RiskXtraJune2019

Meet The Security Company: Sodexo
In association with the
accredited Security Control Room. We’re also
an ACS Pacesetters company.
Having accreditations not only generates
trust and assurance for our clients, but also
supports our business development teams as
we’re able to prove that we’re a trusted security
provider that has been offering a high-quality
and accredited security service since 2007.
From an operational point of view, as we’re
audited several times a year by each
professional body, we’re able to create a
framework which readily enables us to check
our own standards and continually look for
further improvement when it comes to the
services we deliver.
Risk Xtra: Specifically, what value does ACS
registration and NSI Guarding Gold approval
bring to your business and its clients?
Jane Farrell: Industry accreditations and
approval schemes can only add value to the
security services we realise for our clients and
prospective clients by providing assurance that
our service is of the highest standard and
regularly audited and monitored by
independent industry bodies.
As an Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS)-
registered security provider, we have to adhere
to a system of inspection which satisfactorily
meets the agreed standards under the Private
Security Industry Act 2001. This ensures that
we’re not only compliant, but that we provide a
Best-in-Class security service whereby we
continually seek improvements. It’s a service
underpinned by training courses to suit the
current security threat level and which seeks
innovation in technology for our clients.
The NSI is widely recognised as the leading
certification body for the security sector in the
UK and, as such, the organisation audits and
closely monitors its approved companies like
Sodexo to ensure that all of them are
maintaining the high standards required to
achieve certification.
Sodexo is proud to have achieved NSI Gold.
It’s a voluntary and very thorough process
which provides current and prospective clients
alike with the knowledge that Sodexo’s
Security Control Room has achieved all of the
NSI’s requirements to be awarded Gold status.
Risk Xtra: In practice, what are the main
differences between ACS registration and NSI
Guarding Gold approval?
Jane Farrell: Both the SIA and the NSI aim to
raise the standard in the security industry. The
ACS and Guarding Gold cross-over in certain
areas, with the latter requiring compliance with
BS 7858 which focuses on screening.
The main difference rests with who carries
out the audits. The ACS is not audited directly
by the SIA. The Regulator has four core
assessing bodies who conduct assessments on
its behalf. The results are then submitted to the
SIA for review and compliance to ensure that
we’ve met the required standard.
The NSI runs the scheme for Guarding Gold
which is audited by its own internal auditors.
Once audited, a company’s results are then
passed across to a team of NSI auditors who
validate the audit to ensure that the business
under scrutiny has met the required standard.
All accreditations require auditing to ensure
that we meet the required standard. The initial
stage of the ACS is a desktop exercise. There’s
also a workbook that needs to be completed.
Once the desktop exercise has been tackled,
this is then followed up by site visits across the
business and requires the auditors to meet with
up to 30 of the firm’s security officers.
NSI Gold is based around the requirements of
ISO 9001:2015 looking at BS 7858 and BS 7499.
We need to meet certain requirements along
with the standards mentioned previously. It’s a
one-day audit looking in detail at all of the
processes and procedures we operate within
our dedicated Security Control Room.
Risk Xtra: How do you feel technology has
changed the industry over the last couple of
years and what do you believe will be the
direction of travel in the future?
Jane Farrell: Clients continually seek more
efficient cost-saving solutions for providing
security services, often at the expense of
security guarding provision. It seems that
almost every week a new technology emerges
whether it‘s new cameras, access control,
reporting mechanisms or robots.
There’s no question that technology has
improved efficiencies in managing security and
enables providers to think outside the box
when it comes to providing solutions.
As we operate our own NSI Gold-accredited
Security Control Room we understand the
requirements and complexities of the electronic
security market and are well placed to guide
clients in this area. If chosen correctly,
electronic security can be a valuable addition to
current on-site security arrangements. We can
not only design and recommend security
systems, but also ensure that they’re installed
and maintained to the right specification, giving
clients the reassurance that their valuable
investment is well protected.
There are still a number of clients who are
not confident that remotely monitoring access
control is the complete answer. They continue
Jane Farrell:
Head of Security for the UK
and Ireland at Sodexo
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