As you are well aware if you’ve been following my articles, the security industry isn’t where it needs to be. For a variety of reasons, there are startling vulnerabilities in the very services that businesses, the police and public expect to keep us all safe. To put it simply, our security industry isn’t as secure as it needs to be.
But there is good news: I’m not the only person who recognises the need for change and is willing to put in the time and energy to bring it about.
The Security Small Business Network, or SBN for short, is a group of likeminded and influential security professionals who share a common goal of maintaining and improving standards and professionalism in our industry.
Following my decade or more of outspoken opinions on the state of the industry, I was invited to become a member of the SBN around two years ago. Recently, I had the great privilege of becoming their press officer, just as the SBN celebrated its tenth anniversary.
Ideally, we wouldn’t be quite so busy, but unfortunately the Security Industry Authority (SIA) – the organisation responsible for regulating the security industry – has lost track of what it set out to achieve. Instead of a strictly controlled industry governed by clear cut legislation, we have a vulnerable, exploitable and confusing set of loose laws.
At the SBN, we lobby the SIA and the government to improve legislation. As a group of experienced security professionals, we have unparalleled insight into what security companies need to thrive while still providing services that can be truly depended on to keep this country safe.
We are also affiliated with the International Professional Security Association, which gives us access to a wealth of knowledge and research of what does and does not work with the security industry across the globe.
Our lobbying efforts are even more crucial since the Brexit vote, which has swallowed up so much parliamentary time that the concerns of the security industry now fall on deaf ears.
Though the SIA has not yet implemented our suggestions, there are signs that we are being noticed. For one, I am being invited to speak at the SIA Annual Conference in March, where I will be representing the SBN and advocating for a two-tier mandatory ACS, which you can read about by clicking here.
If you could like to learn more about the SBN or want to enquire about membership, please get in touch with me at abbey@magentasecurity.co.uk.
