Professional Security Consultants (PSC) was founded by industry experts with a background in the military, enforcement agencies and the security industry. The company provides a comprehensive range of commercial, retail, Government, security guarding, event management and consultancy services to clients operating around the world.
The contract, which stands as as one of the largest ever awarded by Westfield, will extend the security services provided by the company to Westfield Merry Hill, Brierley Hill in the West Midlands for a further two years. The total value of the deal is in excess of GB pound 3 million.
Westfield Merry Hill is one of the UK’s most successful shopping and leisure destinations. The 148,000 square metre shopping centre has more than 250 stores, over 8,000 car parking spaces and receives over 23 million visitors each year. The 220-acre mixed use site also includes The Waterfront complex, which is adjacent to the main shopping centre and offers corporate office accommodation. In addition, there’s a busy nighttime economy comprising bars and restaurants situated around a marina area.
Speaking about the deal Andrew Black, the managing director of PSC UK, commented: “We’re delighted to have retained this important contract, and are continuing to work with Westfield on a global basis, helping to protect important high value assets. This will herald the start of a major expansion plan, and we expect to be announcing further significant contracts over the coming months.”
Partnership approach to fighting retail crime
PSC was awarded this contract as it had demonstrated a track record of success at Merry Hill over the last two years, in turn fully understanding the requirements for security services and how they might be carried out in the current economic climate. In addition to having one of the most stable workforces in the security industry, other important factors in the contract win included the truism that PSC takes a pro-active approach to combating retail crime in partnership with every section of the community (encompassing local authorities, emergency services, schools and community groups). There’s an active participation by the company in Community Safety Forums that work to reduce anti-social behaviour and vandalism, as well as Crime Prevention Partnerships and initiatives such as PubWatch which aim to achieve a safer social drinking environment in all licensed premises.
Another key factor was the investment that PSC makes in providing ongoing personal training and development programmes for every employee that exceed the standards required by the Security Industry Authority (SIA). The company has achieved Edexcel accreditation and provides a range of courses including legal guidelines, communication skills, emergency response and First Aid. The latest additions include special events management, a door supervisor course and a range of NVQ courses conducted in conjunction with Swindon College.
According to Dean Jenkins, Westfield’s head of security at Merry Hill: “PSC has demonstrated a strong understanding of how to meet the security needs of large scale retail operations. We particularly appreciate the pro-active, hands on approach taken by the company to rapidly resolve any issues as they happen, and have high levels of confidence in PSC’s ability to meet our ongoing security requirements over the next two years.”
Making good use of technology
PSC makes innovative use of technology to enhance the level of security provided throughout the Merry Hill operation. As well as headcams and the latest patrol management systems, the company uses Case Global, a web-based emergency software tool that standardises response and reporting procedures across the organisation.
Case Global assists with the pro-active monitoring and evaluation of safety, security and risk management initiatives on a daily basis as well as providing a visual identification of incident spread and the location of ‘hot spots’. This enables potential problem areas to be analysed, in turn enabling security operations to predict where future incidents may occur such that appropriate interventions to be prepared.
For its part, Westfield is the world’s largest listed retail property group by equity market capitalisation. The Group has interests in and operates a global portfolio of 119 high quality regional shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States valued at more than $60 billion. Westfield works with almost 23,000 retailers across more than 10 million square metres of retail space.
