversary we celebrate today is the foundation in 1971 of the National Supervisory Council for Intruder Alarms (NSCIA) under the leadership of Rear Admiral Desmond Callaghan. This is what marked the real beginning of third party certification.”
In 1973, the NSCIA moved to its own offices in London’s Pimlico, having previously shared accommodation with the BSIA at Catherine Place. It was three years later that the move to Maidenhead would materialise, and that’s where the organisation has resided ever since.
“A merger with the Security Systems Inspectorate followed in 1990,” continued Sir Francis in his history lesson, “and, on 1 January 1991, the National Approval Council for Security Systems [known to many, of course, as NACOSS] was born. It’s a name that very much lives on today.” Indeed it does.
Come the late 1990s, fire detection systems were added to the inspection ‘melting pot’. Not long after – in the first month of 2001, to be factually correct – the NACOSS merger with the Inspectorate of the Security Industry (ISI) was ratified and the National Security Inspectorate as we know it today was born.
Leading role in certification
As Sir Francis Richards duly pointed out, that merger afforded the Inspectorate the opportunity to take “a leading role” as a certification body right across the private security industry and the fire safety sector. It was at this juncture the famous owl logo came to be applied across all NSI schemes.
“Since then,” stated Sir Francis, “the NSI has become synonymous with quality and high standards. We like to think that we have played a role in developing new standards, in reducing false alarm rates and adding an overall value to the security industry – both in the alarms sector and for the security guarding market.”
Like all security professionals, Sir Francis – who took on the role of NSI chairman in 2007 – recognises that the threats facing society today are very different to those in existence back in 1971. “If the threats were simpler, and changed little from one decade to the next, the same was true of the weapons with which we had to manage them and the shape of the industry itself.”
According to Sir Francis, the change came in both the technology and the requirements after 1990, and gathered pace very fast indeed.
“I remember an African farmer asking me the day the Berlin Wall came down what people like myself were planning to do now our jobs had gone. How wrong he was… The end of the Soviet Union merely seemed to open Pandora’s Box and release a swarm of threats worldwide none of us had ever dreamed of.”
Undoubtedly, this is the tipping point at which crime ‘went multinational’. Terrorism, piracy and cybercrime emerged as global problems. The accelerating pace of technological change opened up huge new vulnerabilities, but also new possibilities for those whose business is security.
“The technology available to defeat those threats, particularly the software, is now moving at an unprecedented pace,” urged Sir Francis. “Wireless systems, remote sensing and the overall reliability of electronic systems are developing apace – and it’s information technology which will shape the future of the systems arena.”
At this point, Sir Francis injected a touch of humour by referencing a comment made a few days previously by the NSI’s CEO Jeff Little. “Jeff suggested to me that if Research in Motion’s spot of trouble with BlackBerry’s a couple of weeks back were replicated by the iPhone and iPads we’d have a BlackBerry and Apple crumble on our hands.” Good stuff, Jeff!
Regulatory framework very much on the move
Returning to more serious matters, Sir Francis also mentioned that the security sector’s regulatory framework is also, of course, on the move, with security guarding in the private sector likely to see business licensing materialise at some point. “This could see as many as 4,000 additional companies brought under the regulatory umbrella,” he stated.
The NSI’s chairman expressed delight that the Security Industry Authority was reprieved by the Government and not thrown on the Bonfire of the Quangos. He also mentioned the Regulator’s ongoing development of a lighter touch blueprint for future regulation.
Later in the evening, the SIA’s CEO Bill Butler informed me that he has met once again with Lynne Featherstone MP – the minister at the Home Office in charge of the Regulator and regulation per se – and that the publication of ‘What Happens Next?’ details is fairly imminent. As far as Sir Francis Richards is concerned, the plans for electronic registration and a review of the Approved Contractor Scheme are “most welcome”.
Indeed, Sir Francis embellished his point. “Those who thought we could manage without a proper regulatory framework remind me of the American who was so alarmed by what he read of the dangers of smoking that he gave up reading! Standards are vital, and not just in bringing controls and compliance measurement to an industry while keeping out the cowboys. A standard is also external-facing and can identify the vital elements of infrastructure required to ensure the management of that standard, the legitimacy of the organisation and the competence of its operators.”
Sir Francis went on to quote the British Assessment Bureau by stating: ‘A quality management standard provides significant financial benefits for organisations certified to it.’
Time of accelerating change now upon us
All of the above – and more besides – certainly makes for a time of accelerating change in the security sector, driven by both the threats present and technology (and its development). The new requirements for certification are now multiplying and old barriers between different facets of the security and service industries are blurring as new synergies are realised.
“Certification must adapt at the same speed,” stressed Sir Francis in forceful tones. “Most of you, I hope, associate the name of the NSI with excellence, but probably far less of you associate it with nimbleness and flexibility in responding to changing customer needs. That has to change.”
Displaying further openness and honesty, Sir Francis added: “In this industry there will only be the quick and the dead, and let me tell you that the NSI intends to be quick enough to celebrate many more anniversaries at the forefront of certification.”
Fittingly, Sir Francis made mention of the sadly now departed John Clifford, the NSI’s dedicated director of operations who passed away not long ago and whose memory was honoured at last week’s Security Excellence Awards (with the inaugural Contribution to Standards Award being bestowed in honour of his name and sponsored by the NSI).
Next to speak was NSI CEO Jeff Little OBE. Eloquent and engaging as ever, Little wasted no time in getting straight to the point.
Having thanked Sir Frances for his “support, advice and guidance” to the NSI thus far, Little explained: “We appreciate the need to develop and adapt to the rapidly changing environment which you have described, Sir Francis, and also the need to build upon the platform which Andrew White and his predecessors have left for us. Putting my hand on my heart, I have to confess that we’re not always the fastest organisation to respond, and neither do we always make life particularly easy for our clients and partners. Indeed, our partnership with our certified companies is probably more akin to that of a love-hate relationship at times.”
Little went on to state that this is perhaps a factor of being an inspectorate. “The wheels of the NSI may well grind slowly,” he commented, “but they do grind exceedingly well. We all accept that we need to make life simpler as we streamline our processes and improve our accessibility to meet the needs of the 21st Century security sector.”
Better informed, better served, better audited
As hinted at in an exclusive interview with SMT Online not so long ago, Little is mighty keen on creating an NSI community which is better informed, better served and better audited than ever before.
At the same time, though, Little wishes his organisation to offer a “canvass of services” with security at the centre. One which affords the NSI’s customers an integrated range of audit options reflecting the “bundles of services” now being offered to the end user.
“We have crafted a fairly challenging business change programme for 2012 and put together a strong team to deliver it,” enthused Little before he introduced several members of that team to the select gathering in the room.
Those team members include Ian Sanderson – director of standards and certification and, by Little’s own admission, the “cerebral conscience” of the NSI – and operations director Kay Aitkin, who helped to ‘design’ the Approved Contractor Scheme in the early days of the Regulator.
Last but by no means least, Little introduced the man who always says: ‘No!’ to him when he asks to spend any money, namely finance and administration director Paul Bigland.
Bundling of security and FM services
One of the changes we’re seeing just now is the aforementioned ‘bundling’ of security functions with FM tasks. Witness the recent headlines involving G4S and ISS, for example. All of which serves to illustrate the cross-fertilisation between outsourced functions and security. For its part, the NSI is examining how it’s going to respond to that new business model.
“It’s the electron which will enable the increasingly integrated nature of fire management, environmental control, access control, tracking and overall awareness within a modern and complex building such as 30 St Mary Axe in London,” suggested Little, “but it’s the facilities management company who will operate that single platform that manages this mix of life-preserving services in the future.”
Little went on to state: “Whichever new directions we’re drawn in, we will continue to seek to raise standards in the industry by conducting robust audits and thorough examinations in all of the areas where we operate, but we’ll also listen to our certified companies and heed what they’re telling us about an industry which has matured enormously over the past seven years but which perhaps is now at a crossroads as technology and regulation drive the pace and direction of change.”
The CEO proceeded to make mention maritime security – fitting, given that we were aboard HQS Wellington which just happens to be the floating home of the newly-formed Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI). Since seeing the first light of day in April, SAMI has already generated 70 member companies under the “determined and energetic” leadership of Peter Cook (who, by the way, was among the guests).
There’s already a tie-up between the NSI and SAMI, with the former developing an audit regime for the highly specialised and complex business that is maritime security.
Little then referred back to more of his team members at Sentinel House. The organisation has enjoyed a tremendously good reputation for training across the years, and Elaine Ward is going to carry on that tradition. Graham Hazlewood will deliver the FM and maritime ‘pieces’ while business development manager Chris Pinder – who organised the HQS Wellington event and put together a brilliant edition of NSI Connect to commemorate the occasion – will be at the centre of the change effort.
Third party schemes plus fire safety
Little continued by mentioning the third party schemes which the NSI currently provides for such “great partners” as the Telecare Services Association, the UK Security Shredding Association and the British Parking Association.
Not surprisingly, he also highlighted the NSI’s growing capabilities in the arena of fire safety. Auditors are presently being trained to master the new emergency lighting scheme which BAFE launched earlier this year and, in particular, the risk assessment element of fire safety that’s absolutely vital.
The NSI is now beginning to extend its offering to certified companies by moving into the areas of Health and Safety, environmental management and information security under the Terms and Conditions of the relevant British Standards. That said, Little’s adamant this will not detract from the core business focus around alarm systems and security guarding operations.
The NSI will “follow and support” the SIA’s plans for business licensing while “watching with interest” as the new regulatory regime begins to take shape and extends its umbrella into previously untouched domains.
From Westronics to Thatch Fire Prevention
In closing his excellent polemic, Little paid a touching tribute to two companies who are rather special to his organisation.
The first is Reading-based Westronics, a company that joined the NSI community in March 1972. It’s a firm that has NACOSS, NSCIA and NSI certificates on the office walls. They also own the certificate with 0001 on it!
Westronics, then, has been a certified company for 40 years. Its proud managing director, Graham Miller, joined Sir Francis Richards at the head of the audience to receive a deserved framed medal.
As the NSI marks the start of its next 40 years, the most recently certified company is Thatch Fire Prevention (based in West Wickham in Kent). Managing director Brian Davidson received an award.
Little just had time to mention that 2012 will be “a great year” with the London Olympics and Her Majesty The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. There’ll be a special post-Games conference organised by the NSI, too, so keep checking back on Info4Security. As ever, we’ll be first with the details that matter.
A very Happy 40th Birthday to the National Security Inspectorate from all of us here at SMT Online, Info4Security and, indeed, the entire UBM Live Security Portfolio!