In the interim, Lovegrove has skilfully and ably supported the team with his in-depth knowledge of security gained through experiences of the full spectrum of counter-terrorism, business continuity, risk analysis and emergency planning issues.
His appointment is certainly a shrewd move on MITIE’s part – Lovegrove has direct links into the Home Office, the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism and the wider policing community.
On top of that, he’s now deputy chairman of the Defence and Security Group operated by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a participating member of the UKTI DSO’s Security Sector Advisory Group.
IFSEC Global caught up with Lovegrove at the recent launch of MITIE’s MiTec security hub (access the link at the foot of this page for our original exclusive) to ascertain how well the new advisory role’s progressing.
“MITIE has a clear and dedicated focus on its clients, Brian,” said Lovegrove as we sat down to chat just before dinner at the sumptuous Culloden Hotel.
“As you know there are some very large corporate clients on MITIE’s books, and an enormous amount of the work that I do is centred on putting context around the public sector to corporates in terms of working with the police, fire and ambulance services.”
The theory being that, when the MITIE security team members subsequently work with the corporate team to respond to an event, they perhaps understand a little bit better what type of engagement they can expect with the emergency services.
“Only recently I teamed up with MITIE to run a table top exercise with the Milton Keynes Business Forum,” enthused Lovegrove. “That was very good. In true British style, everybody treated it as ‘The Real Thing’. It was wonderful to see.”
Over the course of the last few months, Lovegrove has also given briefings to major clients of MITIE around future planning. “How MITIE and the corporate client can work together, providing an insight as to what they should be doing as far as the public sector’s concerned is what it’s all about, Brian. I have to say it’s all working very well.”
What’s the commitment to the role in terms of Lovegrove’s time across an average month, say? “Strictly speaking I work three days per month for MITIE, but I must admit I’m always doing more than that because I like the way in which MITIE is working and what it hopes to achieve, not just in terms of the clients but also for the wider business resilience community across the UK. It’s nothing less than an impressive operation.”
MITIE, of course, is now one of the largest security operations in the UK and underpinned by its Total Security Management philosophy. As far as Lovegrove’s concerned, it’s a security operation that “consistently punches way above even that weight. I like working with them because they’re aiming towards an overall safety regime for the UK which, at the end of the day, is what we all wish to see.”
Moving on to central Government’s stated intention to cut policing budgets by anything up to 25%, as a former senior policemen in The City does Lovegrove feel such cuts are workable in the UK?
Also, will we still be able to maintain the same levels of resilience?…
Further, is there a genuine opportunity here for the private sector security providers to subsume some of those lower level policing duties constantly referenced in the mainstream media?
“I’m aware that the police service is going through a very, very painful process just now,” responded Lovegrove after taking time out to collect his thoughts. “I’ve been there before. They want to get it right, so they’ll not be rash in making judgements about 20% cuts over a four-year period.”
Lovegrove continued: “There’s an enormous amount of consultation to be had. British policing is set up in such a way as to be totally accountable to the public, and I stress again that there will be no harsh decisions taken that could jeopardise the full range of services on offer.”
Tellingly, Lovegrove added: “What I would say is that the security sector should be prepared to respond to the overall policing style of the UK. It’s accountable, it’s trusted and people generally have a tremendous level of confidence in it. The private security sector should be in a position to match that status quo.”
Drilling down to the micro level and moving somewhat closer to home, Lovegrove explained: “MITIE is an incredibly strong organisation with extremely high values. The public sector can match this. We can also match and mirror the public sector’s expectations of us.”
What does Lovegrove believe to be the greatest challenges facing the security sector over, say, the next 12 months?
“The greatest challenge for us all lies in identifying rapid change, Brian, and by that I mean rapid change in terms of the issues that threaten us, because they’re not just man-made in nature.”
Swiftly, Lovegrove added: “What I’d also say is that the terrorists are innovating all the time, and trying different tactics. We absolutely must be aware of this to ameliorate the threat.”
Referring to Mother Nature’s input, Lovegrove stated: “Look at the natural disasters we’ve suffered in recent years. The security profession must never take its collective eye off the ball and must always recognise there’s a need to respond efficiently and effectively to this kind of disaster as well. Man-made threats are complex and can be incredibly sudden.”
Lovegrove is adamant that the challenges for the security sector inevitably mean it must be multi-competent and well-trained. “One of the challenges is for us to be able to say to the public sector: ‘Look. We are a trusted partner here. This is our experience. This is our expertise. We are excellent partners, and share the common goals of security and resilience across the United Kingdom.'”
That’s more of a challenge for the security sector per se, of course, and not just MITIE. “We will get there,” urged Lovegrove. “MITIE is a great organisation with strong values. The police service has already seen that, because MITIE is already a contractor for the public sector and very much viewed as a trusted partner. We’re already well on the way to achieving a valued partnership.”
In Lovegrove’s recent meetings with end users, has it been his perception that the level of knowledge among the client base is rising?
“Yes. There is an increasing level of knowledge at the client end, Brian, and it’s tangible. A few years ago, the police service would perhaps take an arrogant view about the fact that they were in charge and would stress that they would invite whomever they saw fit to join the law enforcement party and contribute to it at their say-so. However, I have to admit I’ve seen a wonderful change in the police service these last few years. They’ve realised they cannot ‘do’ law enforcement on their own. That’s accepted. It’s now all about how far they wish to embrace the available support.”
According to Lovegrove, an element that prevents the public sector from embracing change is a lack of understanding in terms of what the private security solutions providers can contribute.
“For many years as a chief police officer, I was very close to the security sector and witnessed at first hand its myriad capabilities. I’m fully committed and convinced. In terms of the public sector, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. The public sector will get there, but it will take a little time for education about what the private security sector can do to sink in. Conversely, the private sector has a responsibility to demonstrate its breadth of expertise such that the trust and confidence I talked about earlier might be matched.”
How, then, might we ramp up the speed and breadth of that educational process to build the obviously necessary trust and confidence?
“As you know, Brian, the private security industry already works in the public sector. It’s not a new concept. Look at custody suites, the identification of hostile reconnaissance and initiatives such as Project Griffin and the like. There are many more examples.”
He continued: “I really do believe that our abilities in the private security sector must be made more visible to the public sector end customer. It’s almost as if we need to take them by the hand and say: ‘This is what we can do for you. We don’t want to replace you, but we do want to enhance you.'”
In this day and age, it’s fair to say that the police service is no longer wholly nervous but still a touch wary about partnering with companies in the private sector when it comes to certain aspects of security and law enforcement… and Lovegrove’s response to that assertion is?
“If we in the private sector are to make progress then we must show we are not a threat to the police, and nor do we want to be, but what we do want is to stand side-by-side with our policing services and support them so that they can do the best possible job with our help.”
Since commencing his new consultancy role, and given the nature of the remit, it’s no surprise to learn that, to date, Lovegrove has in the main been talking to policing folk on MITIE’s behalf.
“As a former gold and silver commander I’ve built up a fair degree of knowledge about how the fire and ambulance services work, so when MITIE is ready to expand into broader public sector operations I’ll be there to make sure the company shows its impressive abilities to the fullest.”
