Thought Leadership Summit

The Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) is delighted to announce its renewed collaboration with the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) for the sixth UK OSPAs Thought Leadership Summit taking place on Thursday 22nd February 2024 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

The Thought Leadership Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for security providers and industry stakeholders to gather together to delve into, question and deliberate the topical issues impacting the UK security sector. The event creates an environment that promotes the sharing of best practice amongst attendees, fostering cooperation.

Bookings for the event have now closed, but if you do wish to attend please contact Christine Brooks 07785 569719

PROGRAMME

11:30   Registration and Exhibition

12:15   Networking Lunch

13:30   Thought Leadership Summit 

Welcome and introduction
Professor Martin Gill

13:35 – 13:50
Securing Tomorrow: Innovation, Leadership and Excellence
Richard Fogelman, Chief Executive – National Security Inspectorate (NSI)

13:50 – 14:10
What do buyers want?

Letitia Emeana, Global Security Capability Manager, Unilever & ASIS UK Chapter Chair and European Board Member

There is much concern at the approach taken to many buyers of security. They only want to buy at the lowest price; they don’t value quality above price; they don’t understand the implications of buying cheap; and they are unable to distinguish the good from the bad. In this talk, we get an insight into these issues and seek to clarify what buyers want.

14:10 – 14:30
Using data and intelligence to fight (organised) crime?
Adam Ratcliffe, Operations Director – Safer Business Network

In the modern age we are all familiar with the need to collect good intelligence and generate accurate data, but research has shown there is a skill to doing that well. In this presentation we seek to understand what approaches work and don’t work, what the role of technology is and can be, and ask what the future of data management may look like.

14:30 – 14:50
Mental health and well-being at work: how is security responding to the challenges?
Jenni Jetzer, Group People Director – Lodge Service

1 in 4 people experience a mental health condition each year.  For those working within the Security Industry the threats to wellbeing are increased, due to the potential to witness or be involved within a traumatic event, and the increased risk of being subject to verbal or physical abuse.  How do we effectively ensure wellbeing is on the agenda?  How do we support and maintain the wellbeing of security professionals working in our businesses?  How do we engage security professionals in recognising the importance of their own wellbeing?

14:50 – 15:30
Panel discussion:
Rethinking recruitment: what makes security attractive and how do we communicate it?
George Zitko, Founder & CEO – Zitko Group
Lisa Bascott, Founder & CEO – 2nd Line of Defence
Sarah Hayes, HR Director – Securitas Security Services

It has long been recognised that the security sector has been poor at attracting the best recruits. Traditional prejudices about what security represents coupled with a poor image are core here. It is of little surprise that so few choose a private security career, by and large they fall into it. But so too the failure to present its best features has been prominent. This includes recognising that security personnel reflect positively on the varied work roles; the opportunity to undertake something worthwhile; the role in preventing crime and making people feel and be safer; and then there is the good pay and conditions (which will surprise many) albeit not often in the most junior positions.

This discussion will focus on where we are with security recruitment. What is working and why? What are the barriers to attracting more and better recruits and how can they be overcome? What and where are the. News, innovative and imaginative approaches that are working? What can we learn from other sectors? And crucially, how is security faring in changing this perennial problem?

COMFORT BREAK 15:30 – 15:40

15:40 – 16:25
What the bosses say: What would improve the security sector?
Neill Catton, Managing Director – CIS
Tim Kendall, Managing Director, G4S Secure Solutions (UK) Ltd

This popular session is an annual feature at the Summit. We have invited bosses to talk about the challenges they face, and those they feel the sector faces in improving the security sector and the environment in which it operates. What do they see as the main obstacles to progress, and how might these be overcome? What needs to change and how?

16:25 – 16:45

Tackling retail security: thinking about what else we can do
Farrah McNutt, Creator and Founder – Catch a Thief UK

Violence and theft at retail outlets are rife, over 455 retail staff are assaulted or subjected to abuse every single day whilst over 200 incidents of theft are recorded every hour. Everything we seem to be doing appears to be failing. So where can we look for new thinking? In this talk Farrah will report on her findings of what it is really like on the front line, on what offenders are saying and what they are doing, and which security measures are working and not working. She will highlight some ways forward including how the security sector can respond more effectively, this includes introducing AI, but it also involves putting people at the heart of any approach.

16:45 Closing remarks

17:00 Afternoon tea – Exhibition/Networking

17:15  Close