HOLD THE BACK PAGE June 2017
Welcome to the June issue of Hold the Back Page!
Business Update Probably the highlight of the quarter that has just gone are our service levels. So far this year we have achieved over 99% coverage for all hours, be that contractual or ad hoc. These are truly exceptional levels of performance and form the basis of our service provision to our customer base. Fulfilling shifts is just part of the story, once on site we need to provide a quality of service that the customer demands. I attend many customer reviews, and I am constantly blown away by the level of professionalism and dedication we provide as a team. The positive outcome of this has been that many of our bigger customers have signed contract extensions of late, ensuring we can build on our partnership for years to come. With such a great base of service delivery we now need to turn our attention to growing our customer portfolio. To help us in this aim we have invested in additional sales resource we will talk about later. We have some really promising potential new customers in the pipeline and we hope to be able to tell you more about these soon. Once again, should you have ideas or comments on our future please contact me through:
[email protected] Brendan Musgrove Managing Director
HOLD THE BACK PAGE The Importance of Accurate Record Keeping The most important record-keeping tool for a security officer is their security notebook. Security notebooks are an official document and must be carried whenever you are on duty. They should be used to record information whilst you are on duty. For example, you might note a suspect’s description or name and contact details of a witness. You may also draw a diagram of a crime scene. These notes will be used for any reports you may have to make in the future and also important for providing evidence. The notes you make at the time of an incident or immediately after an incident are called ‘contemporaneous notes’. You may be asked to present your notes or recall your notes in a Court of Law or Police enquiry. Here are some simple rules that will support your credibility should you be asked to present your notebook as part of an enquiry or to support other evidence: • Start an entry with the time, date and location of incident • Include details of people and witnesses involved • Include details about what happened • Summarise the action you have taken • Indicate whether follow-up action is required • Specify any damage, injuries or stolen property • Write down whether any emergency services attended the incident • Make your entries legible • Make sure your entries are consecutive • Start at the front of the book and use every line and page • Draw a line between entries and start a new entry on the next line • If you make a mistake, draw a line through the error so that it can still be read and write you initials alongside Your security notebook is a very important and valuable tool for you to record workrelated information. Store completed notebooks safely and in numerical or date order. Court cases are heard well after the event and you may need to locate previous notes. Don’ts • Don’t trust your memory - make notes at the time of the incident or immediately afterwards • Don’t leave it until later • Don’t make a change to, or erase or block out any entry • Don’t leave pages and lines blank
HOLD THE BACK PAGE Welcome to New Colleagues Julie Hulme has recently joined us as Head of Security Sales. Having a successful career in a range of service led businesses, Julie has joined the team to strengthen our sales presence and help us win more business. Stephen Hodson (Steve) has recently joined as an Operations Manager within the North. Previously having served 24 years within the Army (Royal Tank Regiment), Steve has transferred a successful skill set to help strengthen the geographical foot print of the Northern Operations team. John Rendall has joined the business as a Regional Manager in the North. John has joined us from Shop Direct where he was a Corporate Security Manager and previously to that was an Operations Manager at Cordant Security dedicated to the Shop Direct account. John has joined the business following Andrew Walker’s move to another role within Cordant Security.
New Business Wins / Extensions Howdens – A new contract starts at the distribution centres for Howdens Joinery starting July Carillion Rail – this contract continues to grow with weekly hours on this contract circa 1,600 per week. Thank you to Ray Giles and the team for ensuring this goes from strength to strength Financial Conduct Authority – two year extension that will see us oversee this customer’s move to new head office premises. Well done to Amos Kearns and the team on site Morrisons – yet further growth with on this account with our services now covering retail stores, logistics and their control room. Continued fantastic work from Phil Brewer and the team
App Development We are introducing a range of IT developments into our business to speed up our internal processes. Many of these being Google based apps developed by Andy Walker and Gavin cook. Apps created to date include – • A recruitment app to speed up on-boarding of new officers and minimise errors in terms of documentation • A HR app is being developed to assist field management in back to work interviews etc The really impressive aspect of this app based approach, is the speed of implementation that can be achieved. Eg additional training and information were able to be deployed into the field immediately following the recent terrorist events
HOLD THE BACK PAGE Cordant Security Heroes Officer Ali Asghar – During the recent sad events of the Manchester bombing, Ali was at a nearby Tesco due to finish shift at 23.00. Seeing distressed people leaving the area, Ali and the on site Tesco team stayed on till 2.00, looking after, and comforting those involved in the incident. Officer Khalid Mashkoor (AKA Mash) - Iceland Store Manager Kirsty has written to praise the work of Mash on site . “I myself am honoured to have Mash on my team, he is always ready to assist me with extra duties whenever required, and regularly goes above and beyond to ensure excellent service to the client.” Officer Rizwan Janjua - Rizwan works as a supervisor in Segro Business Watch team. Since joining both Cordant management and the client have commented how well he has established himself in the team, particularly in the area of client relationships. In addition it is noted that he is always seeking to improve service and often goes well beyond what is required (such as training new team members in his own time). Thank you for your great work.
Update on Career Pathways As a reminder we are currently rolling out a number of government accredited training schemes across security, business admin, customer care and recruitment. Really great uptake by the Kingswinford team, but still opportunities for many more to take advantage of this career development initiative. If you need more detail ask your line manager who will be able to give a detailed, week by week account of what is involved in the course of your choice. You will see they are quite involved, but as result they will carry real value to you once completed.
HOLD THE BACK PAGE Officer Referral Programme Do you have family or a friend that holds a Security SIA Licence and wishes to work for Cordant Security? If the answer is yes, you could earn £100.00 (friends & family recruitment incentive), just ask your friend or relative to quote your pin number when they apply for a Security position. If they are successful and complete their probation period with Cordant Security - you will be paid £100.00.
Booking on for Duty
The NCC handles in excess of 2,000 calls per day. Most of these calls are whilst covering shifts, but an increasing number are from officers failing to use the automated book on systems. This results in NCC operators having to call out. Failing to use the automated system may also affect the hours you are booked for and could result in your pay being affected. Please ensure that you know your PIN and your site PIN (take details of the site PIN when taking details from your controller). Call any of the four book-on telephone numbers – 01895 209 102 / 01895 469 102 / 01895 209 103 / 01895 469 103 Follow the prompts and you will be given a reference number. Keep a note of this number in your notebook of site log book. This is proof that you have booked on.
National Communication Centre Retail: 01895 201 835 Corporate and W&D: 01895 201 842
Incident Hotline for reporting any incidents, accidents or emergencies 01895 201 819
BE VIGILANT, BE SAFE It goes without saying that at these heightened levels of terrorist threat we all need to be extra vigilant. If you see anything suspicious trust your instincts and report in line with your contract specific escalation procedures
