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FEATURE: SECURITY

regulatory system would improve overall standards. “The Shield

Guarding Company has always felt that proper regulation is of benefit to ourselves, our clients and the image of the industry as a whole,” asserts Lance Stanbury, operations director at the company. According to Stanbury, increasing transparency and promoting good quality and value can only be a good thing. “For the first time, clients in the retail industry had a minimum standard by which to judge companies,” he continues, and with only 10 per cent of companies in the ACS scoring above 70, Shield’s score of 131 certainly gives it extra leverage. The criteria didn’t waver much from Shield’s own goals and

standards: “The ACS looks for appropriate HR policies and assesses the treatment of staff. Shield already had an established tradition of providing additional benefits and staff welfare initiatives, and maintained a management structure almost entirely composed of ex- security officers promoted through our ranks.” As a large company with sizeable profit margins, Shield has little

problem putting such initiatives in place. So the real benefit of ACS comes from a higher level of visibility: Shield can prove its standing in the industry, and other companies must either fight to catch up or step out of the running. “The auditing process provided us with a framework within which

we could constantly improve and incorporate best practice. The effect this had was to force other firms to catch up and place the inevitable expenditure which comes from maintaining high service levels within their own margins.”

And why does Shield want its competitors to come under harsher

scrutiny? Because quality and not lowest price should be at the forefront of the industry, explains Stanbury. “As a company attempting to provide a premium service, there’s a need to demonstrate this differentiation during the procurement process – especially if your prices are being severely undercut. “The temptation was for clients to go with a cheaper contractor

making unverifiable claims about back office support and infrastructure. But it has become far harder for companies to avoid proper investment in their processes and models without being exposed. “In the balance of quality and price in the judgement of value, the ACS has made it easier for clients to focus on quality,” he adds. Where the scheme falls down is, in Stanbury’s opinion, in failing to

properly “differentiate between security companies actively seeking constant improvement and those satisfied to merely retain an ACS registration”. Point-collecting is not the be all and end all: retail clients can’t necessarily pinpoint innovation and forward-thinking from a list of scores. To overcome this flaw, The Shield Guarding Company publishes a

detailed explanation of its ACS scoring, from the benchmarks achieved to how it went about meeting the standards in each area of business. “The scoring, as it is, at least gives some independent indication to the stakeholders as to the performance capabilities of your company,” begins Stanbury, “but the numbers alone aren’t quite enough. Providing trustworthy information to clients regarding the scope and quality of their contractors will only result in increased standards.” He goes on to suggest that part of the ACS’s external auditing

process should include making reports publicly available online, referring to each company’s “ethos and culture, strengths and the possible areas of improvement. The result would leave end users, staff, shareholders, clients and prospective clients better informed.” Publicly displaying the finer details of a company’s audit would

allow quality to better compete with pricing as motivation for award of contract. This is something every security company both large and small could advocate, because competitive pricing overshadows a

SHOPPING CENTRE May 2010 www.shopping-centre.co.uk

reputation based on quality of service, particularly in tough economic conditions.

“In the current financial climate, the increased pressure to reduce

costs is felt across all industries and at all levels. By making full use of the ACS and increasing its value as a tangible measure, it will act as a counterforce against the drive to cut price which if unchecked will inevitably lead to a drop in standards across many companies,” argues Stanbury. “This would surely help improve standards across the industry and also provide a stronger incentive-based tool with which the SIA gets to regulate the industry.” But Stanbury applauds the SIA for what it has set out to do, and

Shield’s participation in the scheme alongside many other companies shows a commitment to long-term, industry-wide improvement. “The introduction of the scheme into the industry has been a fluid process. So far it has had a positive effect and there is no reason to suspect this trend won’t continue as it develops. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36