From the moment James Dinsdale began to tell me a little of his background and favourite hobbies when we convened at G4S’ Sutton headquarters recently for a late morning interview, it was plainly obvious the two of us have a good deal in common.
Like myself, the managing director of G4S Cash Solutions UK was born in the leafy Hertfordshire town of Watford (in 1966, in fact, so we’re only a year apart in age).
And, like me, this graduate of Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University – in the disciplines of chemistry and mathematics, no less – has lived north of the border (having been schooled at Alloway Primary and the Ayr Academy). He also just happens to be a massive fan of Marillion.
In fact, Aylesbury’s finest progressive rock sons were all we talked about for the first ten minutes or so of what became a most informative hour: former lead singer Fish, tours in the 1980s, signed memorabilia, the h-era, T-shirts, the merits of acoustic albums, finding a better way of life (as the band’s website proclaims)…
You name the Marillion topic and we discussed it at some point (minus the band’s biggest single Kayleigh, it has to be said, which is that subject uttered by almost everyone who’s not totally ‘on message’ with Marillion’s music in today’s world when their name crops up in conversation).
Dinsdale began his stint in Sutton last January as development director for the G4S Cash division, bringing with him a strong commercial and market development background honed from a decade and more of operating in the business-to-business supply chain (and primarily across sales and marketing functions).
He joined Hoechst – at the time one of the Top 3 chemical companies in the world, with revenues totalling $40 billion – as a graduate trainee, spending seven years there before vacating his role as sales and marketing manager to embark upon a new career in retail and a period as general manager for Sharps Bedrooms.
Three years later, itchy feet took Dinsdale away to establish a mobile phone firm. Over the course of only 12 months, the “early Genesis and Pink Floyd lover” (now there’s undisputed progressive rock for you) skilfully built up a 100-store business.
In 1999, Dinsdale found himself working at CHEP – a well-known business in the supply chain industry dealing with pallet and container pooling. He held a variety of roles there over an 11-year period, among them European retail director, strategic change director and managing director for the UK, Ireland and the Benelux region before becoming senior vice-president (EMEA) with direct responsibility for business development and innovation.
Why the move into security?
How come, then, Dinsdale began 2011 by moving to a security company (albeit one of the biggest and best respected in the land)?
“I didn’t choose to join a security company, Brian,” explained Dinsdale in turning my question somewhat on its head. “Rather, I chose to join an organisation which I felt offered me the best cultural fit. It felt right, and it is right. I believe my decision has been fully vindicated by the results of our recent employee engagement survey.”
Those results are detailed across two pages of this summer’s edition of ‘the mag’, an internal G4S publication designed to inform and advise the staff working within the Cash Solutions UK business.
They’re impressive statistics, too. The survey asked employees to state whether they agreed or disagreed with no less than 17 separate statements. 85% of respondees, for example, said they feel the business is firmly focused on providing a good service to its clients, while 84% would recommend G4S to a friend who’s looking for employment or a change of career.
“Everyone who has a responsibility to manage other people in our organisation also has a responsibility to consult, listen and learn,” explained Dinsdale, who admitted to reading through every comment submitted as part of the survey review process.
Although the passion and integrity of G4S as a business ‘felt right’ and ‘feels right’ for Dinsdale, he viewed the cash division as one where he could come in and add immediate value.
A bold statement when you consider the incumbent figures for the company: registered with the Security Industry Authority’s Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) for the delivery of Cash-in-Transit services, G4S Cash Solutions UK already transports 90% of the UK’s banknotes each day, moves GB pound 300 billion worth of cash and valuables in any given calendar year and processes GB pound 59 billion in the same period on behalf of UK banks. A more than solid base from which to begin.
Initial appraisal of the business
There’s always room for improvement, though, and having appraised the situation for a few months now, Dinsdale openly told me: “Arguably, we’ve been delivering services fit for the past and which are still worthy and widely used today, but the $64,000 question is this: ‘Will they still be fit for the future?’ You must always be thinking about relevancy to the clients’ needs. There’s a massive supply chain piece to this business, and it’s all about delivering services to the market that bit more efficiently.”
What has taken Dinsdale by surprise in his eight months with G4S Cash Solutions UK is the extent of the attitudinal differences exhibited between organisations when it comes to how they deal with Health and Safety and security-based issues.
“The bigger the organisation is, the tighter it has to be in this respect,” said Dinsdale. “That’s only right. My people deserve to come to work in the morning in the same physical state in which they signed off from duty the night before. Necessarily and correctly, this places a huge onus on ourselves as an employer and service provider, but also on our end user clients to facilitate the right conditions in which couriers may carry out their day-to-day tasks.”
For Dinsdale, his employees’ safety in the workplace “is more important than anything” and G4S is “always looking to improve this in every way we can”.
Dinsdale has already witnessed the “great work” delivered by G4S’ risk department, and investment there will continue.
He’s also continually working in tandem with the GMB Trade Union and its national representative Jude Brimble to make sure that working conditions are – if you’ll excuse the all-too-obvious pun – always ‘on the money’.
Competitive environment in which to operate
Looking towards the immediate future and the business per se, Dinsdale’s adamant that the cash market is going to remain a hugely competitive environment.
“That’s not helped, of course, by the fact that the economy isn’t in a brilliant state,” he sighed. “The biggest part of my focus in the next few months will be on delivering the best possible service to our clients, and not matching their expectations but exceeding them.”
In broad support of that aim, Dinsdale has tasked Clare Blackler – the company’s director of customer experience – to look at how G4S Cash Solutions UK might formalise its own Customer Contact Strategy.
Last month, short term recommendations were looked into in conjunction with the leadership team, and some ideas have already been implemented.
“We’re creating a ‘Bid Knowledge Centre’ with standard materials, approaches and processes for deploying the best expertise and strategies for securing new business,” enthused Dinsdale.
He continued: “The complaints procedure is being redesigned to make it more efficient, we’re creating a consolidated Customer Portal and we’ll be reinstating the Customer Newsletter to be sent out at least three times in any given year.”
Come November, there’ll be an all-new Cash UK Intranet to serve as an interactive tool for the whole business.
New value: the all-important differentiator
As far as Dinsdale’s concerned, what he terms “new value” is the all-important differentiator. “That can be new value for clients in the shape of, for example, better management information received from us or a more bespoke service in the style of CASH360.”
According to the G4S website, the CASH360 retail solution “delivers the first and only end-to-end cash management system, reducing operating costs through improved accuracy, security and productivity without negatively affecting customer service standards.”
Paying by cash is still far and away the most popular means for consumers to buy goods, wherever they might be in the world. While this method of payment is more cost-efficient than electronic transactions, the average retailer can still spend up to 1.7% of generated turnover managing their cash processes.
In an economy where profit margins are growing ever tighter, the opportunity to reduce costs and increase security has never been more welcome.
With CASH360, all takings above standard float levels are instantly secured at the till point, in turn keeping cash exposure to a minimum. Each device provides an electronic audit trail which enables clients to see their cash balance on-site and in real time.
Business benefits for the client are numerous: lower costs as a result of streamlining procedures, improved cash cycles, enhanced management information, increased security and reduced losses.
“In all fairness, CASH360 has had a bit of a slow start,” suggested Dinsdale with a refreshing honesty. “Certainly, the take-up rate has not been as fast as we would have liked, but there are some big High Street names now on board which is great news.”
Review of the ATM landscape
Continuing the upbeat trajectory, Dinsdale swiftly noted an “increasing optimism” among many of the clients he has met during recent months. “They certainly have an acute awareness of the security risk landscape.”
At the present time, Dinsdale is also casting a business eye “over the whole ATM landscape”.
For ATM deployers, it’s fair to say that the delivery of excellent customer service and maximisation of revenue can only be achieved through the provision of an effective ATM network. The crucial challenge is achieving this while at the same juncture minimising operational costs.
In practice, the services that G4S Cash Solutions offers may be integrated to include Helpdesk and monitoring with fault diagnosis, engineering (including preventative maintenance), hardware and software upgrades, lock installation, access control, cash forecasting, cash packing and replenishment and – last but by no means least – cash reconciliation and banking.
“ATMs themselves are becoming more and more interactive these days,” stated Dinsdale. “I believe we have it within our grasp to realise a broader offering within this space which could turn into an end-to-end proposition for the industry per se. We’re at a relatively early stage in our thought processes, though.”
Fully cogniscent of the fact that ATM engineering staff are already on site for their role, Dinsdale is assessing other tasks they might perform. “Are there other goods to be moved and stored securely aside from cash? Perhaps that’s where we can add value to the role.”
Speaking of added value once again, Dinsdale – who used the words “loyal, optimistic and hard-working” when asked to describe himself – talked of introducing real-time information for each client on every cash vehicle/courier trip, and engaging PDAs and GPS solutions to their fullest capabilities.
Security around the 2012 Olympic Games
With G4S having been selected as the official security provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it’s hardly surprising that ‘the greatest show on Earth’ looms large in Dinsdale’s mind (and those of his colleagues across the parent plc).
G4S Cash Solutions UK is the preferred supplier, for example, at the Olympic Park in Stratford.
“There’s concern among clients when it comes to security around the Olympic Games, but that’s only to be expected,” he ventured. “Entering the unknown is always disconcerting. It’s our job to allay any fears the client base might have by delivering efficient and effective solutions on the ground at all times.”
Whether it be the Olympic Games or any other security project, Dinsdale is a firm believer in a certain adage. “It’s not necessarily about what we want as a business,” he stated, again with a refreshingly honest outlook. “It’s about how the clients are moving: what are their strategies and how can we meet their expectations? As a business, we need to continue prioritising what’s important so that everyone understands the part they’re playing in our future.”
Ever the altruist, Dinsdale concluded our conversation with a heart-warming comment.
“If we develop new technologies that help to reduce criminality then we’ll make them available. After all, it’s in the broader social interest that each and every practitioner in this sector works towards reducing crime every step of the way.”
