The top 8 things to expect from your security guarding provider

Are you getting value for money from your security company or spending money on a security product that isn’t returning benefits to your business other than the perception of protection?

SecurePro is a leading security provider in Birmingham and the West Midlands. We very regularly hear from businesses who are not quite sure what exactly they should be getting from their existing security provider – they are then shocked to discover just how inefficient their existing security incumbent is.

Security services purchases usually fall into three categories; (1) the result of a failed experience or service, (2) an inherited product or service, or (3) a reactive purchase; nobody ever wakes up one morning and thinks “I want to hire a security guard today” if an incident has happened at home or work such as a burglary, insurance renewal, pending legal case etc, people start to think of ways how to fix it or reduce the likelihood of it happening again, thus creating the search for a local security company.

Sometimes businesses are typically trying to reduce their insurance premiums or cut costs and responsibilities in a particular area, this is what we call box-ticking, they don’t really care what value you can add to their business they just want you to be as cheap as possible so they can avoid the awkward question in the next board meeting “have you sorted out the security yet?”. Considering the board is the brain of any business it isn’t wise to try and appease them without giving them value for their money. By comparison, you wouldn’t pick the cheapest brain surgeon to perform your surgery, you would want the best to avoid any further operations and hopefully save your life, therefore why would you agree to use the cheapest security company you can find, wouldn’t you want to have experts in their field looking after your “brain?”

Your security provider shouldn’t cost a fortune

Luckily purchasing security isn’t nearly as expensive or difficult as brain surgery but there are several key points you should consider before engaging a security company to protect your property or at the very least be checking that your current security provider is doing.

The British Standards give us pretty clear guidance on how we should be operating in the private security industry; BS7499 Static site guarding and mobile patrol service, BS7984 Keyholding and response, and BS7858 Security screening of individuals employed in a security environment in particular, give in-depth details as a code of practice on how security companies should act whilst maintaining cost-effective security services to you at no additional charges:

Security Industry Authority (SIA) Licence
Any person conducting a licensable activity under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 must hold a valid licence.

Vetting and Screening
BS7858 makes it very clear that ALL security guards should have at least a 5-year checkable work history and a right to work in the United Kingdom, after all, it’s the law!

Insurance
BS7499 & BS7984 state that the organisation should possess insurance commensurate with the business activities undertaken, you wouldn’t want an uninsured brain surgeon, would you?

National Living Wage
Quite simply it’s the law, all persons should be paid at least the very minimum for their age group, any less is considered an attribute of Modern Slavery which is also illegal.

Pay as you earn (PAYE)
This not only means the company is liable to HMRC, but it also means their employees have secure jobs with employee benefits such as holiday pay, sick pay and access to a pension entitlement; satisfied workforce equals satisfied clients.

Employee rights
This is 2020, it is not the dark ages, people have rights and should not be required to work hours that could be detrimental to their health, safety or efficiency. Similarly to PAYE, satisfied workforce equals satisfied clients.

Modern Slavery Policy
Any company, even if their turnover is under the reportable threshold of £36,000,000 to publish a statement, should have a policy and be conscious of their supply chain and their liability if they purchase unethically. To draw on the brain surgeon metaphor again, you wouldn’t just hire one from your mate down the pub, you’d want to know their credentials, experience and success rate.

Vicarious Liability
Consider this, is your security provider opening the door to your company for the authorities to come in and scrutinise your business, supply chain, policies and procedures? Make sure they are as law-abiding as you are, don’t cut corners and let the investigators in, the downtime during any investigation can be costly!

Getting value for money from your security provider

On top of all the standard services you should be receiving you need to be seeing real value for your money, this means not just a security guard presence but an all-round managed security solution, for instance, the guard should be reporting observations to his manager such as instances where the staff are late in the mornings or leave early in the evenings, they are booking each other in/out or fiddling the deliveries, general staff dishonesty is common in most workplaces and the security guard is the eyes and ears of the workplace to start the chain of command.

Here at SecurePro, we really do pride ourselves in delivering added value managed security solutions, and as our wise General Manager always says, “we are not Zanussi, we don’t sell washing machines, all security staff are the same but it’s the way you manage them that makes a difference!”

Remember; the price is what you pay, whereas value is what you get!

So, now ask yourself this question; what do you consider as value for money when it comes to security providers?

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